Lancashire Hall COVID Communications

 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...

 We have completed testing of residents and staff this week and we are happy to report that there are no new positive test results.   Monday, March 8th is day 14 since our last positive employee test result.  We will complete universal testing of residents and staff again on Monday. If all test results are negative, we will move forward with indoor visitation next week. I will provide an update when testing is completed on Monday.  Our Family Zoom meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 11th at 2:00 PM.  Hope to see many of you there!  Have a nice weekend! Sharon Eyster, MA, ACBSW, CNHA, FACHCA Director of Operations

 Yesterday, I reported that we had an employee who tested positive using the rapid point of care test.   The test result was sent out for confirmation and the result was confirmed positive.  This does not change anything else that was reported yesterday.  We continue with weekly testing of residents and staff and will delay indoor visits until there are no new positive cases (employee or residents) for the next 14 days.  We will keep you updated.  Please call if you need clarification or have questions.   Sharon Eyster, MA, ACBSW, CNHA, FACHCA Director of Operations

The Lancaster County positivity rate this week is down to 8.0%.  According to CMS guidance, we are in a medium risk county (5%-10% positivity rating).  This means that are required to continue testing staff weekly until the county positivity rate drops to less than 5%.  However, when we identify any individual, staff or resident, with a positive test result, we are required to conduct universal testing of staff and residents for 14 days until there are no new positive test results. We continue with weekly testing of staff and residents this week due to the positive employee test result last week.  There was one positive employee test result this week which has been sent out for confirmation.  At this time, we are still considered to be in "outbreak" status according to CMS guidance ( QSO-20-38-NH (cms.gov) )  since we have had one positive test result.  We are continuing universal testing of residents and staff for the next 14 days as described above....

 I reviewed the guidance today as it relates to indoor visits.  Since we had a confirmed positive employee test result on Sunday, 2/14, the guidance from CMS restricts indoor visits while the facility has an outbreak (the definition of an outbreak is any new positive test result) requiring us to do universal testing for the next 14 days.  This week's test results were all negative.  If  all test results next week are negative (residents and staff results), we will review plans for re-opening to indoor visits. There is not change to guidance on this despite vaccination status. We will continue to keep you updated.   Sharon Eyster, MA, ACBSW, CNHA, FACHCA Director of Operations