Weekly Update – May 15, 2020
As some states begin to ease restrictions on businesses and the general public, please note that our center will NOT be included in any category. The visitor restriction placed on us by the state in early March is still in effect for the foreseeable future.
We continue to offer our weekly conference calls for families and Zoom meetings, for you and your loved ones. If you would like to set up an appointment to do a Zoom video call with your loved one, please email recreation@summitcommonsrhcc.com. These video calls are limited to 20 minutes due to high demand. We ask that you please schedule them the week prior to your call.
From the beginning of this crisis, we have implemented extensive infection control measures to protect residents. We have listed those during many of our past weekly “Town Hall” conference calls, and this information can be viewed on our website. As always, if you would like any details on them, please let us know via Info@SummitCommonsRHHC.com.
In Rhode Island, patients and staff have tested positive in more than 40 centers. Sadly, we also have had patients test positive for COVID-19. As you know, this has been devasting to our staff. We are doing all we can to treat them and our thoughts are with those patients afflicted with this virus and their loved ones. We will discuss this in more detail in our weekly Town call next week.
We also continue to do all we can to protect our other residents and remain committed to ensuring the personal protective equipment (PPE) our staff needs and are in compliance with CDC and state guidelines regarding the appropriate use of PPE. We continue to follow every lead to secure PPE from existing and new vendors and request equipment from the state. We are satisfied with our supply but are always monitoring it and working to build it up for the long road ahead.
We are in touch daily with the Department of Public Health and our local Health Department. The DPH has found us to be in compliance for PPE, staffing and infection control and prevention issues. We continue to follow all CDC and state guidelines and receive regular updates on new guidelines that are offered.
We may be turning the corner on our center’s battle with COVID-19. As of today, we have seen 37 of our residents convert to negative and are now symptom-free of COVID-19. We are very excited for these residents, their families, and our staff. We anticipate this number to continue to rise and we will begin holding “graduations” or recovery ceremonies, to celebrate their success. We feel this would be helpful to everyone!
We are fortunate that we have not experienced staffing issues due to the commitment our staff has in providing the highest quality of care to their patients, even in the most challenging times. We have increased compensation to staff in our center and continue to advertise and recruit for additional per diem staff to supplement our teams. We support our talented staff whose commitment to caring for our residents throughout this health crisis inspires us every day.
We remain incredibly grateful for our dedicated team and ask you to join us in ensuring that they are included as “Health Care Heroes” battling COVID-19. They are doing everything they possibly can to care for those suffering and support them as they battle this disease.
We have heard from many of you about how you can recognize our staff – like what is happening all around our state with other “Health Care Heroes.” If you would like to send a letter or a card to our facility, they would appreciate the recognition as they are a huge part of the health care heroes doing their part in the battle against COVID-19.
As a reminder our next “Town Hall” meeting is scheduled for next Thursday, May 21st at 2pm and we will discuss more detailed information on center updates. We encourage any residents and family members to contact Paul Belanger our Director of Nursing or Kim Pono our Assistant Director of Nursing with any questions you have about the care we are offering. That contact information can be found in the email that was sent out last week. Our commitment is to be as transparent as possible and work to address any issues that arise. This is an incredibly challenging time and we will continue to do all we can to get through this, together.
Thank you and stay safe,
Summit Commons