Dear Residents, Families and Staff,
This week we sampled and submitted COVID tests for all Madrona, Wyatt and Madison House staff and residents. We are happy to report that we found no new positive cases of COVID at any of our communities.
As an organization, we have decided to continue weekly Wednesday testing of all residents and staff for at least the next 3-4 weeks. Additionally, Wyatt House will be testing all staff and residents again next Monday and Thursday due to the known COVID case in a Wyatt House staff member last week. If those tests are all negative, Wyatt House will join Madrona and Madison in the once/week Wednesday testing the following week.
Now for some exciting announcements regarding visitation, transportation and outings!!!
1.) Essential Support Person (ESP)
In the Safe Start guidelines for long term care facilities; there is a provision for an “Essential Support Person” in Phase 2. This is a designated person who can promote the mental and physical wellbeing of a designated resident. We have created an application to act as an ESP for your loved one. Please click here for a link to the form. We request that you email or drop off your completed form attention to the Executive Director specific to the community where your loved one resides. We will require 2-3 business days to approve the request as we have to make sure that the resident approves of ESP applicant (only one ESP is allowed per resident). See the form for an outline of what rules we have in place for the ESP. There are lots of them but they do enable you to safely visit with your loved one in their apartment!
2.) Transportation
Since the start of COVID we have taken on all duties of transporting residents to and from medical appointments. Starting March 15th, we will be allowing and encouraging you to take your loved one to their medical appointments. Of course all regular precautions should remain in place – wear PPE, frequently perform good hand hygiene, and stay 6’ apart where possible. We also recommend good airflow in the vehicle (make sure that air is circulating from the outside vent). We do ask that no public dine-in eating occurs before or after the appointment. However, drive through is ok.
3.) Outings/Walks
Thus far in the pandemic we have discouraged residents from taking long walks outside of their community property – in an effort to keep our bubble extremely tight. Due to the fact that all of our residents have had the opportunity to be fully vaccinated, we would like to relax this guideline. Spring is here and we encourage you to stretch those legs and take your long walks around Winslow as you deem safe! We are also planning some outings on the bus that will enable residents to get off the bus and enjoy some scenery on their feet (or wheels)! Outings will be designed to ensure residents can maintain appropriate social distancing in public.
These are all important changes that we can safely make during Phase 2 now that our residents are fully vaccinated and community transmission is in decline. Prior to reaching Phase 3 we will send out another email outlining what our expectations are for that next step. To get to Phase 3 we will need to have less than 6 cases/day for a period of 14 days in Kitsap County. While I hope we will be in Phase 3 in six weeks or less – it certainly could be longer depending on how quickly vaccination clinics ramp up and where general infection rates in Kitsap County are trending.
We are very excited about these baby steps towards reuniting residents with their loved ones. Our expectation is that families will do their utmost to reduce their exposure risk prior to coming inside any of our communities. Together we are stronger!!! We have truly missed all of your faces this last year as we bunkered down in our community homes.
Remember to send your ESP form directly to the Executive Director of your community or drop them off at the front office attention to the ED.
(Links to individual emails are below!).
With Gratitude,
