September 25th Update

To keep you up-to-date on our efforts to keep our residents and staff safe, we will update this page as things change in our community:

  • Our COVID-19 situation: As of September 25th, we have thirteen (13) confirmed cases of COVID-19 in our community. Eight (8) residents and five (5) staff, all in our Skilled Nursing Facility, tested positive. Those residents who are positive are isolated to their rooms and staff are wearing full PPE when caring for them. All residents and staff were tested at our community on September 18th, 2020. Another round of testing took place on September 24th. This will be our eighth (8) round of testing for our skilled nursing home residents and it will be the fourth (4) round for our Assisted Living residents. 
  • Our supply of protective equipment: You’ve likely heard about the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) shortage caused by COVID-19. Our supply of PPE is above average. We are working with the State Emergency Operations Center and other vendors to get more supplies as we need them.
  • Antigen testing: We now have the capability to test using an antigen machine and can receive results back within fifteen (15) minutes. We can use this to test residents and staff who are having symptoms or those who came in close contact with someone who is positive.
  • Testing: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid have released regulation for testing going forward on September 2nd, 2020. Depending on the amount of cases we have in Mower County and/or a positive case in our community we could be testing as much as once (1) a week, twice (2) a week or once (1) a month. 

We appreciate all of support, prayers, and offers of help that we’ve received. If you have specific questions or concerns, please contact Chris Schulz, Administrator, 507-433-1808.

Information about our COVID-19 Protection Actions

Actions we take when a resident/tenant is diagnosed positive for COVID-19:

  • Notify the family of the person
  • Quarantine the individual in an isolated area and/or quarantined to their room
  • Work directly with the Minnesota Department of Health to guide our next steps in monitoring and testing residents and staff, as well as infection control to prevent the spread of the virus
  • Send a communication out to residents and families about the case

Actions we take when a staff case is diagnosed positive for COVID-19:

  • Staff self-quarantines at home
  • Work directly with the Minnesota Department of Health to guide our next steps in monitoring and testing residents and staff, as well as infection control to prevent the spread of the virus
  • Allow staff to return to work when staff have been fever-free without use of medication for at least 72-hours, have improved respiratory symptoms, and it has been at least 14 days since their first symptoms first appeared

Infection Control Measures: This includes limiting residents from congregating in social spaces, moving throughout the building or keeping them in their rooms; dedicated staff to serve residents who are infected or may be at higher risk, wearing of masks, goggles and face masks in resident areas, staff and resident daily monitoring of symptoms, meals delivered to rooms, disinfecting twice a day of high traffic areas and surfaces, and following other recommendations from CDC and MDH.

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