Friendship Village Senior Services’ Update and Response to COVID-19 as of Monday, June 1st, 2020
Dear Friends, Residents and Families of Friendship Village:
It was a beautiful weekend and now it’s a beautiful day at Friendship Villages on this Monday, June 1st, 2020.
There was a lot of buzz and activity in the Villages over the weekend with the restrictions on outdoor visits lifted. Many Independent Living Residents were able to enjoy the company of family and friends on campus by visiting outside in the wonderful weather. We were very excited for this restriction to be loosened as a result of the careful diligence of our Residents in adhering to our COVID-19 preventive measures.
In addition, our staff is beginning to work other small group activities back into the schedule that will enable us to bring Residents back together in controlled and safe ways that will begin to rebuild the incredible quality of life our Residents enjoyed before COVID-19 came along. We can’t eliminate every safety measure and we will probably do things differently than how they were done in the past, but the Good Lord is helping us to breathe more life back into the Villages and we are excited to see it.
COVID-19 testing has been conducted with virtually every skilled nursing facility Resident and employee on both campuses.
In Chesterfield, following today, two Residents will remain in the COVID Care Center for observation and a third graduates today. No employees are pending tests and only two remain at home in quarantine for recovery before they return to work.
In Sunset Hills, all Residents have been tested, however, three are being retested as the sample was not sufficient for a clear result. At the end of the day, only one Resident will remain in recovery for COVID-19 while all others have graduated. No other Residents have tested positive at this time. Four employees remain at home in recovery before returning from work and one employee on the campus, who hasn’t worked for several days, is being tested and awaiting results.
We continue to pray that all recovery continues and everyone is back to health very soon.
Visitor Policy Modified
We are excited to, once again, be able to allow visitors to Independent Living Residents on campus for OUTSIDE/OUTDOOR visits with Residents. Visits with Assisted Living and Skilled Nursing facilities must still be coordinated in advance with those administrations.
Visitors are still prohibited from coming indoors to visit.
To still maintain COVID-19 preventive measures, we ask that you and your visitors:
- Wear your mask
- Maintain social distancing
- Do not make physical contact
- Residents use hand-sanitizer when coming back inside
- Residents allow the door screeners to take their temperature at least once each day if visiting outside
Our Residents have done very well with the preventive measures they have been following for more than two months and we feel that we can safely lift this restriction if the preventive measures listed above continue to be followed.
We’re excited! We hope you are, too!
Gift-Giving in Appreciation of our Staff is Open on our FriendshipVillageSTL.com website:
Many family members and Residents have inquired as to how to donate a gift of appreciation for the staff for their service during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our website at FriendshipVillageSTL.com now has an easy-to-use tab to use in making contributions for the staff and we thank all of you for considering a gift. As funds are collected, we will identify the best use of those funds in order to do the most that can be done for our employees. Every gift is appreciated, large and small.
Our teams have received many generous contributions from YOU! We are working excitedly on ways to express your support and appreciation to the staff as soon as we possibly can. There have already been some pizzas and sandwiches, delightfully enjoyed, funded by our donors, and there will be more to come. We can always give them more!
As always, all of us thank you all for your continued prayers as we continually ask our Lord Jesus Christ to enable us to do our best to fend-off the COVID-19 coronavirus and to maintain the safety and protection of our Residents and staff.