Friendship Village Senior Services’ Update and Response to COVID-19 as of Thursday, May 21st, 2020
Dear Friends, Residents and Families of Friendship Village:
It’s going to be a nice day at Friendship Villages on this Thursday, May 21st, 2020.
By God’s grace, there are no Residents in Independent Living or Assisted Living on either campus who are positive for COVID-19 and only newly-moved-in Residents are under their precautionary, self-quarantine until their initial 14 days pass.
After today, the Chesterfield COVID Care Center will be down to 2 Residents awaiting discharge following recovery and one Resident waiting for a test result. The care team, Chaplain’s team, the food team, the housekeeping team, and the activities team in Chesterfield continues to do great work in their care of our Residents, there.
In Sunset Hills, there are five Residents who have tested positive and are being cared-for by a multidisciplinary team of caregivers in the COVID Care Center within the Sunset Hills skilled nursing facility. Again, the care team in this unit is doing great work in keeping these Residents as healthy in body, mind and spirit as possible and they seem to be faring well.
Friendship Villages has altered the Visitor Policy as it pertains specifically to skilled nursing and assisted living. Window visits for skilled nursing Residents are now possible under the strict management of the facility administrator, on a scheduled and permitted basis, so that staff is assembled to assist with these visits appropriately. Some Residents are in interior rooms and so need to be moved to an exterior window for a visit and that takes some coordination which can only be done in a planned manner. Please contact the administrator for details and also participate in the regular Zoom calls and other communications that are shared frequently.
For Assisted Living, balcony visits are now permitted, again, in a planned manner, through the facility administrator. Not all Residents have access to a balcony in the right location and so coordination must be made in advance at times that are able to be accommodated. Please contact the administrator for details and also participate in the regular Zoom calls and other communications that are shared frequently.
There has been no change in any of these policies for Independent Living Residents and all of the policies of the past several weeks remain in place.
As always, please pray with us for God’s intervention in preventing Residents and other staff from contracting the virus.
No Visitor Policy Still in Full Effect
As many would expect, all of the security and no-visitor policies remain in full effect at all locations as we continue to combat the coronavirus. We appreciate the cooperation and understanding of all involved, Residents and families alike.
Although the State of Missouri and St. Louis County has lifted stay at home orders, Friendship Village must still adhere to our protocols and the guidance provided by the CDC and the Departments of Health as prescribed for senior living communities. We will maintain our measures and vigilance, as we are currently, until a time when we feel there will be an opportunity to safely begin relaxing some of our measures, but that time is not now. Our No-Visitor Policy remains in effect until further notice. We appreciate your continued understanding and cooperation.
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.
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.