At Terrace Ridge Assisted Living the safety and health of our residents and staff is our top priority. We are monitoring the COVID-19 situation closely and are following guidance from the CDC, other local, state and federal health organizations to do our part to help lessen the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus).

To provide you with timely and relevant information, we are adding this web-based communications platform. This allows us to provide daily updates so that you have access to the most up-to-date key information on our efforts to protect our residents, patients and staff.

Admission Criteria – Even prior to COVID-19, we routinely prepare to minimize the transmission of various infections through policies, procedures, training and use of Personal Protective Equipment. Although routine admissions continue within our facility, rest assured we are following CMS and CDC guidelines and protocols regarding new admissions to provide care for our newly admitted residents while ensuring the safety of our existing residents and staff. In addition to our standard protocols, we have enhanced our admissions criteria during this time to include more in-depth screenings and have designated an area/environment within the facility for our new residents. We are committed to provide additional monitoring of new admissions to provide additional caution and safety for all residents and staff.

Our web-based update is below.

As of [get_todays_date],

  •  No residents are currently positive for COVID-19. We are closely monitoring all residents for signs and symptoms.
  • No staff  member is currently positive for COVID-19.
  • No working staff members are exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 (coronavirus).
  • We are conducting weekly testing on all employees and residents.
  • We are performing staff screenings at the beginning of each shift including temperature checks.
  • No outside Healthcare providers coming in to the facility to perform essential care functions are exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 (coronavirus). We are continuing to screen outside Healthcare providers before allowing entry into the facility including temperature checks.
  • No outside personal items including laundry. We are providing in-house laundry services for all patients and residents.
  • Our supply levels remain sufficient to serve our residents at this point in time.

 

QUARANTINE

  • Residents leaving the facility for less than 24 hours: quarantine is not recommended for vaccinated or unvaccinated residents (unless there is prolonged close contact with someone with SARS-CoV-2 infection). Residents are encouraged to adhere to the 3 W’s.
  • For unvaccinated residents that leave the facility for ≥ 24 hours: quarantine is recommended when they return.
  • For vaccinated residents that leave the facility for ≥ 24 hours: quarantine is not recommended unless they have had prolonged close contact with someone with SARS-CoV-2 infection while they were outside the facility. An exception to this would be if residents have “traveled”. CDC travel guidance states that individuals who have traveled should quarantine for 14 days after travel (regardless of vaccination status) if they will be having contact with individuals at increased risk for severe illness. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/travel-during-covid19.html#after-you-travel
  • Fully vaccinated residents being admitted to a LTCF no longer require quarantine as long as they have not been in prolonged close contact with someone with SARS-CoV-2 infection in the prior 14 days
  • Fully vaccinated residents in LTCFs should continue to quarantine following prolonged close contact with someone with SARS-CoV-2 infection in the prior 14 days.
  • Any family member planning to pick up a resident MUST call the SIC at least 1 HOUR  prior to picking up their loved one.
  • Residents MUST sign out and back in when leaving the community.

COMMUNAL DINING 

  • Guidelines:
    • Fully vaccinated resident will be permitted to dine without face coverings and without social distancing.
    • Unvaccinated residents will maintain a safe distance of 6ft from one another and all other residents while dining.
    • Residents will perform hand hygiene before entering and exiting the dining area.
    • All dining areas, tables, and chairs will be disinfected after each meal.
    • All condiments and other shared items such as salt and pepper will be served in individual packets.
  • Procedure
    1. Residents will sanitize hands prior to entering dining hall.
    2. Residents will sit and eat at assigned seats.
    3. Plates will be delivered to residents one by one.
    4. Once residents finish eating they will sanitize their hands and leave the dining hall.

COMMUNAL ACTIVITES

  • Guidelines
    • Fully vaccinated residents will be permitted to participate in communal activities without face masks and without the need to social distance.
    • If any unvaccinated residents are in participation of an activity, ALL residents, regardless of vaccination status, MUST wear a face mask and the unvaccinated resident will maintain a safe distance of 6ft from all other residents.
  • Procedure
    • All equipment and commonly touched surfaces will be disinfected after each use.

We know that it is difficult to be away from your loved one for an extended period of time. We encourage you to write letters, text, call, email, skype, facetime, email photos or use other electronic means to continue to communicate to your loved one. These small gestures have a tremendous impact on our residents and patients!

Questions have come up regarding mass testing for the coronavirus.

We want you to know that we share your desire to keep our residents and staff as safe as possible during this time.

In addition to available local testing sites, we have arrangements with our commercial lab partner to provide surveillance and exposure testing for our residents and staff. In addition, we now have capabilities to conduct rapid in-house testing. Our  team members are regularly being tested for surveillance or exposure purposes.

Greater access to testing and receiving timely results has been – and remains – a top priority for our community and other assisted living communities across the state. With the availability to conduct limited in-house rapid testing, this option has reduced the lag time that remains in getting results from commercial labs. We continue to use commercial labs to conduct the confirmatory tests. Although testing ability is more readily available, the time it takes to receive test results remains a concern for us as well as other assisted living communities.

Rest assured that protecting our state’s assisted living facility residents is a priority for Gov. Cooper and other North Carolina health care officials. The federal and state government is assisting facilities with making testing more readily available.

As you know, we have been aggressively limiting access to our facility, screening all staff, and carefully monitoring residents since early March. In addition, we continue to carefully follow the guidance of local, state and federal health officials with regard to the preventative and precautionary measures we are taking to protect our residents and staff. We will continue to monitor recommendations for surveillance and exposure testing.

Thank you for your thoughts, patience and support as we navigate through these unprecedented times.

FOOD & SNACK QUESTIONS
We continue to have questions regarding… can I and what types of snacks, food or drinks can I bring for my family member or loved one during the coronavirus visitation restrictions.

We realize it is helpful to be able to drop off something for your loved one so everyone can feel connected. Or they’re calling because they miss a favorite dish, sandwich, snack or drink.

Therefore we have prepared this Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) sheet to assist you.

•When bringing food and/or snacks we ask that you refrain from dropping these items off during meal times as our staff are serving and assisting the residents. These are are 8am-9am, 12pm-1pm, and 5pm-6pm. Please make arrangements to bring your loved one food, snacks, and/or supplies before or after these meal times.

• A table and/or tote(s) are available by our entryway to leave items you want to provide for your loved one or friend. Items will be collected, sanitized and delivered at least morning, afternoon and evening.
• Label who for, whom from, date and room number prior to bringing. Or fill-out stick on labels will be available on the table to complete and place on item(s).