Covid-19 Updates – Assisted Living & Skilled Nursing Residents

December 31, 2020

Good Evening:

We learned yesterday that four more residents tested positive for COVID-19. Three are in the nursing home and one is in the Personal Care assisted living unit on the fourth floor. They are asymptomatic at this time. These four positive residents have been transferred to the COVID-19 Isolation unit on the 2^nd floor. This brings the total number of residents who have contracted COVID-19 since December 22^nd  to 10 with 9 being nursing home residents. The Personal Care unit resident who is positive has been in quarantine since returning to the building on Christmas night and we believe that she was exposed to COVID while at a family member’s house. In addition, a nursing employee who works in the nursing home has respiratory symptoms that warrant testing; she is not at work. Vytis Shield was back in the building today to disinfect the rooms of the four residents who are positive and other select areas of the building. We anticipate that two nursing home residents, who have been on the COVID Isolation unit for 10 days and who have remained asymptomatic, will be able to return to their nursing home rooms on the fourth floor on January 1, 2021. Other nursing home residents on the Isolation unit who complete their 10-day isolation period and remain asymptomatic should be able to move back to their nursing home room next week. 

Pickersgill Continues in Outbreak Status

We continue to be in outbreak status. With these new positive cases, we will be in outbreak status for at least another 14 days. All restrictions that are currently in place will continue. The only exceptions to this are end of life visits in assisted living. Compassionate care visits, outside visits and window visits for nursing home residents are suspended at this time.   

COVID-19 Vaccine

CVS has confirmed next Wednesday, January 6^th as the clinic date for all assisted living and nursing home residents and staff to receive the vaccine. The clinic will be held from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. We will be receiving the Pfizer vaccine. Getting the vaccine is voluntary. Every assisted living and nursing home resident who receives the vaccine will be required to complete a consent form. We have been collecting consent forms from assisted living and nursing home residents this week from residents who are able to give consent. Thank you to all the family members who responded to my email last week about providing the responsible party consent form.  On January 6^th, a CVS pharmacist will come to each resident’s room between 10 AM and 4 PM to administer the vaccine.

Cumulative Report

Here is the cumulative report of Pickersgill’s experience with the COVID-19 virus since April 1, when we were informed of our first positive resident, including today’s update. I am only including positive cases in the cumulative report:

• Ten nursing home residents tested positive for the virus.
• One apartment resident tested positive for the virus.
• Four assisted living residents tested positive for the virus.
• Twenty-one staff tested positive for the virus.

Mitigating Actions to Prevent or Reduce Risk

As you know, and I have reported previously, we have taken many mitigating actions to prevent or reduce the risk of transmission of the virus since the public health emergency was instituted. I provide this section with every update in compliance with Federal regulations. The purpose of this section is to describe the actions we are taking since we have an outbreak. We are stopping outside visitors and deliveries from entering the building, separating the apartment residents from the assisted living and nursing home residents, ending all communal dining and group activities for assisted living and nursing home residents, and encouraging our residents to remain in their room and practice social distancing.

Whether we have an outbreak or not, we continue to encourage residents to wear a face mask when they are not in their room, wash their hands regularly, and practice social distancing. We are checking all assisted living and nursing home residents’ temperature and oxygen levels daily. We actively screen daily all healthcare staff, employees and essential vendors who enter the building according to CDC guidelines; this includes taking their temperature upon entry and denying entry of those with COVID-19 signs or symptoms. We require all employees to wear a face mask and other appropriate Personal Protective Equipment, as necessary, at all times when interacting with or caring for a resident.

We are following CDC, CMS, and Maryland Dept. of Health guidelines and testing any resident or employee who states that they have a symptom that could be a symptom of COVID-19. In addition, we are requiring that a resident is tested before being readmitted to the community from a hospital or other nursing home. If an assisted living or nursing home resident has symptoms and is being tested, they are under strict isolation in their room. An isolation cart is outside their room and any staff who enter the room wear a face mask, face shield, gloves and gown. The resident also wears a face mask when an employee is in the room. This procedure continues until their test results are negative and the resident no longer has symptoms. If the resident is positive this procedure continues for at least ten days and until the resident no longer has symptoms for 24 hours.  Employees who have symptoms are excused from work until their test results are negative. If an employee’s test is positive, they are excused from work for at least ten days and until they no longer have symptoms for 24 hours.

We are posting this same information on our website, www.pickersgillretirement.org on the News page. If there is someone with whom you would like to share this information, please have them visit our website.

Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns about this information. I wish you and your family a safe New Year’s celebration. Thank you.

Barry

Barry Eisenberg, FACHE, LNHA 
Executive Director 
Pickersgill Retirement Community 
615 Chestnut Avenue, Towson, MD 21204 
p. 410-825-7423  |  f. 410-821-6275 

beisenberg@pickersgillretirement.org