Friendship Village Senior Services’ Update and Response to COVID-19 as of Wednesday, November 18th, 2020
UPDATE and REVISED VISITOR POLICY
Dear Friends, Residents and Families of Friendship Village:
As is well known across our local county and state and, in fact, the entire country, the prevalence of COVID-19 is on the rise, including at Friendship Villages.
St. Louis County has issued a “Safe at Home” order that asks that residents do their best to self-quarantine and to only make essential trips if necessary.
In support of the County directive and to help reduce the risk of further introducing COVID-19 to the residents and staff of the campuses, Friendship Villages in Chesterfield and Sunset Hills have instituted a No Visitor Policy that prohibits all visitors from entering the campus unless to make deliveries or as an approved caregiver.
FRIENDSHIP VILLAGE VISITOR POLICY
As of November 18, 2020
In an effort to combat the swell of COVID-19 currently occurring in the surrounding communities and at Friendship Villages, and in support of St. Louis County restrictions, the following measures are effective immediately:
No visitors are permitted on campus for Independent Living residents until further notice:
- All entrants to the campus will be met by courteous security personnel.
- No visitors to Independent Living residents will be permitted to enter.
- Those wishing to drop-off packages for Independent Living and Care Center residents will be permitted to do so at a central location.
- Those wishing to drop-off packages for Assisted Living and Memory Care will be screened and permitted to proceed to that facility to do so.
- Essential workers and caregivers will be permitted to enter the building through the Clubhouse entrance. Contract and personal caregivers must be on an approved list through the Care Navigator. If not on the list, security personnel will be able to assist in making contact.
- Residents are strongly encouraged to remain on campus and to only leave campus for essential trips for medical appointments or critical supplies. This includes visits to families for Thanksgiving. Such visits are not prohibited, but strongly discouraged in the interest of minimizing exposure to COVID-19 and bringing it back to the Village.
- The Village can assist in acquiring essential supplies. Please contact the Concierge.
- At SUNSET HILLS, residents are asked to voluntarily self-quarantine in their living quarters beginning on November 18th. This action is intended to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 that is present on campus.
- At CHESTERFIELD, there is no current request for voluntary self-quarantine, but residents are highly discouraged from any in-unit visiting and any physical contact. Wearing a mask and maintaining social distancing is always the order of the day.
- Families of residents in the Assisted Living and Skilled Nursing facilities must adhere to policies established by those facilities. Please contact the appropriate facility for details.
Friendship Village in Chesterfield:
- As of this date, there are two residents in the Skilled Nursing facility who have initially screened as positive for COVID-19 and a more comprehensive test has been ordered for both of them while they are being well-cared-for.
- Independent Living has no active cases of COVID-19 though a few residents are under quarantine for exposure to a known positive.
- Assisted Living currently has no confirmed positive cases of COVID-19, for which we are thankful.
Friendship Village in Sunset Hills has had a recent swell in COVID activity on campus:
- The Skilled Nursing facility currently has multiple residents who have tested positive for COVID-19. None of these residents have required hospitalization as symptoms have been relatively minor and manageable in the established COVID Care Unit and the staff is doing heroic work in providing the best care for them. We pray for their rapid recovery.
- Independent Living also has multiple residents who are positive for COVID-19 or have been exposed to someone who has tested positive or have recently been in a hospital or have symptoms consistent with COVID-19/cold/flu and have not tested. All Independent Living residents are currently under voluntary self-quarantine for two weeks in the effort to isolate the virus and let it burn itself out.
- Assisted Living currently has no confirmed COVID-positive residents, and we are thankful for this status.
There are multiple employees across both Villages who are under quarantine in their homes due to either having a positive test result or having had exposure to a known positive.
We understand the concern, discomfort, and anxiety this situation causes our residents, their families, and our employees. This is a situation that none of us would like to have disrupt our lives. We will continue to do all we can to keep our residents safe and yet comfortable and well-cared-for while our teams work enthusiastically on plans to bring as much of the holiday spirit to our residents as possible during this time. We appreciate your understanding while we work to tamp down COVID-19 once again.
Please pray with us as we continue our fight to protect our residents and staff. It’s a fight worthy of the best we can give.
The Lord is with us.