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!
All WRC communities will continue to offer outdoor visitation for residents and family members. The WRC visitation policy includes provisions such as screening of all visitors for symptoms and fever, asking both residents and visitors to wear a mask or cloth face covering, performing hand hygiene (e.g., using an alcohol-based hand rub), maintaining social distancing at all times, limitation on the number of visitors, etc. Please contact your community directly for current visitation guidelines, with expectations that they may change as new guidelines and regulations are put into place from CMS, CDC, the PA Department of Health, and other governing bodies. For those visitors that cannot wear masks because of health reasons, a face shield would be an acceptable alternative according to Gov. Wolf’s mask-wearing order.
Under regulations from the PA Department of Health, all long-term care facilities must complete universal baseline COVID-19testing to assist in protecting the safety of residents and frontline workers in long-term care facilities across the state. WRC’s Laurelbrooke Landing Campus will be the first WRC facility for universal testing. All staff and residents of Laurelbrooke Personal Care and McKinley Health Center will be required to undergo baseline testing. WRC will be utilizing the less-invasive nasal swab specimen collection, versus the nasopharyngeal (NP) technique. The nasal swab is a less invasive and gentler approach, and is an accepted format for specimen collection under Secretary Levine’s order. All residents and staff who have undergone COVID-19 testing on 5/24/20 or after will not need to complete another test, so long as they can provide documentation from their previous test. Testing will be scheduled at Laurelbrooke Landing prior to July 24, 2020.
July 8 marked a global of remembrance for elders impacted by the coronavirus, founded by the Global Ageing Network. Remember the Elders of Coronavirus pays tribute to the elders who we have lost worldwide during the coronavirus pandemic. Many organizations, including LeadingAge, took time to hold candle lighting ceremonies in honor of those elders who have lost their lives to the virus.
