We’re sharing our weekly update to keep WRC employees, residents, and families informed of changing regulations and policies at the national and state level, as well as within the WRC continuum. Thank you to all WRC essential workers!
PA Gov. Wolf has announced that starting on Friday, May 29, 2020, certain Pennsylvania counties will be moving into the “green” phase. Per recommendations from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS), the PA Department of Health (DOH), and our local public health officials, visitation in senior living communities will NOT be included in the “green” phase, and all WRC communities will remain in the “red” phase. With this, we will still require family members to refrain from visiting inside our buildings, and continue to limit all outside doctor visits to only those that are medically necessary. We understand that restricting indoor visitation is difficult for residents and families; however, contact with visitors is the primary way residents could become exposed to and contract COVID-19. In order to protect residents and staff, we need to continue restricting visitation, despite its challenges.
All of WRC’s communities will begin to allow visitation outside of the building, scheduling outdoor “patio” or “parking lot” sessions for residents and their adult family members. WRC residents and family members will be able to visit outdoors while social distancing at least 6 feet apart. All visitation will have scheduled times, time limits, and predetermined locations. They will be restricted to 4 visitors per resident, per time slot. Family members will be required to contact their community directly to schedule a visitation time. Your community will ask that visitors bring their own folding or camping-style chairs to these outdoor visitations.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health is recommending universal testing as a strategy to test of asymptomatic staff and residents for SARSCoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. These strategies inform infection prevention and control in long-term care facilities (LTCF). The goal of universal testing is to rapidly detect asymptomatic positive residents in order to manage their care appropriately and to identify asymptomatic positive staff so they may be excluded appropriately to prevent transmission.