Dear Patients, Families and Community:

As the week comes to a close, I wanted to provide you with an update on behalf of Radford Health & Rehab Center.

COVID-19
As of the date of this letter, we have no patients or employees that have tested positive for COVID-19. We hope this is very reassuring news for you.

Mitigation
As previously reported, we have implemented a number of strategies recommended by the CDC to prevent COVID-19 from entering the center. One of the strategies implemented includes minimizing the number of non-essential personnel who enter the center and routinely screening our staff for signs and symptoms of COVID-19. We have limited movement throughout the center, conducting therapy in patient rooms where appropriate and offering more individualized activities with patients. Close monitoring of patients for subtle signs and less common symptoms of COVID-19 is in place and patients are immediately placed in isolation using transmission-based precautions for the safety of all patients and staff as soon as any combination of two symptoms is noted. Patients who are admitted to the Center from the hospital are also placed in isolation for 14 days no matter their diagnosis. Over the coming weeks, we will continue to share mitigation efforts that have been in place for some time now.

Testing
We are in routine contact with the local health department regarding testing availability and needs. Testing strategies are applied through a collaborative effort between nursing staff, the physicians and nurse practitioners who work in the center and health department officials. With the availability of testing increasing, we are able to test symptomatic patients readily as ordered by practitioners.

PPE
We are fortunate to have enough PPE supplies for our staff and patients. The CDC offers guidance for extending the life of PPE, which we have implemented, and for monitoring the supply that is available in the center. We continue universal facemask use for staff, as well.

Visitation
While the current guidance continues to be that visitation should be restricted in the center, we are working to offer additional opportunities for you to engage with your loved one in the center. The Mother’s Day events held last weekend were good medicine for everyone who was able to participate, including the staff. We are already thinking ahead to the types of activities we could offer in recognition of Father’s Day, as well.

Communication
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued a Final Rule late last week requiring notification of patients and families of a positive COVID-19 test result in patients or staff members and when 3 or more patients or staff have respiratory symptoms. Should either of these situations occur, we will communicate directly with all patients and via email and text notification to patient representatives and families. In order to receive these notifications, it is important that we have current contact information, especially email and cell phone numbers. We ask that you reach out to the center if you need to update your contact information. In the meantime, we encourage you to review our website for the most current updates.

Thank You
On behalf of the center staff, thank you to the families and the community for your expressions of support for the staff and patients. Healthcare workers are essential to providing care for patients, but the care and compassion shown by the community has renewed our commitment to being caring and responsive to the needs of our beloved patients.

As always, please feel free to reach out to me directly with concerns or questions.

Sincerely,

Kemet Scott, LNHA
Administrator