Friendship Village Senior Services’ Update and Response to COVID-19 as of Friday, August 14, 2020
Dear Friends, Residents and Families of Friendship Village:
Since our last report, Friendship Villages, and all of the St. Louis region, have had some significant weather events, but things seem to have calmed now on this Friday, August 14th, 2020.
In addition to the amazing and beautiful transformation of our campuses from our extensive expansion projects, our Residents at all levels of care on both campuses have been blessed with another week of being completely COVID-free!
Again, as of this moment, there are no residents on either campus, in independent living, assisted living or skilled nursing, who are positive for COVID-19. What a wonderful condition our Lord Jesus Christ has presented to us. The last Resident to be COVID-positive on the Chesterfield campus was July 2nd and the last Resident who was COVID-19 positive on the Sunset Hills campus was on May 25th.
While we were excited to report, last week, that both Villages were “Double Zeroes” (zero residents and zero employees confirmed positive for COVID) we also acknowledged that this status could change at a moment’s notice and that we were watching a small number of employees who were still awaiting test results. One employee for the Sunset Hills campus has come back positive during their in-home quarantine. Others have come back negative and we are still observing others, as we expect will be the case for some time to come while the coronavirus still has a very strong presence in the community. So, Chesterfield remains “double zero” at the moment and Sunset Hills now has one employee confirmed positive at home. Please pray with us that this employee recovers well and that all others are negative.
As a reminder summary of our Visitor and Activity protocols:
Visitation: Independent Living Residents may have visitors on campus and in their apartments in accordance with current public health guidance.
- All visitors are screened upon entry into the building. Please note on your campus which doors visitors must enter in order to be screened according to public health guidance.
- All visitors MUST wear a mask if over 2 years of age, practice social distancing (6 feet) and perform hand hygiene.
- Visitors are not permitted in the dining rooms.
- Group gatherings are not permitted at the present time.
Friendship Village Sponsored Activities are planned in accordance with current public health guidance.
- Activities must assure at least 6 feet social distancing between residents, residents MUST wear masks when participating in activities and frequent hand hygiene is encouraged.
- Whenever possible, single use items are provided to each person by the activities staff or, if reusable items are used, they are disinfected by activities staff after activity and prior to use by another.
- Number of persons able to participate in the activity shall be determined by the size of the room.
- Bus trips will continue to be provided with social distancing and resident wearing a mask.
We will continue to monitor St. Louis County guidance and talk with our local public health resources and adjust protocols as required. We anticipate these restrictions for at least 3-4 more weeks.
We appreciate everyone’s ongoing understanding of the situation. Our foremost concern is for the safety of our Residents and our employees. We thank you for your cooperation.
We are not alone. God is with us. Together, we’ve got this!