Lancashire Hall COVID Communications

 Dear Family Member, Due to the increase in COVID-19 county positivity rates exceeding 10%, we must follow the guidance provided and restrict visitation to window visits and compassion/end-of-life visits at this time.  Once the positivity rate decreases to below 10% we will update you when "in facility" visitation will return.  Please contact the Activities department to schedule a visit.  We appreciate your understanding and cooperation.   Sincerely, Teronna Bosserman, NHA Lancashire Hall

 While conducting outbreak testing today, we have identified two positive resident test results on Baker Wing.  Last week, the facility informed you that there were two positive employee cases from Baker wing and they began outbreak testing.  They had completed the first round of outbreak testing and did not identify any new positive cases. However, while doing outbreak testing today, they identified two residents who tested positive. Both residents have been fully vaccinated.  The residents have been moved to the designated RED ZONE where they will remain in isolation until they are off transmission-based precautions.  Communal dining, indoor visits and group activities have been suspended for Baker, Rosemont, and Rehab.  As a reminder, Rehab back hall is designated as a Yellow Zone for new residents or those residents who are identified with potential exposure to COVID-19.  Rosemont has been designated YELLOW effective yesterday following the staff p...

 We have had one staff member who worked on Rosemont test positive last evening.  The employee had no symptoms upon screening prior to work but later developed symptoms.  The employee was tested and sent home immediately.  Rosemont has now been designated as a "Yellow Zone".  All Rosemont residents are under transmission based precautions and isolated to the unit for the next 14 days.   All  facility staff and residents, regardless of vaccine status, will be tested in accordance with outbreak testing guidance.  Visitation will be suspended until completion of the first round of outbreak testing.  Results of the testing will determine if we will be able to continue with visits in other areas of the building.  Indoor visits for Rosemont are suspended until they achieve 14 days with not new positive test results. If there are no positive results in any other location, of the facility we will resume visits once the first round of testin...

 We have completed the monthly testing of non-vaccinated employees this past week and there were no positive test results.  I'll be posting updates on a limited basis since there is not a lot of new information to report.   The visitation schedule has been reviewed and revised due to expressed concerns about rigid timeframes.  Teronna (the administrator) and the team got together over this past week to look at opportunities for flexibility while still allowing us to adhere to the COVID-19 Core Principles of Infection Prevention per CMS guidance.  Teronna and the team were completing calls to all family members Friday with the updates and changes.  Teronna has updated the visitation policy and a letter has been sent to families. I am attaching here for your reference, the last updated guidance from CMS regarding visitation.  QSO-20-39-NH REVISED (cms.gov)  Please review and feel free to reach out with any questions. While life is seemingly ret...

The Lancaster County positivity rate this week is down to 0.8%.  We continue to do monthly testing of non-vaccinated staff.  There are no positive test results.  We continue to follow CDC, CMS and DOH guidance for infection prevention which includes screening of all individuals entering the facility, wearing required PPE, hand washing, wiping down surfaces and providing on-going education/reminders to staff and residents regularly. Have a nice weekend! Sharon Eyster, MA, ACBSW, CNHA, FACHCA Director of Operations

There continue to be no new positive employee or resident test results.  The Lancaster County positivity rate remains at 1.4% again for the second week in a row.  We continue to conduct screening for all persons entering the building.  If you have symptoms or do not feel well, we ask that you do not visit.  Many people have seasonal allergies.  Allergy symptoms are similar to COVID-19 and we cannot just take someone's word for it if they present with symptoms.  We will not permit anyone to visit that is exhibiting symptoms.  We are aware that there are new variants of the virus therefore, we will continue to take every precaution to protect our vulnerable residents.  We appreciate your patience, understanding, and cooperation.  I think we are all looking forward to the day when we can put this behind us! Have a great weekend! Sharon Eyster, MA, ACBSW, CNHA, FACHCA Director of Operations

 We are pleased to report that we continue to have no positive employee or resident test results.  The Lancaster County positivity rate is down to 1.4%.  We are doing monthly routine testing of non-vaccinated employees as well as new unvaccinated residents and those going out on LOA over night.  The rehab back and center hallways are designated as Yellow Zones for new unvaccinated residents admitted to the facility and others who present with potential signs or symptoms of COVID-19.  We are continuing with screening of all individuals who come to the facility as per continued requirements for surveillance purposes.  This will continue until we are directed otherwise by CDC, CMS, and/or PA DOH.  We continue to offer and encourage the vaccine for all residents and staff.   Have a nice weekend! Sharon Eyster, MA, ACBSW, CNHA, FACHCA Director of Operations

We have completed all outbreak testing following the last employee positive test result on 5/14.   The Lancaster County positivity rate is now down to 2.2%.   Therefore, we will now be testing unvaccinated staff monthly unless there is a new resident or employee positive test result.  Visitation remains open.  Currently, 51% of the staff and 80% of residents are vaccinated.  All employees and residents are offered and encouraged to receive the vaccine.  We are required to report vaccination status of employees and residents to the CDC.  Additionally, we are obtaining information of the vaccine status for any vendors/contractors who work in the building at least one day during the week as required by CDC for reporting purposes.  We greatly appreciate your patience and understanding as we continue to work through  the vaccine reporting guidance.  Please feel free to call us with any questions or concerns. Have a beautiful weekend...

 We are in the process of completing week two outbreak testing.  All residents have tested negative.  The staff tested today were all negative.  The county positivity rate this week is down from 3.8% last week to 3.6% this week.  If all employee test results are negative, we will be testing non-vaccinated staff monthly starting next week. Wishing you all a Happy Memorial Day Weekend! Sharon Eyster, MA, ACBSW, CNHA, FACHCA Director of Operations, Wilmac

The facility is in the process of completing the second week of outbreak testing since the employee positive test result on 5/14/21.  There were no positive resident or staff test results identified since the positive test result of 5/14. Today, the Lancaster County positivity rate is at 3.8% which means that staff testing will be reduced to monthly after the weekly testing next week provided the county positivity rate remains below 5%. We continue to encourage residents, employees and family members to get the vaccine to support our efforts at protecting our residents from exposure to COVID-19.  We will continue with scheduled indoor visits as planned.  The updated guidance from CMS on 4/27 (see blog of 4/30) provided new guidance for fully vaccinated residents and their visitors.  Visitors may voluntarily disclose their vaccine status if they wish to visit fully vaccinated residents without the use of masks or physical distancing.  We have included this as an ...

We are continuing with outbreak testing this week following the positive employee test result reported on Monday. This morning, another employee tested positive.  Contact tracing revealed that there was no resident exposure.  A new round of outbreak testing was started today.  All residents were tested today and all had negative results.  115 employees were tested today, 114 had negative results.  The rest of the staff will be tested tonight and tomorrow. The Lancaster County positivity rate this week is down to 5.1%, which is good news.  We continue to follow CMS and CDC infection control guidance for nursing homes. Staff continue to be screened before the start of their shift.  Staff are also required to wear eye protection and face masks in Green Zones (no exposure, no suspected COVID-19).   A Yellow Zone (transmission based precautions)  is reserved for new admissions who are not vaccinated or for anyone with suspected symptoms ...

We learned today that one employee has tested positive for COVID-19.  The employee has not been in the facility since last Wednesday and just received a positive test result from a physician after developing symptoms.  The current CMS guidance requires us to suspend indoor visits until the first round of outbreak testing has been completed.  Outbreak testing was conducted today on residents and staff (regardless of vaccine status) and there have been no new positive test results as of this evening.   There are still a few remaining staff and residents who will need to be tested before we can conclude the first round of outbreak testing.  We will work diligently to complete this in the interest of resuming indoor visits as soon as reasonably possible.  We are hopeful that there will be no additional positive cases. Contract tracing was completed and it was determined that there was no resident exposure from this employee, therefore, we are not required ...

 As reported on Wednesday, the CDC and CMS issued updated guidance for visitation, testing, and activities.  The revised guidance is located here  QSO-20-39-NH REVISED (cms.gov)  for your review.   In light of these changes, we have updated our facility policies to include changes that are addressed in the revised guidance.   NEW for visitation: When both residents and their visitors are fully vaccinated, they can choose to have close contact (including touch) and not wear source control masks.  To clarify, if both are fully vaccinated, there is no need to wear a mask or physically distance during the visit.  However, when around employees, other residents or visitors not in your group, you must continue to wear masks and physically distance. The facility is not permitted to ask or require visitors to notify us of your vaccination status.  However, if vaccination status is unknown, we will continue to require masking. There is...

The CDC and CMS updated guidance yesterday, 4/27/2021, regarding testing, visitation and activities in response to COVID-19 vaccination.  We are currently in the process of reviewing the guidance and updating our policies to comply with the new guidance.  The facility is taking the necessary steps to review, update and adjust our processes.  Once we have updated the policies/procedures and educated staff, we will make adjustments to the visitation schedule.  We will provide you with updates as soon as we have additional information. Thank you for your patience. Sharon Eyster, MA, ACBSW, CNHA, FACHCA Director of Operations

 The county positivity rate for Lancaster County as of 4/16/21 is 9.0%  We continue to test employees weekly based on the county positivity rate.  There have been no new positive test results.  Our team has met to review current visitation schedules and will be revising to increase the number of visits at each scheduled time.  This should help with getting as many of you in for visitation as possible.  We also continue to encourage outdoor visits as weather permits.  The Therapeutic Recreation staff will be contacting you next week to schedule a visit or to update you on the visitation schedule. Sharon Eyster, MA, ACBSW, CNHA, FACHCA Director of Operations

 We have completed the first round of outbreak testing and have not had any  new positive test results for employees or residents.  Residents who were exposed to the employee that tested positive are in  Yellow Zones and still on transmission based precautions until next Tuesday.  Indoor visits for residents not on "isolation" (in a Yellow Zone) are permitted to have indoor visits.  Those who are in Yellow Zones may have window visits. Our staff are working on updating visitation schedules.   The county positivity rates will be updated tomorrow and I will post them along with any new information tomorrow. Sharon Eyster, MA, ACBSW, CNHA, FACHCA Director of Operations

 We have been informed that an employee has tested positive for COVID-19.  The employee last worked in the facility on 4/3.  As a result, we are conducting outbreak testing of all residents and staff in accordance with CMS and PA DOH guidance.  The new guidance requires that we suspend indoor visits (with the exception of compassionate visits and those for disability law rights) until we complete the first round of testing.  The guidance is posted here for your reference  QSO-20-39-NH Revised (cms.gov) .  The staff are in the process of calling families and notifying residents.  The COVID hotline message has been updated today with this new information. Additionally, residents who were exposed to this employee are now on transmission based precautions in a "Yellow Zone".  As you will recall, the Yellow Zone is the area where residents are isolated during the 14 day quarantine period.  The employee worked on Appel wing, therefore, Appel i...

 We have continued with weekly testing of staff for the last several weeks and there have been no new positive test results.  Indoor visitation resumed the week of March 9th as planned. As you are aware, CMS issued new guidance on allowing nursing home visitation. The guidance is found  here:  QSO-20-39-NH Revised (cms.gov)  We updated our policy immediately to match the new guidance.  Some of the important updates include: Outdoor visitation is preferred even when the resident and visitor are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and always available weather permitting residents who are fully vaccinated may have physical contact with their visitors visitors are not required to be tested or vaccinated nor will it be used as a condition for visits. We will continue to offer testing prior to visits to protect the staff and residents from potential exposure. if the facility has a single positive test result, the facility must suspend indoor visits (with the excep...

 We have completed the weekly testing and all resident and staff results this week are negative. This concludes the universal testing required from the last positive employee result on 2/21/21.  We will now resume weekly testing of employees.  Scheduled indoor visits will resume tomorrow.  All visits are scheduled in advance with our Therapeutic Recreation Department.  Thank you for your continued patience and we look forward to seeing you in person again! Sharon Eyster, MA, ACBSW, CNHA, FACHCA Director of Operations

 Today we continued our universal testing of residents and staff following our last positive employee result on 2/21.  There have been no new positive test results.  We still have 15 employees to test tomorrow.  If all are negative, we will open to indoor visits again as planned and as described in the post of 3/5.   I will post  an update tomorrow once all the tests have been completed.   As you may know, the CDC issued new guidance today on individuals who have been fully vaccinated.  Unfortunately, there are no changes to what we are required to do in health care facilities.  The guidelines that came out do not apply to long term care so we must wait for guidance from CDC, CMS and/or PA DOH to make any changes to our processes.  I want to make sure that you are aware of this so it does not create confusion.    As always, please feel free to contact us if you have questions.  Sharon Eyster, MA, ACBSW, CNHA, FAC...