We have had no new positive tests or deaths in the Meadows for residents or staff since my last update on 6/5/2020.  Our last positive test was 5/5/2020.

We continue to have no positive cases in the Pines with staff or residents to date. 

In the Independent Living unit, we have had no more positive tests.  Our last positive test in IL was 4/29/2020.  Please continue to maintain social distance and mask wearing if you must come out of your apartment and limit your time out of your apartment.  As always, please contact wellness with any concerns about your health.

We have had no new staff positives since our last update on 6/5/2020.

I wanted to take a moment to clarify some specifics in the Meadows and the Pines related to next steps.  The Meadows is a Skilled Nursing Facility and is overseen by the state Department of Health which provides us with guidance and surveys our services regularly.  The Pines is a Personal Care Facility and is overseen by the Department of Human Services which also provides us with guidance and surveys our services regularly.  I am the Nursing Home Administrator, which is a professionally licensed position and Kim Ratliff is our Director of Nursing, also professionally licensed.  Tamara Johnson is our Personal Care Administrator and this is also a professionally licensed position.

Since this pandemic started, we have been provided with updated and ongoing information based on current information on how to help keep our residents as safe as possible.  Kim has taken the lead here with attending online conference calls from no less than 5 different organizations including local hospital groups, local, state and federal agencies.  We have managed our efforts in concert with their guidance.  We also have been supported by WEL corporate guidance in relation to disseminated guidance from many sources.

Currently, the most updated guidance includes continuing to keep the units closed to outside visitors, including family, unless there is an end of life or compassionate need, which would be managed by Kim and our social worker, Eleanor.  The timeline for this directive is currently 28 days after the county is changed to Green phase.  As a reminder, we have just recently(June 5th) been moved to Yellow phase.  So as difficult as this directive is to hear and enforce for our staff, it is an actual state mandate and as such we are not able to circumvent.  This is the same for all nursing facilities in the state of Pennsylvania as of now.  I would ask for your understanding of this measure and recognize that we are simply maintaining our required adherence to the current mandates.

On a more positive note, we have worked very hard to engage residents with some activities in Meadows and Pines.  Most of the activities are room based and we are going to start some hall based activities such as bingo and current events.  Pines has also been engaging their residents in some small group activities.  We are working to engage some entertainment using our current footprint, which allows us to keep the distance but give our residents some fun!  We continue to assist families with online engagement by Zoom, Facetime or other avenues.  We are doing all we can to help our residents stay in touch with their loved ones.  Our hope is that the move to the Yellow phase in uneventful and we see a Green phase date soon.  

Mike Destefon

Executive Director