As of November 18, 2021 Indoor visitation will have the following guidelines:

POLICY

Visitation will be conducted through different means based on our community structure and residents’ needs, such as in resident rooms, dedicated visitation spaces, and outdoors. Regardless of how visits are conducted, certain core principles of infection control and best practices continue to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission.

PRE-VISIT SCREENING/ORIENTATION

Precautionary pre-visit screenings, for all visitors, will be conducted prior to each visit for signs or symptoms associated with COVID-19; known exposure to COVID-19; or potential exposure to COVID-19. The screening will include, but may not be limited to, screening for fever (equal to or greater than 100.0 F); cough; shortness of breath; sore throat; muscle aches; chills; or new onset of loss of taste or smell. Screening will occur prior to visitation.

Visitors must cooperate with our community’s screening process at each visit and attest to not having signs or symptoms or current diagnosis of COVID-19. If visitor has recently had COVID-19, they may be asked to provide documentation (doctor’s note, health department release, etc.) that they no longer meet CDC criteria for transmission-based precautions.

Anyone not successfully passing the screening will be denied visitation until conditions change.

Pre-screening will include ensuring visitors bring and wear a face covering or mask. In an emergency, our community will provide a surgical mask that covers both the mouth and nose.

Alcohol-based hand sanitizer will be available for visitors; if necessary, shown how to use appropriately.

PROCEDURES

CORE PRINCIPLES OF COVID-19 INFECTION PREVENTION

The following core principles of infection control are consistent with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance for health care facilities. Our community will strive to adhere to at all times. Where practical, visitation will be person-centered, consider the residents’ physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being, and support their quality of life. Attempts will be made to reduce the risk of transmission through the use of social distancing, physical barriers and other means. Practices will include efforts to ensure an adequate degree of privacy. Visitors who are unable to adhere to the core principles of COVID-19 infection prevention will not be permitted to visit or will be asked to leave. By following a person-centered approach and adhering to these core principles, visitation can occur based on the below guidance.

  • Visitors who have a positive viral test for COVID-19, symptoms of COVID-19 (fever equal to or greater than 100.0 F, cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, muscle aches, chills, or new onset of loss of taste or smell), or currently meet the criteria for quarantine, will not be allowed to enter our community. Our community will attempt through a screening process to screen all who enter for potential visitation exclusions.
  • Hand hygiene (use of soap & water, alcohol-based hand rub) Alcohol-based hand rub is preferred.
  • Face covering or mask (covering mouth and nose) and physical distancing at least six feet between people, in accordance with CDC guidance. Visitors must bring and wear a face covering or mask that covers both the mouth and nose for the entire visit. In an emergency, our community will provide a surgical mask that covers both the mouth and nose
  • Instructional signage throughout our community and visitor education on COVID19 signs and symptoms, infection control precautions, other applicable community practices (e.g., use of face covering or mask, specified entries, exits and routes to designated areas, hand hygiene, etc.).
  • Regular cleaning and disinfecting high-frequency touched surfaces in our community, and designated visitation areas after each visit.
  • Appropriate staff use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
  • Residents should wear a face mask or face covering while moving through our community.
  • Effective cohorting of residents (e.g. separate areas dedicated to COVID-19 care).
  • Resident(s) will not be transported through any space designated as a COVID-19 care space, if a COVID-19 care space exists, or a space where residents suspected or confirmed to be infected with COVID-19 are present.
  • Resident and staff testing conducted as recommended by local, state or federal guidelines.OUTDOOR VISITATIONWhile taking a person-centered approach and adhering to the core principles of COVID-19 infection prevention, outdoor visitation is preferred when the resident and/or visitor are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Outdoor visits generally pose a lower risk of transmission due to increased space and airflow. For outdoor visits, our community has accessible and safe outdoor space(s) for visitation. However, weather considerations (e.g. inclement weather, excessively hot or cold temperatures, or poor air quality) or an individual resident’s health status (e.g. medical condition(s), COVID-19 status, or quarantine status) may hinder outdoor visits. When conducting outdoor visitation, all appropriate infection control and prevention practices will be stressed and monitored.

    INDOOR VISITATION

    Our community will allow indoor visitation for all residents as permitted by guidance or regulation for all residents.

    Our community will no longer limit the frequency and length of visits for residents, the number of visitors, or require advance scheduling of visits. Although there is no limit on the number of visitors that a resident can have at one time, visits should be conducted in a manner that adheres to the core principles of COVID-19 infection prevention and does not increase risk to other residents.

    Where potential conflicts might occur Core Principles of COVID-19 Infection Prevention will supersede.

    As part of the Core Principles of COVID-19 Infection Prevention, our community will ensure, where practical, that physical distancing can still be maintained during peak times of visitation (e.g. lunch time, after business hours, etc.). Also as part of the Core Principles of COVID-19 Infection Prevention, our community will continue to avoid large gatherings (e.g. parties, events) where large numbers of visitors are in the same space at the same time and physical distancing cannot be maintained. Our community will limit visitor movement in our community (e.g. visitors will not be allowed to walk around different halls of our community, etc.). Visitors will be instructed (perhaps escorted) to go directly to the resident’s room or designated visitation area. Our community will work with the local health authorities for additional guidance or direction on how to structure visitation policies or practices to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission.

    If a resident’s roommate is unvaccinated or immunocompromised (regardless of vaccination status), visits will not be conducted in the resident’s room, where possible. For situations where there is a roommate and the health status of the resident prevents leaving the room, our community will attempt to enable in-room visitation while adhering to the core principles of infection prevention.

    If the resident and all their visitor(s) are fully vaccinated and the resident is not moderately or severely immunocompromised, they may choose not to wear face coverings or masks and to have physical contact.

    Visitors will be required to wear face coverings or masks when around other residents or healthcare personnel, regardless of vaccination status.

    Additional information on levels of our county’s community transmission is available on the CDC’s COVID-19 Integrated County View webpage. County status will be updated and posted at the screening location.

    While strongly not recommended, residents who are on transmission-based precautions (TBP) or quarantine can still receive visitors. In these cases, visits should occur in the resident’s room and the resident should wear a well-fitting facemask (if tolerated). Before visiting residents, who are on TBP or quarantine, visitors will be made aware of the potential risk of visiting and precautions necessary in order to visit the resident. Visitors will be asked to adhere to the core principles of infection prevention. Our community will offer well-fitting facemasks or other appropriate PPE, if available. However, our community is not required to provide PPE for visitors.

    INDOOR VISITATION DURING AN OUTBREAK INVESTIGATION/STATUS

    An outbreak investigation will be initiated when a new community onset of COVID-19 occurs (i.e., a new COVID-19 case among residents or staff). To quickly detect cases, our community will follow CDC and/or regulations and guidance for COVID-19 testing, including routine unvaccinated staff testing, testing of individuals with symptoms, and outbreak testing.

    When a new case of COVID-19 among residents or staff is identified, our community will begin outbreak testing in accordance with CDC and/or regulatory guidelines.

    While it is safer for visitors not to enter our community during an outbreak investigation, visitors will still be allowed in our community. Visitors will be made aware of the potential risk of visiting during an outbreak investigation and adhere to the core principles of infection prevention.

    If residents or their representative would like to have a visit during an outbreak investigation, they must wear face coverings or masks and other appropriate PPE during visits, regardless of vaccination status, and visits should ideally occur in the resident’s room.

    Our community will contact their local health authorities for guidance or direction on how to structure their visitation policies and practices to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission during an outbreak investigation.

    VISITOR TESTING AND VACCINATION

    When feasible, our community will offer testing to visitors.

    Federal, state and local health authorities strongly encourages all visitors to become vaccinated. Our community will routinely attempt to educate and encourage visitors to become vaccinated. Guidelines indicate visitor testing and vaccination can help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and our community may ask about a visitors’ vaccination status. Visitors are not required to be tested or vaccinated (or show proof of such) as a condition of visitation. If a visitor declines to disclose their vaccination status, the visitor should wear a face covering or mask at all times. This also applies to representatives of the Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman and protection and advocacy systems.

    COMPASSIONATE CARE VISITS

    Compassionate care visits are allowed at all times. There are few scenarios when visitation will be limited only to compassionate care visits. In the event a scenario arises that would limit visitation for a resident (e.g. a resident is severely immunocompromised and the number of visitors the resident is exposed to needs to be kept to a minimum), compassionate care visits would still be allowed. Our community expects these scenarios to be rare events. Our community will not restrict visitation without a reasonable clinical or safety cause, consistent with appropriate regulation(s).ENTRY OF HEALTHCARE WORKERS AND OTHER PROVIDERS OF SERVICES

    All healthcare workers will be permitted to come into our community as long as they are not subject to work exclusion or showing signs or symptoms of COVID-19. In addition to health care workers, personnel educating and assisting in resident transitions to home or outside community will be permitted entry consistent with federal or state guidance. EMS personnel will not be screened, so they can attend to an emergency without delay. All staff, including individuals providing services under arrangement as well as volunteers, will be instructed to adhere to the core principles of COVID-19 infection prevention and must comply with COVID-19 testing requirements.

    POST-VISIT NOTIFICATION

    Any visitor who develops a diagnosis of COVID-19 or signs and symptoms such as fever; cough; shortness of breath; sore throat; muscles aches; chills; or new onset loss of smell or taste within 2 days of visiting a resident must immediately notify the our community of the date they were visiting and the resident they were in contact with.

    Our community will immediately contact the local health department for guidance; screen the resident and staff member who had contact with the visitor and follow up with the our community’s medical director or resident’s care provider.

    CARE AND SUPERVISION

    A community staff member, trained in patient safety and infection control measures, will be available to- escort visitors or residents to and from the visitation; screen visitors; remind visitors of visitation protocols and infection prevention measures to be taken during the visit, and to ensure appropriate personal care and supervision is provided for the safety of the resident by taking into consideration the needs of the resident and the situation. Supervision will include but will not be limited to: ensuring wearing of face coverings by all parties; social distancing of 6 feet or greater; the need for hydration; sunscreen; supervising residents with wandering tendencies or other behaviors; appropriate clothing for the weather; and conditions or medications that may cause the resident to be heat-sensitive.

    CLEANING AND SANITATION

    Common visitor area(s) will be sanitized with an EPA-registered disinfectant before and after each visit.

    FAILURE TO COMPLY

    ANY VISITOR WHO FAILS TO FOLLOW OUR COMMUNITY’S VISITATION POLICY REQUIREMENTS WILL JEPORDIZE THEIR VISITATION PRIVILEGES.

    POLICY UPDATES OR CHANGES

    Our community will communicate, via email, letter or phone, to our residents and their representative any updates or changes as they may occur to this visitation policy and its requirements. The resident representative will be asked to communicate with other family members or friends any updates or changes.