COVID-19

Updated:  Tuesday, November 24, 2020

Update

At this time, we continue to have no residents with COVID-19; however, we currently have one employee who has contracted COVID-19 from close family members.  They are currently being quarantined at home.  In addition, we have several employees who are currently in quarantine due to exposure with someone who has tested positive, have symptoms, or have violated travel restrictions.  At this time, we are testing all our staff on a weekly basis.

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.

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	1
# of employees with suspected COVID-19	0
# of employees with symptoms of COVID-19	3

New Admissions:

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.

Testing

We have completed testing for all residents and staff. We have purchased four testing machines and hundreds of test strips. When those machines are available and delivered, we will be conducting periodic testing.

What We Are Doing

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:

1. Limited access to the facility; all exterior doors are locked 24/7.
2. Visitors are not allowed.
3. All group activities are cancelled.
4. All group dining has been stopped.
5. All employees are screened for signs & symptoms of COVID-19 prior to work.
6. All residents are screened for signs & symptoms of COVID-19 on a daily basis.
7. Temporary satellite employee break rooms have been created to accommodate appropriate distancing.
8. A separately staffed quarantine unit has been set up for newly admitted residents, residents returning from the hospital, and residents who have or are presumed to have COVID-19.
9. All staff wear masks.
10. All residents wear masks when they are out of their rooms.
11. All residents wear masks while receiving care.
12. Staff in the quarantine unit wear full PPE.
13. Staff in other areas of the Home wear enhanced PPE.

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.

Outdoor Visits

Walla Walla County is in Phase 2 of the recovery process; however, nursing home and assisted living facilities are still considered to be in Phase 1.  The Governor recently issued Proclamation 20-66 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 does not meet this requirement with its current transmission rate of 823.2/100K.  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.

Phase 1 for re-opening long term care facilities does, however, include a provision for outdoor family visits.  As of August 12 we have been permitting outdoor visits.  These all take place on the Magnolia Patio and are be by appointment only.

There are a few rules for these visits Outdoor Visits:

1. Outdoor visits can be accommodated, Monday through Friday from 9:00 am until noon and 1:00 pm until 3:00 pm by appointment only.  Outdoor visits are limited to thirty minutes and are subject to weather conditions.
2. Visitors will be screened for signs and symptoms of COVID-19 prior to the visit.
3. All visits will be supervised by a staff member.
4. Masking, Social Distancing, and hand hygiene are mandatory.
5. Because masking is mandatory, food and drink are not permitted during outdoor visits.
6. The number of visitors is limited to two.
7. Residents are limited to two visits per day.
8. All visits will take place outdoors in a designated Visiting Area.
9. There is no presumption of privacy for an outdoor visit.
10. Due to risk of exposure, holding hands, hugging, kissing, or other physical contact is not allowed during visits.
11. Residents in quarantine are ineligible for outdoor visits.
12. Violation of social distancing and masking, and hygiene requirements will result in the family being banned from Outdoor Visits.  In addition, violations of social distancing and masking will result in a 14-day quarantine period for the resident.

No Visitors

We are currently not allowing visitors into 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 Lisa 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!

Assisted Living News

Kari has been keeping our Assisted Living community updated with a weekly newsletter. Here are the back issues:

Apartment Visitors & Family Members:

Grocery Shopping:

Due to more COVID exposure in the Walla Walla community and increasing demands in our Admissions Department, we are no longer able to provide weekly shopping service. Most stores in the community now provide either curbside pick up and/or delivery. Please feel free to contact our Admissions Department for more information on community options available.

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 appropriate PPE (Personal Protective Equipment, such as masks). 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.

Statistically, given your age YOU are more at risk than the general population and YOU more than likely would fall into the symptomatic category. Now more than ever, we need each of you to be vigilant about social distancing and wearing masks. DO NOT leave your apartment without a mask! This includes when you are in the laundry rooms, lobby area, or hallways. If you observe anyone who is not compliant with these rules, please contact the Admissions Department so we can address further. Let’s all rally together to keep this horrible virus out of our facilities. And more importantly, let’s not make YOU or Odd Fellows Home part of these statistics. We care about each of you and eagerly wait for the day when we can go back to “normal.” Until then, please take care of yourself and we ask ALL OF YOU to please keep our community SAFE!

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.