[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”3.22″ da_disable_devices=”off|off|off” global_colors_info=”{}” da_is_popup=”off” da_exit_intent=”off” da_has_close=”on” da_alt_close=”off” da_dark_close=”off” da_not_modal=”on” da_is_singular=”off” da_with_loader=”off” da_has_shadow=”on”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_button button_url=”https://jhl.web7tech.com/covid-19/” button_text=”Click Here to Learn More” button_alignment=”center” _builder_version=”4.4.1″ background_layout=”dark” global_colors_info=”{}”][/et_pb_button][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”4.9.11″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”]
UPDATED 3/17/2020
POLICY CLARIFICATIONS AND FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Dear Residents, Family Members, Team Members and Visitors,
Now that we are getting used to this new normal, we want to reassure you that thanks to everyone’s cooperation on visitation and infection control, we continue to report no suspected cases of COVID-19 into any of our communities. We are in close contact with our team of medical experts and will update you periodically throughout this unprecedented time.
We thought it would be helpful to provide additional guidance regarding our new policies and procedures, and answer some questions that have come up amongst team members, residents and families.
No Visitor Policy
As we monitor the spread of COVID-19, both the CDC and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have recommended senior communities restrict all visitors in order to keep everyone safe. We will continue to consult with our Medical team and follow this protocol until it is deemed safe to discontinue.
- Exceptions to No Visitor Policy: Family members of a resident who is on hospice may be allowed into our communities provided they pass through our screening process. Independent health care providers, including home health, private duty, nursing services, physicians, physical therapy, and hospice staff will also be allowed to enter once they have completed our entry screening procedures.
Private Caregivers
Under our new protocol, private caregivers are considered “independent health care providers” and, like our staff, are required to go through our screening procedures to be granted access. As long as they pass the screening, they will continue to be allowed to provide care.
Residents on Hospice
Within reason, family members will be permitted to visit with a loved one who is on hospice. In order to protect the other residents in the community, we ask families to limit their visits if a loved one is not actively dying. Visits will only be approved for family members who pass through our screening process.
Pick-Ups and Deliveries
All pick-ups and deliveries will take place in the vestibule between the outside doors and entry doors of each community. For pick-ups, please contact the community at least 2 hours in advance to let them know what needs to be prepared for pick up and what time you will be arriving. For deliveries, please contact the community in advance to let them know what time you will be arriving.
- Pharmacy deliveries, USPS, UPS/FedEx and other deliveries will be accepted in the lobby and delivered to the resident by our team members. For our independent living residents, all packages will be held at the front desk for pick up.
- ***For WBJH families, please note that until further notice, all laundry will be done by WBJH team members.
Community Life and Dining
Jewish HomeLife team members are working to reduce feelings of social isolation by engaging our residents in creative ways.
- Small group activities will continue for residents with no signs of fever or respiratory illness
- Large group activities will be broken down into smaller group activities led by staff
- Group dining is an activity that reduces feelings of social isolation. As long as it is safe to do so, we will support residents who wish to dine together as follows:
- For our assisted living communities and skilled nursing home we will continue our smaller group dining for residents who show no signs of fever or respiratory illness. Room service will be provided for anyone who shows signs of illness or for residents who would feel safer dining in their room. If your community charges for this service, the charges will be waived.
- For our independent living residents and staff, Helen’s Place Café will continue to provide grab-n-go lunch and dinner options for our Howell Mill campus.
Communicating with Residents
Each community is facilitating video calls throughout the week, or teaching residents how to use popular video chat apps such as FaceTime, Skype or Google Hangouts. To help everyone have an opportunity to connect with loved ones without impacting time for hands-on care, we will not schedule calls during mealtimes, shift changes or nighttime hours. These “black-out” times include:
- 6:00am to 10:00am (Morning care and breakfast time)
- 12:00pm to 2:00pm (Lunchtime)
- 5:00pm to 7:00pm (Dinnertime)
- After 9:00pm
For our assisted living and skilled nursing home residents who need support, family members who would like to connect with your family member for a social call should contact the front desk of your community to schedule a time. A team member will help you facilitate using the resident’s phone when possible, or on the community’s tablet or laptop. Calls regarding care should still be directed to the Director of Nursing at your community.
For our independent living residents, please contact the front desk if you need assistance.
Medical Appointments
Residents can still leave the community for medical needs, including emergencies and doctors’ appointments. Our normal transportation procedures apply for community-provided transportation.
We strongly encourage residents to utilize JHL Medical Services for primary and urgent care services. Our nurse practitioners bill Medicare directly and treat patients weekly at the Clinic at The Zaban Tower, at Berman Commons and at The Cohen Home. See your Executive Director for details.
If absolutely necessary, a family member can drive their loved one to an appointment by meeting them at the front of the community. Upon return, residents will need to pass through our screening procedures and wash their hands. We will also sanitize any assistive devices (walkers, wheelchairs, etc.)
Resident Wellness Checks
In our assisted living and skilled nursing communities, we are proactively monitoring the temperatures and symptoms of all residents. Any resident with cold or flu-like symptoms, including fever of more than 100.4°, coughing, or shortness of breath will be isolated in their apartments until they are symptom free. We will assist with contacting their physician and/or other medical professionals for care as needed. Team members will wear necessary protective gear to deliver their meals and provide all necessary services in their apartments.
Residents in independent living communities are encouraged to participate in daily monitoring through our lobby area screening procedures. Any resident with cold or flu-like symptoms will be directed to stay in their apartments until they are symptom free.
Move-Ins for New or Returning Residents
New residents and residents coming back from the hospital or rehab will be required to pass through our screening process. 1-2 family members will be permitted to help a resident get settled on move-in day only, provided that they pass through the screening process. Movers will also be required to pass the screening process before being given access to our loading dock and community.
Screening Procedures
Anyone seeking to enter one of our communities, including all staff, will be directed to the front entrance and guided to our screening station. They are asked a series of questions about symptoms, recent travel, and if they have had exposure to any persons or locations where a known or suspected case of COVID-19 has been identified. All individuals will also have their temperature taken to ensure they do not show signs of fever before they are granted entry. Anyone not willing to be screened will be denied entry. All other entrances, including the loading docks, are deemed exit only with signage directing individuals to the front entry for screening.
Staff Screening and Support
Until further notice, Jewish HomeLife has implemented an “all hands on deck” policy for non-caregiving team members to help support care staff with day-to-day responsibilities such as activities, dining and housekeeping. All team members must pass through a screening process. Those who show signs of illness, or have been exposed to a location or individual with possible COVID 19 will be immediately sent home or denied access to our communities. Jewish HomeLife will support team members by augmenting our vacation/sick leave and providing on-site day care if needed while children are out of school.
Emergencies
Emergency medical/fire services personnel will be permitted to enter the community if needed. Any other emergency will be handled on a case by case basis by the Executive Director. Anyone entering the community under these circumstances will be screened upon arrival.
What happens if there is a case of COVID-19 in one of our communities?
While we hope that the safeguards we have put in place are successful, we cannot guarantee that we will not have exposure. If there is a suspected or confirmed case, we will follow all CDC, CMS and Department of Community Health guidelines.
Comments & Concerns
As a first step, please contact your community’s Executive Director. They are most directly involved at the community level and participate in our Incident Command Center, a multi-disciplinary team that meets daily to anticipate and respond to threat level and to address concerns from families through policies and procedures. You may also contact Jewish HomeLife at [email protected] or 404.351.8410. We will respond to you as quickly as possible, but usually within 24 hours.
Thank you for your support of Jewish HomeLife.
In good health,
Harley Tabak
President & CEO
Jeff Gopen
Chief Operating Officer
UPDATED 3/12/2020
Dear Residents, Family Members, Team Members and Visitors,
As you know from our past communications, we have been in close consultation with our Medical Director, Dr. Elliott Jackson, and infectious disease specialists Dr. Phyllis Kozarsky and Dr. David Rimland. We are also closely following the continually-changing guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to reduce the risk of introducing COVID-19 into any of our communities.
Following President Trump’s talk last night and all current recommendations from the CDC, CMS and other world health organizations, we have made the difficult, yet necessary, decision to implement the following updated policies and procedures until further notice:
- Effective Friday, March 13th at noon, no visitors will be permitted in any Jewish HomeLife residential communities. The only limited exception will be for those on Hospice.
- We also ask all residents to remain on the community grounds unless they need medical care. Upon returning, residents will be screened, required to wash their hands (with assistance if needed), and we will sanitize any assistive devices (canes, walkers, wheelchairs, etc.)
- All staff, independent health care providers, vendors, couriers and contractors will be required to go through our screening procedures each time they enter our buildings
- All common areas will be cleaned more often, including frequent wipe-downs of door knobs, elevators and other repeatedly touched areas.
- Group dining will continue to take place; however, this is subject to change based on our assessment of risk. Additionally, our Helen’s Place café on our Howell Mill campus will remain open for our independent living residents.
- We will eliminate all group outings, with the exception of essential trips for medical transportation, grocery and pharmacy. Buses will be sanitized before and after all trips.
- Limited grocery shopping trips will be scheduled out of necessity only for our independent living residents. However, we will teach and encourage residents to use delivery services such as Instacart and Amazon for essentials. For our assisted living residents, families can shop and have essentials delivered.
- To help families and residents communicate, our community teams will organize regular Factime/Skype sessions to visit virtually with loved ones. We will do everything we can to make sure our residents continue to communicate with families.
- All care plan meetings will be conducted via phone or video conference call
We know this will not be easy for families or residents. The temptation to leave our campus or take your loved one home with you is great. We strongly urge you to resist. The protective bubble we are building around our communities is for the protection of all. Each time one person leaves our campus, they return with the potential to infect our entire population. In the spirit of our Jewish value of Tikun Olam, or repairing the world, we ask that you put your own desire to leave campus or visit with your family member aside for the greater good of keeping all our residents safe.
We will continue to consult with our medical leadership to advise us on what, if any, additional measures should be implemented and for how long these restrictions should remain in place. Thank you for understanding. Please let us know if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Harley Tabak Jeff Gopen
President & CEO Chief Operating Officer
UPDATED 3/10/2020
Dear Residents, Family Members, Team Members and Visitors,
In continued consultation with the Medical Director of The William Breman Jewish Home, Dr. Elliott Jackson, and following guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Jewish HomeLife has taken the following additional actions to reduce the risk of introducing COVID-19 into any of our communities:
- Following Department of Homeland Security protocol, we have activated our Incident Command Center (ICC), a team comprised of Jewish HomeLife’s senior leadership, entity Executive Directors and Directors of Nursing, and our Quality Assurance Team. The ICC meets daily to report, anticipate, monitor and implement infection control efforts across our system.
- Following CMS and CDC protocol, we are conducting COVID-19 Boot Camp for caregivers across our system. We have also required all staff to participate in the Health Care Academy’s virtual class on Coronavirus detection and treatment.
- We are implementing new screening protocols for all visitors entering any of our communities. Signs and stanchions directing all visitors to the receptionist for screening will be posted immediately. All visitors (including family members) will be required to be screened or will be denied further entry. There will be no exceptions.
- Events and programs that attract large numbers of guests will be postponed until further notice. This includes caregiver support groups, education programs and volunteer groups.
- Adjusted our policies and procedures for team members who have been or plan to be out of the country or have recently traveled to any location with known COVID-19 transmission.
- Additional hand sanitizer stations and hand-washing reminders have been placed in all our buildings.
We will continue to consult with our medical leadership to advise us on what, if any, additional measures should be implemented as we learn more about this illness and its transmission.
Please let us know if you have any questions, as we do all we can to protect our residents and each other.
Sincerely,
Harley Tabak
President & CEO
Jeff Gopen
Chief Operating Officer
Dear Residents, Family Members, Team Members and Visitors,
After consulting with the Medical Director of The William Breman Jewish Home, Dr. Elliott Jackson, as well as with infectious disease specialists Dr. Phyllis Kozarsky and Dr. David Rimland, Jewish HomeLife is taking the following measures to reduce the risk of introducing COVID-19 into any of our communities:
- Signs will be posted in all communities requesting that people with acute respiratory illness refrain from entering any of our buildings.
- Individuals (regardless of illness presence) who have a known exposure to someone with COVID-19, or have recently traveled to areas with COVID-19 transmission, should refrain from entering our buildings.
- Frequent hand hygiene with alcohol-based hand sanitizer or soap and water is needed for proper infection control for all infectious diseases, including COVID-19. Additional hand sanitizer stations will be made available in all our buildings.
- Facemasks are not recommended for use unless someone has a respiratory illness.
- Team members should avoid working when ill.
We will continue to consult with our medical leadership to advise us on what, if any, additional measures should be implemented as we learn more about this illness and its transmission.
Please let us know if you have any questions, and thank you for your cooperation as we do all we can to protect our residents and each other.
Sincerely,
Harley Tabak Jeff Gopen
President & CEO Chief Operating Officer
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]
