Dear Holbrook Residents and Families,
We are providing you with an update on the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19). As of March 25, the CDC reports 54,453 cases in the United States. This compares to approximately 7,000 cases on March 18. At present, there have been 544 deaths attributed to COVID-19. There are 155 cases in the state of Maine. Of the 155 cases, 90 reside in Cumberland County.
The Maine CDC reports that OceanView at Falmouth now has six confirmed cases of COVID-19. The latest report indicates that three residents remain hospitalized.
Due to the incredible increase of the number of cases of COVID-19, nationally as well as in Cumberland County, it is imperative that we institute further measures in order to provide additional safeguards to our residents and staff. Outlined below is a revised plan that implements additional steps to address this growing health care crisis. Note that this plan supports additional measures beyond those already implemented at Piper Shores. We are characterizing the current status of these measures as a shelter in place approach. The major elements of this shelter in place plan include the following measures:
- CAMPUS ACCESS
- All vehicular traffic to the campus will be monitored by a security checkpoint that will be established on Piper Road near the Drake Lane entrance.
- Residents will no longer be permitted to exit the campus by automobile.
- A shed will be placed at the access point along Piper Road. It will be staffed 24/7.
- Thru-traffic
entering the campus will be limited to the following:
- Staff who must display their Piper Shores badge
- Approved vendors/contract service providers
- Emergency vehicles
- Medically necessary personnel (including home health, visiting nurses, and hospice).
- USPS, FedEx, UPS and other authorized deliveries.
- Family members who have approved access due to compassionate care needs (acute end of life)
- Deliveries
intended for assisted living and health center residents will be dropped at the
Piper Road entrance gate.
- Deliveries will be secured and shuttled to their intended destinations.
- All items being drop-off by visitors must occur between 7am-5pm daily.
All previous visitation restrictions remain in place and we continue to follow the guidance provided by our federal licensing authority, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Per CMS, we will strictly enforce these requirements for the safety of all residents, staff, family members and other parties.
As we have all been required to make profound adjustments to our lives, the Piper Shores health care team has been working hard to help our residents adjust to these difficult changes.
We’d like to share some of the creative measures our staff have implemented over the past 10 days to promote activity and engagement:
- Daily opportunities to enjoy walks and the fresh spring air
- Daily walks in the hallways inside, while practicing social distancing
- Daily skype and facetime calls or telephone calls with family and loved ones
- Established a book club
- Created a question of the day, all answers are shared with the group at the end of the day
- Individual room exercises
- DVD set up for in room movies (changes daily)
- Activity kits/packets for individuals;supported by staff when necessary
- Offering individual craft opportunities
- Daily 1:1 check in from staff
- Puzzle set up in rooms
- Individual card games and board games
- Emails with families twice a week
Our team will continue to increase offerings for residents and expand on what we’ve identified above. A couple of new programs on the schedule for next week include hallway happy hours and hallway karaoke. Please reach out to our Recreation team, brucebrittney@pipershores.org, if you are interested in skyping/facetiming with your loved one or if you see something on the above list that you think would be of interest to them. The entire staff will continue to engage with the residents in order to maintain social connectivity in this new environment.
Please visit www.pipershores.org for the most current information regarding our communications. We welcome your phone calls to inquire about your family member’s health status. As you may imagine, we are experiencing a much higher volume of telephone calls. We have implemented an additional cordless phone in the Health Center and will be doing the same in Assisted Living in order to accommodate the higher volume of calls.
We recognize this is an evolving situation that continues to change daily, and sometimes by the hour. The restrictions above are in response to national concerns about the health, safety and well-being of all, especially seniors with health related issues. We continue to be in very close and regular contact with our Medical Director, Rachael Blake, M.D.
Unfortunately, the foregoing measures create hardships for residents and family members alike, and we appreciate your understanding and cooperation in this extremely difficult time. We will continue to update you as this health crisis evolves.
Sincerely,
Jim Adamowicz Leanne Fiet
Chief Executive Officer Chief Operating Officer/Administrator