Glen Riddle COVID-19 Reponse
Update July 21:
Dear Residents and Family Members,
The Department of Health has mandated that all nursing homes, personal care homes and assisted living communities complete universal testing of all residents and employees by August 31, 2020. Universal testing includes: any resident or staff person who has never been tested, and any resident or staff person who was tested prior to June 12, 2020 and whose test result was negative. We are not required to test anyone with a history of a positive test for SARS-CoV-2. The purpose of the test is to establish a baseline and protect residents and frontline workers.
We tested all of our residents last week and two of our residents tested positive. We are awaiting the test results for two more residents. We plan to retest again and will report back to you with the results as soon as I get them. We are also in the process of testing all workers. So far, all of their results have been negative but all results are not in yet and not all workers have been tested.
What does this means for you and your loved ones?
We will need to go back to serving all meals in the resident rooms to those who do not need assistance with eating. We will retest all negatives within the next seven days. If we have no new cases, we will be able to advance to Step One. Fourteen days after Step One if we have no new cases, we can advance to Step Two which allows for visitation. Weather permitting, visitation will preferably take place outdoors in designated areas, with a maximum of two guests per resident and for one hour. Visits will be pre-arranged and will not take place in the resident room unless the resident is not able to leave their apartment. There will also be a designated area for indoor visits in neutral area. Guests will be screened and have their temperature taken upon entry, maintain social distancing and wear a mask.
I know how difficult this has been for all of us and especially for our residents and pray that this will soon be part of the past but until then, we need to take all measurements to keep everyone safe. Please note that we are only permitted to have window visits and facetime calls until we have progressed to step two.
As always, I thank you for your patience, prayers and consideration during this very difficult time.
Warm Regards,
Lisa Grech, Executive Director
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Update June 29:
Dear Residents and Families at The Residence at Glen Riddle,
I am writing to share some very good news with you today. We have now received the results of the latest round of COVID-19 testing at the community and all the results were negative. That means that there are no positive cases of the virus at the community! We are also thrilled to see our team members healthy and back to work.
While this is absolutely fantastic news, we must remain focused on preventing the spread of COVID-19. The virus continues to spread across the country, and in our area, and we can not become lax in our protocols. Please be vigilant in following our protocols and always remember to wear your mask, stay six feet away from other people and wash your hands frequently.
This has been a challenging time for all of us and we want to once again thank you for your ongoing encouragement. We appreciate each of you and truly appreciate your support.
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Update June 3:
Dear Residents and Family at The Residence at Glen Riddle,
We are writing to share some good news with you today. We have received the results of the latest round of COVID-19 testing at the community and there are now just two residents testing positive for the virus. Even better, neither of these residents has experienced any symptoms and they remain asymptomatic. We will be testing those two residents again next week. Additionally, we are pleased to report that all the team members who had previously tested positive have returned to work. They have passed the quarantine period and they are all healthy and it is wonderful to have our team back together at the community.
We also want to take this opportunity to again thank our residents and family members for your ongoing cooperation. This has been a challenging time, to say the least, for all of us and your encouragement has meant the world to us.
While the latest round of testing gives us much reason to be optimistic, we want to remain vigilant against the virus. Our protocols will remain in place for now as we begin to explore opportunities for increased social activities at the community.
We appreciate each of you and thank you again for your support.
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Update May 28:
Dear Residents and Family Members,
We want to share some good news today. We have now retested all of our residents twice and the tests revealed that the majority of residents who had previously tested positive for COVID-19 have now tested negative. We are also pleased that the latest round of testing found no new cases of the virus for residents or team members. The residents who are still testing positive are showing no symptoms of the virus and the affected team members are now back to their regular schedules.
We will be testing the positive residents again on Friday and expect more conversions to negative. We anticipate the results back within a few days. As always, thank you for your support and encouragement.
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Update May 7:
Dear Residents, Family and Team Members at Glen Riddle,
We want to let you know that we are doing an additional round of testing for COVID-19 at the community. Starting today we will be testing all residents in personal care and we expect that to take a few days. Residents in memory care will be tested early next week. Just as we did before, our team will be conducting the swab tests at the community.
We also wanted to let you know that the majority of the residents who initially tested positive continue to report that they are not experiencing any symptoms of the virus. We are monitoring all residents for any signs of illness, including temperature checks two times per day. As we have shared with you previously, our team is using full Personal Protective Equipment while working with residents who tested positive.
The benefit of having all residents at the community tested is that it will give us a better understanding of where we stand, and we can act accordingly. We expect the results to be available a few days following the tests and we will share those with you as soon as they are available.
As always, thank you for your continued support.
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Update April 26:
Dear Residents, Family and Team Members at Glen Riddle,
We want to provide an update on the work at the community being done by SERVPRO. As we told you earlier, SERVPRO is a national remediation and restoration company that specializes in health care sanitation and decontamination services using EPA approved methods. Their work aligns with the protocols set by the Centers for Disease Control.
SERVPRO is a trusted leader in the industry, used by hospitals and health care facilities around the country. They create negative pressure environments by installing air scrubbers, filters, and biotreating the entryway to the apartments. This is the most effective, safe, and reliable way to eliminate the virus and the treatment is effective for three months.
Yesterday, SERVPRO treated the Memory Care section of the community and today they are going to be treating the apartments of any resident who tested positive for COVID-19.
Residents who live in the apartments that are being treated by SERVPRO do not need to take any action and they can safely remain in their apartment during the treatment. The SERVPRO personnel will be wearing full Personal Protective Equipment as will the team members who escort them in the community. SERVPRO will also treating all the common areas of the community and we expect all work to be completed by early next week.
We are confident that the SERVPRO system is the safest and most effective disinfecting method available to combat the virus at our community. Following the SERVPRO treatment, team members will still be wearing Personal Protective Equipment when interacting with any resident with a positive diagnosis.
As we told you earlier, we are carefully monitoring all residents who tested positive, many of whom still report feeling no symptoms at this time.
Thank you for your ongoing support.
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Update April 25:
Dear Residents, Family and Team Members at Glen Riddle,
We want to let you know that we have received the additional COVID-19 test results and there is some good news to report. Most of the results we received yesterday were negative for the virus. There were also a few positive tests and we are in touch with those residents individually regarding their situation.
At this time, many of the residents who tested positive report that they are not experiencing symptoms. We are continuing to monitor them with temperature checks two times per day for any signs of illness. The benefit of having all residents at the community tested is that we can isolate residents with a positive diagnosis, and they can remain in the community unless they develop symptoms that require a higher level of care.
We want you to know that our team is working hard to provide support for residents. They are using full Personal Protective Equipment while working with residents who tested positive. As we told your yesterday, we brought in SERVPRO, a national remediation and restoration company that specializes in health care sanitation and decontamination services using EPA approved methods, to do intense cleaning in the community.
Again, we want to remind you that we completely understand you may choose to have your loved one live with you during this time and we will do all we can to accommodate you.
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Update April 23:
Dear Residents, Family and Team Members at Glen Riddle,
We have received the results of the first round of COVID-19 testing, and we are deeply saddened to report that residents tested positive for the virus. It is important to note that many of those who tested positive are not experiencing any symptoms. We will be carefully monitoring all residents, including temperature checks two times per day, for any signs of the virus. We are reaching out to each resident with a positive test to discuss their situation. The benefit of testing is isolation and the residents who tested positive will remain in the community unless they require a higher level of care.
We want you to know that we have a plan in place for community operations based on this news and we are implementing that effective immediately. All team members are now wearing full Personal Protective Equipment while working at the community. We are isolating residents who tested positive and we are bringing in additional staff, including our Corporate Director of Assisted Living and Memory Care and our Vice President of Operations to work at the community.
While we have been focused on our advanced cleaning protocol, we are now bringing in SERVPRO, a national remediation and restoration company that specializes in health care sanitation and decontamination services using EPA approved methods. SERVPRO works with many hospitals, nursing centers, and retirement communities to manage infectious outbreaks and decontaminate infected areas and we are following their recommendation. This will primarily be focused on the memory care area of the community where it is more difficult to keep residents isolated due to the level of care needed.
We want you to know that we completely understand you may decide to have your loved one live with you during this time and we will do all we can to accommodate you.
We are still waiting for 46 tests to be returned and we expect those by tomorrow at the latest. We will provide you with those results as soon as we receive them. In the meantime, please know that we are doing everything we can to provide the highest level of care possible and we appreciate your support.
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Update April 20:
To All Residents, Family Members and Team Members at The Residence at Glen Riddle,
We want to provide an update and let you know that we have been working closely with the health department and we will now be testing 27 residents and team members for COVID-19 tomorrow (Tuesday April 21). The testing will take place at the community and will be administered to those who may have been in contact with someone who tested positive for the virus. We are also continuing our efforts to obtain additional tests with the goal of testing all residents and team members.
At this time there are six residents and three team members who have tested positive for the virus and those individuals all remain away from the community. We want to remind you that it is critical that everyone follow our Enhanced Resident Protection Protocol. That means residents remain in their apartments, no visitors at the community and all meals are delivered to resident apartments. We are also continuing daily temperature checks for residents and team members along with our focus on cleaning and disinfecting throughout the community.
We will provide the results of the testing as soon as it is available and, in the meantime, please reach out to me if you have any questions. As always, thank you for your continuing support and encouragement.
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Update April 16:
To All Residents, Family Members and Team Members at The Residence at Glen Riddle,
We want to provide an update and let you know that we have learned that two residents tested positive for COVID-19 today. We currently have three residents who are in the hospital with the virus and three team members who are recovering at home.
We are working closely with the health department and we have been able to obtain 15 COVID-19 tests. Those will be administered to anyone who may have been in contact with the individuals who tested positive for the virus. We are also pushing hard to obtain additional tests with the goal of testing all residents and team members.
We want to remind you that it is critical that everyone follow our Enhanced Resident Protection Protocol. That means residents remain in their apartments, no visitors at the community and all meals are delivered to resident apartments. We need to work together to limit the spread of the virus.
We will keep you updated on the status of the testing and report the results to you when we have them. As always, thank you for your continuing support and encouragement.
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Update April 10:
To All Residents, Family Members and Team Members at The Residence at Glen Riddle,
We want to provide a short follow up to the information we shared with you yesterday. We want to clarify that at this time we have two residents and two team members who have tested positive for COVID-19 at the community.
- One team member who received a positive test result today – this individual was last in the community on April 3 and is now recovering at home.
- One resident who was taken to the hospital yesterday (April 9) and tested positive – that individual remains in the hospital today.
- One resident who tested positive and was last in the community on March 29 – that individual is now recovering away from the community.
- One team member who tested positive and was last in the community on March 31 – that individual is recovering at home.
We will work closely with the health department to determine when a resident or team member would be able to return to the community after recovering from the virus.
The update we sent yesterday was not clear as it should have been, and we apologize for any confusion that may have caused. Our goal is to be transparent with our communication and provide you with updates in a timely manner and we will continue to do so.
As always, thank you for your continuing support and encouragement.
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Update April 9:
To All Residents, Family Members and Team Members at The Residence at Glen Riddle,
We want to let you know that a resident at the community tested positive for COVID-19. This individual was taken to the hospital today where the diagnosis was made. Since the community has been operating under our Enhanced Resident Protection Protocol since March 18, it is unlikely this individual had any contact with other residents.
We also want to offer some encouraging news - the resident who tested positive for the virus last week is recovering at the hospital and family members tell us that individual is doing well. We are working closely with the Department of Health and it is important to note that no team members at the community have tested positive for the virus at this time.
As you know, our community continues to operate under our Enhanced Resident Protection Protocol and that means no visitors, residents remain in apartments and meals are delivered to residents. We are also continuing our daily temperature checks and it is important that residents or team members alert us immediately if they are feeling ill. We want to stress how important it is that all residents follow this protocol.
We will continue to provide updates with any new information. As always, thank you for your continuing support and encouragement.
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Update April 3:
To All Residents, Family Members and Team Members at Glen Riddle,
Earlier this week, we had shared that a resident of Glen Riddle had been diagnosed with COVID-19. Today, we learned that a team member has been diagnosed with COVID-19.
The resident was last in the community on Sunday, March 29th and was diagnosed with the virus on Tuesday, March 31st. We are told that the resident is continuing to do well at the hospital. Since the community has been operating under our Enhanced Resident Protocol for the past 14 days, it is unlikely this individual had any contact with other residents.
The team member was last in the community on Tuesday, March 31st and symptoms began on Wednesday, April 1st. We learned that the team member was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Friday, April 2nd. This individual will not return to work at the community until they are symptom free and the quarantine period has passed. We are working to get in touch with anyone who might have come into contact with this individual. We are also continuing to do additional deep sanitation throughout the community.
No other residents or team members have tested positive for the virus at this time.
We have been operating under our Enhanced Resident Protection Protocol since March 18 and that will continue as outlined below:
Visitors:
- We will no longer allow visitors to enter the community at this time.
- If family members need to bring essential supplies to a resident, our team will meet them outside and deliver the items to the resident’s apartment.
Dining:
- The dining room will now be closed.
- Residents will now receive all meals via cart service to their apartments.
Residents Remain in Apartments:
- During this time, residents will need to remain in their apartments
Daily Temperature Checks:
- We will continue checking residents and team members for fever symptoms each day.