Updated: Monday, August 3, 2020
At this time we have no residents but have three staff members with positve tests for COVID-19.
We continue to screen all residents and all employees for signs and symptoms of this disease on a daily basis. Employees with any symptoms, whether tested or not, are sent home for a 14-day quarantine period. We have one employee who has been sent home to self quarantine.
Obviously, those individuals who present no symptoms elude efforts to screen for symptoms of the disease.
East Care Center
| # of residents with confirmed COVID-19 | 0 |
| # of residents with suspected COVID-19 | 0 |
| # of residents with symptoms of COVID-19 | 0 |
| 3 or more residents or staff with new respiratory symptoms | no |
West Care Center
| # of residents with confirmed COVID-19 | 0 |
| # of residents with suspected COVID-19 | 0 |
| # of residents with symptoms of COVID-19 | 0 |
| 3 or more residents or staff with new respiratory symptoms | no |
Assisted Living
| # of residents with confirmed COVID-19 | 0 |
| # of residents with suspected COVID-19 | 0 |
| # of residents with symptoms of COVID-19 | 0 |
| 3 or more residents or staff with new respiratory symptoms | no |
Employees
| # of employees with confirmed COVID-19 | 5 |
| # of employees with suspected COVID-19 | 0 |
| # of employees with symptoms of COVID-19 | 2 |
Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, the Washington Odd Fellows Home is taking extra precautions to prevent potential exposure to our residents. Any resident admitted to our skilled nursing facility from the hospital or the community will be admitted under quarantine for 14 days regardless of the presence of any symptoms.
We have completed testing for all residents and staff. We discovered 4 asymptomatic positive cases among residents, and 1 asymptomatic positive case among staff. We completed 480 tests. The County Community Health Department coordinated a team from the hospital to help out with the testing. With their help, we completed the majority of testing on May 8, with the rest done on the 12th and 13th. Special thanks go to Patrick at County Emergency Management for his patience in dealing with logistics of government bureaucracy, and to Commissioner Tompkins for “greasing the wheels” in Olympia!
We tested all residents and all employees of the Care Centers, Assisted Living, and the Apartments.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have recommended a number of steps that we have implemented to help reduce the potential for the virus to enter our building. However, we need your help in battling COVID-19. Absolutely no one, other than residents, employees, and medical professionals is permitted anywhere in the Odd Fellows Home complex.
These restrictions are in place to protect our residents from unnecessary contact with people who may have had contact with COVID-19. Residents of Long Term Care facilities account for 18% of cases and 61% of deaths from this disease. We implore you to do your part to not add to that statistic.
Preventive measures and changes that the Odd Fellows Home has implemented:
If you are not local, you can learn about COVID-19 in the Walla Walla area. The Walla Walla County Health Department provides updated information at its website.
The health, safety, and care of your loved one is our priority. Thank you for your support as we navigate this unprecedented situation.
Walla Walla County is in Phase 2 of the recovery process; however not much will change at the Odd Fellows Home. While the state-wide 4-phase recovery plan is applicable to most businesses, the Odd Fellows Home must follow the stricter guidelines established by CMS, CDC, and the Washington DOH and DSHS.
In the coming days, the Governor will be issuing a Proclamation outlining the phased re-opening of long term care facilities. There are several criteria that must be met to qualify for the relaxing of the visiting restrictions that are currently in place. Walla Walla County does not even come close to meeting these requirements.
The County must maintain a transmission rate of fewer than 75 cases/100K in order for facilities to qualify for moving to Phase 2 of the re-opening. Walla Walla County currently has a transmission rate of 197.7/100K. In addition, the Odd Fellows Home must have a 28-day lapse since the last positive COVID-19 test; the Odd Fellows Home does not meet this requirement. Finally, we must ensure that we have adequate staff, PPE, supplies, testing, and capacity; we do not meet this requirement, but we continually attempt to procure needed staff and supplies.
The Odd Fellows Home is still considered to be in Phase 1.
We are currently not allowing visitors to the Odd Fellows Home.
Please know that the news about this disease is concerning for us all. We understand that communication with your loved ones is incredibly important and we encourage you to communicate with them in other ways such as the telephone, video chat, email, or social media.
We encourage families to communicate with their loved ones via FaceTime or Google Duo. Our Activities Staff can help residents with this technology. Please contact Maria to help facilitate a virtual visit!
FaceTime is a free video communication program from Apple iPhone or iPad users.
GoogleDuo is a free video communication program for anyone with a GMail account. Download at the App Store or Play Store.
Additionally, we do not allow our residents to leave the facility with family and then return. For the protection of our residents from this disease, no visitors really means no visitors. Families can “visit” via FaceTime, GoogleDuo, Walkie Talkie, sign language, phone, or screaming through closed windows. The windows to the rooms MUST REMAIN CLOSED! A window screen does not stop a virus.
Please remember, it’s not just your family member that you are sharing things with. If you introduce the virus, 300+ people are now at risk. Please help us keep everyone safe and respect the restrictions. They apply to us all.
Of course, you are welcome to bring goodies or a “care package” to your loved one. Just ring the doorbell at the main entrance from 8:00 am until 5:00 pm, and we will meet you at the door to deliver your package!
Kari has been keeping our Assisted Living community updated with a weekly newsletter. Here are the back issues:
Grocery Shopping:
Walla Walla has been identified as a hotspot for COVID-19. Because of this we have changed our Thursday shopping trip to Plaza Safeway. Their employees are faithfully wearing masks, and the store has implemented many measures to promote social distancing. Admissions staff will do the shopping and will also use gloves and masks to help prevent exposure.
Grocery orders can be placed until 4:00 pm on Wednesday afternoon by calling Stephanie at 524-4821. We want to again STRONGLY ENCOURAGE YOU to utilize our shopping service to decrease the risk of people coming in and out of your building. This is especially imperative at Merriam Street Apartments. If you do have family members bringing groceries in, we ask that you meet them outside.
Visitor Restrictions:
Those of you that are using providers separate from Odd Fellows Home (including housekeepers, home health services, Hospice, etc) must communicate with your providers that they will not be allowed to come into our complex without protective gear. This includes masks and gloves. They will need gloves to enter the building, a second pair while working in your apartment, and finally new gloves as they exit the facility. Masks must be worn at all times. These extra measures are in place to prevent exposure to you and to the common areas within our building. If they can’t comply with this, we strongly encourage you to consider Odd Fellows housekeeping service or other providers.
We NEED YOUR HELP to keep this virus out of our facilities. Please do not have visitors in the apartment complex (including family) and please do not accept deliveries to your door. Please meet Fed Ex, USPS, UPS, or any food delivery drivers outside of the building. Thank you for your support as we try to protect our residents and staff at Odd Fellows Home.
