Friendship Village Senior Services’ Update and Response to COVID-19 as of Friday, July 24, 2020
Dear Friends, Residents and Families of Friendship Village:
Cooler, hotter, wetter, dryer. Ah, the end of another summer week at Friendship Villages on this Friday, July 24th, 2020.
The most important point first: there are no active cases of COVID-19 among residents at any level of care (Independent Living, Assisted Living, Memory Care or Skilled Nursing) on either the Chesterfield campus or the Sunset Hills campus. God is truly with us.
Assisted Living and Skilled Nursing facilities on both campuses continue to undergo regular, periodic blanket testing for COVID-19 for residents and staff.
Occasionally, an independent living resident will inform us that they may have been exposed to a friend or family member who may have been exposed to the coronavirus. When this happens, we encourage the resident to get tested and to self-quarantine until the test result comes back or for 14 days with no symptoms. Residents have been cooperative and helpful in this measure, which we very much appreciate.
Also, occasionally, an employee informs us of potential exposure risks they may have had, or we discover them during daily screening. When this happens, the employee is immediately removed from the work schedule, contact tracing is performed among other employees or residents, the employee self-quarantines at home, gets tested and, when cleared, returns to work. There are 4 employees from Chesterfield and 6 employees from Sunset Hills currently in quarantine and undergoing this process.
As everyone knows from the news reports, COVID-19 is clearly not going away. We hear it’s becoming even more prevalent around the country.
Friendship Villages are truly blessed to be able to report what you have read, above. Our Residents are safe and well-cared-for. We believe that strong adherence to the measures, below, contribute to this condition:
As always, we URGE all Residents and Staff to adhere to prevention protocols, which are:
- Wear a close-fitting mask at all times when not in living units, including on or off campus
- Wash hands or hand-sanitize frequently
- Maintain social distancing of at least 6 feet from others
- Avoid making contact with others
- If symptoms are detected, immediately contact the Care Navigator or Employee Health Nurse
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!