Update from Administrator – October 26, 2020
Dear Families and Friends,
As always, our team and I hope this email finds you safe and healthy.
We continue testing our staff and residents at regular intervals as required by CMS, CDC and DPH. This morning our routine testing did show we had a staff member test positive. This person was not a direct caregiver and had little to no contact with residents. The State is aware and we are following the most up to date guidance from them. There is no suspension of visitation.
A few quick points:
- Flu vaccinations are well underway and we have an amazing enrollment rate for it among staff and residents. With flu season coming we continue to be very strict about any staff members that have any flu/COVID-19 symptoms coming into work.
- Take-out food is authorized to come in to the building and be delivered to residents. Our receptionist will meet the individual delivering the food at the front entrance and will have it delivered to the resident by our staff.
- We are still waiting for our hairdresser to become available to start training. We will keep you updated.
- We have a new Staff Developer on-boarding this week. Her name is Erin Proulx and she comes to us with a long history of skilled nursing and education experience. Her main task is staff training on hire and then continued hands on staff competencies and educations.
- Each nursing unit has tablets / iPads assigned for resident use such as virtual visits, games, telemedicine visits, etc. Many of our residents are enjoying learning how to use this technology and having the world at their fingertips. For Zoom calls with your loved ones you can email Kristiana to set up an appointment at recreation@summitcommonsrhcc.com
- Please continue to email receptionist@summitcommonsrhcc.com for in person visits. Paulette will only be at the desk for another week or two as she trains Brittany to take over her role. Paulette accepted the Medical Records position within the building and we are glad to have her!
- We have rolled out an Ambassador Program! Our Ambassador Brianna is a full time staff member whose full-time job is to increase resident satisfaction. This is a great program – and to my knowledge, no one outside of Athena has ever tried anything like this.
- Indoor visitation is well underway – and has been very successful. The screening process and all other visitation rules still apply. Any questions about visitation can be sent directly to me at Administrator@summitcommonsrhcc.com
- Don’t forget we are still doing Town Hall Meetings every Thursday via Zoom where you can talk to staff members about different topics in the building as well as get any current COVID information and ask questions to the me directly. Our turn out has really taken a dive! We did come on pretty late last week and I apologize for that – but please join us! The calls are short and give you the time to ask anything that pops into your mind!
Lastly, and a more a formal letter be arriving to you shortly, Dr. Al-Raqqad’s last day as Medical Director will be October 31, 2020. We wish him well in his continued work at his private practice. On November 1st, Dr. Huang will be our new Medical Director. Dr. Huang has many years of experience in the skilled nursing field in the state of Rhode Island – and although he has big shoes to fill, we feel confident he will be a great asset to Summit Commons.
Thank you and please stay safe and healthy!
Thank you,
Nicholas Lutzel
Administrator