In light of concerns regarding coronavirus (COVID-19), we want to keep you informed of proactive measures we are undertaking to protect our residents, staff and visitors from exposure and prepare for the possible spread of illness. Our priority is the health and safety of our residents and staff. Accordingly, we are closely monitoring announcements from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and New York Department of Health (DOH) and following agency guidance in addition to consulting industry resources.

Please note that we are constantly evaluating our policies and protocols in view of the new constant information that continues to change all of the time. We will do our best to keep you apprised of changes by updating this notice.

The following is a summary of measures undertaken to date consistent with regulatory guidance:

Interdisciplinary Task Force

• Led by our Medical Director and Director of Nursing, our interdisciplinary team is in constant communication working together to develop efficient and effective procedures and protocols to minimize the risk of exposure and prepare for possible spread.
• We monitor and have been communicating with DOH and other regulators as well as trade associations and other health care providers to obtain the most up to date information to allow us to evaluate and implement the most effective prevention and control protocols.

Resident Monitoring

• Our clinicians are vigilantly monitoring resident health.
• We have trained our staff to identify residents who might be at risk of COVID-19 and are prepared to institute precautions for these residents if the need arises.

Employee and Contractor Screening

• We are screening all employees and contractors for symptoms or potential exposure to COVID-19 to prevent the introduction of the COVID-19 infection.

Facility Maintenance

• We have increased the frequency of cleaning on high touch surfaces and high trafficked public areas with germicidal and antimicrobial cleaners specific for COVID virus. This is done daily, and in many areas, multiple times a day.
• We have made hand sanitizer readily available for residents, visitors and staff.

Visitation

Based on guidance published by CMS, as a preventative measure to limit outside exposure to our residents, we have limited all visitation except end-of-life or other essential situations. Visitors for whom visitation is permitted under the limited exceptions may not visit if they have fever, shortness of breath, cough, nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and/or diarrhea as noted in the poster published by DOH.

We know that this will be challenging for our residents and their families and loved ones and appreciate your understanding and cooperation in order to protect the health and safety of your loved ones.

If you have any questions about the visitation limits, please contact our Social Work Department at (516) 367-3400 ext. 109 or 112.

Visitors will be screened prior to entry for the following risk factors:

• Contact within the last 14 days with someone with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 infection;
• Within the last 14 days travel to high risk areas as defined by the CDC including but not limited to China, Iran, Italy, Japan or South Korea or a cruise ship, or participated in other stings where crowds are confined to a common location;
• Residing in a community where community-based spread of COVID-19 is occurring;
• Respiratory illness; and
• Signs or symptoms of a respiratory infection, fever, shortness of breath, cough, nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and/or diarrhea please do not visit the facility until 24 hours after your signs/symptoms have resolved. We want to ensure the health of our staff and residents by enforcing the standards recommended.

Visitors subject to the limited exceptions who have any of the risk factors will be barred from entry.

Volunteers, Non-Essential Vendors and Companions

We have advised volunteers, non-essential vendors and companions to refrain from coming to the facility at this time.

Below are helpful links.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/faq.html

https://www.health.ny.gov/diseases/communicable/coronavirus/

https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/health/health-topics/coronavirus.page

https://coronavirus.org