Covid-19 Designated Visitor Update

All resident representatives please watch for emails on Monday from us regarding designated visitors for each resident.  We will provide all guidance from the NYS DOH.  All guidelines set forth by Morgan Estates and understanding of our new policy & procedure regarding designated visitors.  Our current visitation scheduling will remain the same at this time.

Thank You,
Brandy Witt LPN
Administrator

Covid-19 Guidance Update

We have received guidance from the Department of Health: Updated Adult Care Facility Visitation and Clarified Quarantine Requirements. Morgan Estates Team will be meeting on Tuesday 6/15/21 to come up with a policy and procedure relating to visitation with consideration of how to safely permit visitation accordance with the core principles consistent with the federal guidelines & best practices, coupled with our facility regulatory requirements. We are hoping to have a great summer!

Thank you,
Brandy Witt LPN
Administrator

Covid-19 - Visitation Guidelines

Dear Families & friends,

We are extremely happy to announce that we have finally received word from the NYS Dept. of Health that we are able to do indoor visitation.  We have created an appointment scheduler online that is very user friendly.  Please make an appointment through the web site. Visitation will begin March 4th, 2021 at 9:00am.  www.morganestates.simplybook.me .    The guidelines and terms are on the website. If you are unable to access the internet or are having difficulty, please call the receptionist.  We created the appointment scheduler to be able to free up our staff as they will need to be available to check in & monitor visitors.   We look forward to seeing everyone be able to visit their loved ones!

Thank you,

The Morgan Estates Team

VISITATION GUIDELINES

*YOU MUST COMPLETE A HEALTH SCREEN (TEMPERATURE) AND ANSWER THE PRE -SCREEN QUESTIONS PRIOR TO VISIT.

*VISITS ARE LIMITED TO ONLY TWO VISITORS AT A TIME FOR A DURATION OF 30 MINS.

*ANY VISITOR UNDER 16YRS MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY AN ADULT AGED 18YRS OR OLDER

*PLEASE WEAR YOUR MASK (COVERING YOUR NOSE) AT ALL TIMES FOR THE DURATION OF YOUR VISIT, NO EXCEPTIONS

*PLEASE DO NOT MOVE CHAIRS FROM THE SPOTS WHERE THEY HAVE BEEN PLACED, THEY HAVE BEEN MEASURED FOR PROPER SOCIAL DISTANCING

*PLEASE STAY SEATED FOR THE DURATION OF YOUR VISIT

*PLEASE PROPER HAND HYGIENE BY USING HAND SANITIZER BEFORE AND AT THE END OF YOUR VISIT.

*IF A VISITOR FAILS TO ADHERE TO THE PROTOCOL, HE OR SHE WILL BE PROHIBITED FROM FURTHER VISITS DURING THE DURATION OF COVID-19 HEALTH EMERGENCY.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION

Our last COVID Vaccine Clinic is 3/8/2021 

Covid-19 Vaccine Clinic Update

1/14/2021 COVID-19 Vaccination update:

The Vaccine Clinic will be @ Morgan Estates January 25th 11am-5pm to vaccinate our residents and staff.

Covid-19 Virtual Visits

We will be setting up virtual visits in the near future.  These visits will be scheduled just like the outdoor visits.  There will be specific times, where we will have the resident available to virtually visit in a common area, with staff assisting the resident with set up.  The visits can be up to 30 minutes in length and we will be able to do this through Facetime (if you have an apple device) or Zoom.  At the time you schedule your virtual visit, we will determine your preferred contact method.   You can begin scheduling visits with the receptionist on Wednesday November 18th.  Our hope is that we can start the virtual visits as soon as the isolation period has ended.  Window visits are not permissible at this time, however if you do come to the facility it imperative that you wear a mask and the window remains closed the entire time.    If you are observed not wearing a mask or windows are observed being opened, you will be asked to leave the property.  We do not want to sound harsh, however it is our job to protect these residents and we appreciate all of your cooperation with following our requests.

With the holiday season is fast approaching, we would like to share a few things with all of you.  We are working on ways to make this extra special for the residents this year, since we can’t have visitors come in to eat with them.   We strongly discourage both the residents and families not to attend gatherings outside the facility. However, with that being said, if you do plan or insist on taking a resident out, we have developed guidelines that you and the resident will need to follow while out and upon return.  If you do plan on taking a family member out for the day, please be sure to contact Jennifer or Rachel.  At that time, we will discuss all the guidelines that will be required for taking your family member out and you can determine whether you still want to proceed with the plan.

As always, thank you for your understanding, support and trust in Morgan Estates.   If you have suggestions, ideas, anything you may want to share please reach out, we would love to hear them.  Look for updates in your emails, Facebook page and website for new information.

Stay Safe,
Jennifer Perelli
Administrator

Covid-19 Visitation Reservation Update

10/28/2020

Good Day Everyone~

Please continue to call the receptionist 9am-4pm to make reservations for visitation.  We have added some Saturday times and Wednesday evenings for those that may need to come at a different time.  We will continue to do the best we can with visitation.  Visitors may visit outside the residents window at any time with a mask, and window closed.  We will also be emailing the Resident Representative with updates, please share your emails with other family members.

Make it a great day~ Brandy

Covid-19 Fall Update

10/28/2020
Hello All!
We hope this letter finds you healthy and enjoying fall. We are carefully considering and weighing all options regarding indoor visits. I know you are all eager to know when they will begin, however our team is consulting with professionals and our local DOH for recommendations and guidance. A lot has changed in the COVID world over the last couple weeks in our area and around the country and we do not want to rush into something that puts the residents at any risk. We know that you are eager to see your family members and we understand your frustration in being separated, I promise we are working day in and day out to make the best possible decisions for their safety and well-being. We appreciate your patience and we will let you know ALL of the details and how we will or won’t proceed after very careful consideration.
We will send out a separate mailing very soon with all visitation details, as well as other news happenings and plans over the next few months.
Thank you for all your support as we continue to navigate through uncharted territory

Sincerely,

Jennifer Perelli
Administrator

We will post any updates here on Covid19 affecting our facility. Please know all residents are healthy and safe and our staff is working tirelessly to keep them that way. We will continue to remain closed to all visitors at this time. Thank you for your support understanding and cooperation during this time. We are committed to providing the best care to our residents! Thank you!

Covid-19 Visitation Plan

7/17/2020

COVID-19 VISITATION PLAN

-Visitations will begin Wednesday July 28th
-Visitors can begin making reservations on Wednesday July 22nd
-We will have set visitation hours and visits can only occur by making a reservation Monday-Friday with Karen or Michelle. There will be NO “Stopping” by visits. We will be limiting residents to visits every other week so all families and residents have a chance to have visits. So PLEASE please communicate with your other family members to coordinate. You may call the day of after 9:30am to see if there are any time slots open.
-We will only be doing visits Monday-Friday at this time
-Visiting schedule will be as follows
Monday, Wednesday and Friday (Traditional ALR)
1:00pm-4:30pm
Tuesday and Thursday (Memory Unit)
9am-12pm both days
2pm-4pm Thursday
-Visits are only limited to outside at this time (therefore visits may be cancelled due to inclement weather)
-Visitors must be 18 years or older, or accompanied by an adult 18 years or older.
-Visits will be limited to 20 mins long
-Visits will be limited to only two visitors at a time
-Visits will be outside, 6 feet apart and both the resident and visitors are required to wear a mask while visiting.
-Unfortunately there will be no physical contact with the resident (no hugging, kissing, handshakes, etc.)
-When you call to reserve you visitation time you will be asked a series of questions and we will be collecting necessary information required by the NYS DOH. This information will include first and last name of each visitor, street address, contact phone number and email address. This will save time when you come to visit, so you can focus more on your visit.
-When you arrive for your visit, a designated staff person will be outside to greet you, you will sign in, read the visitor guidelines and complete a health screen prior to seeing the resident, this include a temperature check and a couple other screening questions. Staff will also ensure you have proper face coverings and you sanitize your hands prior to seeing the resident. After the visitors pass the pre-screen, staff member will show you to the visitation area (away from resident courtyards) and bring resident outside with a mask on.
-Staff will ensure that all guidelines are being followed during the visit, and will let you know when your time is up.
-Staff member will give both resident and visitor hand sanitizer prior to bringing resident back inside.
-Visitor will leave and staff member will disinfect and clean the visitor area thoroughly before the next scheduled visitor arrives.
-Any visitor that does not adhere to the visitor protocol that are set forth will be asked to leave the premise and be prohibited from any further visitations.
-We understand that these visitations are still not ideal, but it is a start, as our main priority is to protect our resident to the best of our ability.
-This is a trial run, and what management believes is the best and safest plan for the residents at this time. As everything evolves we will make changes where we see fit.
-This visitation plan requires a lot of work as we also have to fully staff this during visitor times.
-The last thing is that if a resident or staff member tests positive for COVID-19, visitations will stop immediately and will not resume until 28 days from the date of the test, this guideline set forth by NYS DOH.
-These are the guidelines that we wanted to share with you at this moment. A more formalized visitation plan will be posted to our website and social media when we complete this.

Covid-19 Visitation Plan Discussion

7/14/2020

The Morgan Estates Team met this morning to discuss the plan for visitation. All we can safely say at this point is we are working on the plan for visitation this week and we will have a set plan in place by Friday July 17th. Visitation will only be limited to outdoors visits to begin with. We received guidance from the D.O.H. regarding the stipulations in which we must follow, our visitors must follow and everything we must have in place before visits begin. This process takes careful consideration and time, it is not as simple as it sounds from the news.
We will Email, Facebook Post and Publish on our website under the COVID-19 tab, the plan and all the rules and regulations that will need to be followed. Until then we thank you all for being so patient & understanding. We are very busy trying to make sure we have the best plan in place for you and your loved ones. Please stay healthy and look for the postings on Friday July 17th.
Also, remember if you are visiting outside the window that you have a mask on at all times. It is extremely important that we follow these guidelines as our residents are the most vulnerable.

Thank you~ The Morgan Estates Team

Covid-19 Update Visitors Prohibited

5/26/2020

Hi Everyone! We are hope you are all staying healthy! We are happy to report we remain COVID free with both residents and staff. We are continuing all of our staff screenings prior to their shifts and monitoring them throughout their shifts. I’m sure most of you have heard that we are now testing our staff weekly, due to the Executive Order that was issued by Governor Cuomo on May 10th. Most of the last 2.5 weeks have been focused on the logistics of the staff testing, securing a lab, any many many other issues that have come up with the testing. We as a facility fully support testing our staff, doing whatever we can to keep our residents protected. We unfortunately were given very little help from the state since the E.O. and have been working tirelessly trying to figure it all out. Another thing to note is that Morgan Estates is assuming all the tests costs for the staff, which puts us in a very bad position financially if no government funds are freed up to help us with this. Our costs are estimated at about $10,000 per week for our staff testing, on top of the already added costs of PPE, extra staffing etc. This is definitely a challenging time for us.

With that being said, the Executive Order also prohibits visitors to our facility. We know that this is extremely hard on both family/friends and especially our residents. With the weather warming up we unfortunately still can’t allow outside visits (even with social distancing rules) while the E.O. is in place. Please don’t call them outside to visit under any condition. Window visits are still permissible, but the window should be shut, and if its not then you should have a mask on and be at least 6 feet away. We are sorry that this is how it is and we are giving the residents extra TLC in the building. We appreciate your cooperation with the visitor restrictions, this is the ultimate sacrifice to protect our residents. We are sending all of you love and air hugs as we know this is so very hard on you as well.

One last thing on residents and hospital visits. If a resident is sent to the hospital for any reason, the hospital is required to perform a COVID-19 test on them before they return to the facility. We are taking the utmost precautions to minimize any risk to our residents, so if a resident has had a hospital visit they are required to stay in their room for 14 days on isolation until we can absolutely rule out that they have not been exposed to the virus.

We thank you for your support and feel all of the love. We are here to answer any questions you have. Hang in there!

~Jennifer and Morgan Estates Team

Covid-19 Cinco de Mayo Parade Update

5/5/2020
Unfortunately the weather is just not warm enough for our parade today! We are going to reschedule for later this month. Please stay tuned for details! Happy Cinco de Mayo!!

Covid-19 Emergency Response Plan

4/24/2020
(A PRINTED COPY OF THIS INFORMATION HAS BEEN SENT WITH MAY BILLING AS WELL)

Emergency Response Plan for any positive cases:
We want you all to know that we have planned for a worst case scenario if one of our residents does test positive with COVID19. Our hope is that we never have to execute this plan, but do want you all to know that we have one in place to care for all of the residents in this situation. We have designated four rooms on ALR at the end of the hallway near an exit door and one large room on SNALR. If a resident does test positive for COVID, they would be immediately moved to one of these four rooms, which would be considered the “isolation” zone. We have ordered an anti-microbial curtain system that would block off the end of the hallway where the designated isolation zone is. We will only have designated staff caring for any positive residents, these staff members will only enter and exit through the exit door near the isolation rooms, therefore avoiding all contact with all healthy residents. Our goal is to minimize any and all exposure to the rest of the residents and staff in the building. All residents belongings that are needed would be moved with the resident, all medications will be moved with them as well. Dietary staff would be delivering trays with disposable supplies for the resident outside the zone and designated staff would ensure proper nutrition is sustained. We have fully stocked PPE supplies for our staff in the event of a positive case, including N95 masks, face shields, protective eye wear, gowns, gloves, etc. We have been in constant contact with the office of Emergency Management and FEMA, who have been absolutely wonderful in providing us supplies on a weekly basis. We have staff that have volunteered to take care of any COVID positive residents and are ready to be here if we get a positive diagnosis. We will remove all trash through the exit door near the rooms, protocol would be that nothing from the isolation zone goes through the facility at all.
This plan is not meant to scare you, but to make sure that all families and representatives are informed and aware of our execution if we in fact have a resident test positive.

Fortunately, with all the residents and staff remaining healthy we are practicing social distancing with activities and meals. Unfortunately, we would stop these activities indefinitely if we had a positive case we require residents to stay in their own rooms, this guidance coming directly from the NYS DOH.

With that being said, we have had a couple families express interest in taking their loved ones home if Morgan Estates has any positive cases. We are more than willing to accommodate this for anyone who is interested in this option. Again, this is only if we have a positive case and we want to provide you with all options possible.

~We are also following NYS Department of Health guidelines on residents who get sent to the hospital for any reason and return to the facility. They are recommending now that residents stay quarantined to their rooms for a full 14 days to make sure that they did not have any exposure to COVID while in the hospital.

~We are very thankful to be in the area that we live, it seems that doctors and hospitals have the supplies to test any suspected cases to protect our seniors.
~If you are dropping off any supplies or gifts for the residents, we ask that you call facility staff to let us know you are dropping these things off. Some of the residents are being told by families about these items being brought and residents are waiting by the front door in hopes of having contact with family members. Obviously we have a strict no contact with residents’ policy right now and we hate disappointing the residents when they can’t actually see them. Also, please label the items clearly so we can get them to the correct resident in a timely fashion. Thank you so much for your cooperation with this matter.

~If you are visiting a family member outside the window, we ask that you keep the windows closed if you are standing less than 8 feet from the resident to avoid any airborne contamination. You can call the resident on the phone while standing outside the window if you would like to be closer than 8 feet from the window.

~We are organizing a family parade on Tuesday May 5th (Cinco de Mayo), pending weather. The scheduled time right now is 4pm. Please check the website for further details on the event.

~Danielle and Brandy have been trying hard to connect with families via ZOOM and FaceTime. If you want to participate and speak with a resident please email Danielle at d.pickett@morganestates.com to give her your contact information.
Danielle would also like to invite family members to make a short video for all of our residents who are mothers or like mothers. We would like to play these to them on Mother’s Day since you can’t visit with them. You can send them to Danielle’s email address above. Thank you!

I know this is A LOT of information, we want the communication to always be transparent and forthcoming as much as possible. We know this is a scary time, especially with the population of your loved ones. We are taking every precaution and doing everything we possible can do to avoid introduction of the virus to our facility. The staff have been truly amazing during this time, they have not skipped a beat, and continue to show up every day to care for our residents despite all of the craziness. They have amazed me in so many ways, they have become closer as a team and the compassion they are showing the residents day in and day out makes them truly special people. Thank you again for trusting us to care for your loved one, and even more during a time like this. We appreciate all of your support and cooperation.

Covid-19 Staying Connected

4/8/2020
Good Afternoon! Just checking in with all of you. We very happy to report that all of our residents remain healthy! Administration and staff are working extremely hard to follow all DOH guidelines on protecting themselves and the residents to keep this nasty virus out of our facility. We continue to monitor all residents daily for any possible symptoms that could result in the virus. We are continuing social distancing in the facility with the residents in the dining room and are providing more individualized activities for them. A change is always hard for our residents, but they are adjusting and understand how important it is for us to do whatever we need to, to protect them. ALL staff and home care agencies are being screened upon entering the building with a temp check and given proper protective equipment.

We have started doing Telemed appointments with Strong Geriatrics and several other physicians, which is exciting! This is allowing residents with anything going on to have contact with the doctor without going out or them traveling into the facility. Obviously preventing a little exposure as possible. If a resident does need emergency care and requires a hospital visit, we are following DOH guidelines on residents returning from any hospital stays. When a resident returns from the hospital they are staying quarantined to their room for 7 days in case of a possible exposure from the hospital. If they show any signs of symptoms in that time period then residents will be isolated even longer due to the risk of passing anything to other residents.

If you are dropping off any items to family members, please clearly label the items so we can get them to the correct resident.

Our wish over the next few weeks is to start connecting with families via computer or tablet because of the visitor restrictions. We feel that the residents still need to connect with their families and be able to see their faces. We are asking that if you have a Zoom account or have an apple phone and can FaceTime that you email Danielle (activities director). She would like to start collecting family and friends preferred way or connect and account information so that we can start communicating with you all. You can email her your information at d.pickett@morganestates.com.

We know this is an extremely trying time for you, not being able to visit with your loved ones, and we know how hard it is on them. The most important thing is keeping them healthy and we appreciate all of your support and cooperation during this time. We are sending lots of love to all of you and hoping you are all staying healthy and we can’t wait to see all of your faces visiting soon again!

Wishing you all a wonderful and happy Easter!

Covid-19 Weekend Update

3/27/2020
Just wanted to check in before the weekend! All residents remain healthy! Which is all we hope for every day! Which also means are staff is doing a fantastic job following all of the safety protocols by DOH and our facility! Staff and home care agencies are being screened coming into the building. We are following and going above DOH guidelines of any staff returning to work if they are exhibiting any symptoms of being ill. We are practicing social distancing in the dining room, residents are eating with no more than 2-3 people per table and the tables spaced out as far as possible, as well as utilizing the lounge. We are also continuing activities but in very small group settings. Residents remain happy and hopeful to get back to normal as soon as possible. Again, I can’t thank the staff and ALL departments for their true dedication and love for our residents! For all the families and friends the residents are missing you,And we know how much you are missing them. They are in good hands and we again thank you for all of your support and love during this challenging time. We feel it!! Have a good weekend!

Covid-19 Spring Safety Precautions

3/20/2020
Happy Spring! It feels a little weird saying that as everyone is experiencing such a crazy time. We just wanted to check in and let you know that we are happy to report that the residents are doing wonderfully despite the circumstances. They are healthy and going about their normal day activities. Our staff remains diligent in caring for them, using all safety precautions possible. They are amazing and continue to show up every day with a smile on because they love the residents like their own. We were running short on face masks, but we had some very generous donations from local residents and companies and we are forever grateful. We are committed to residents safety and well being and we are working as a team to make that happen. Thanks for placing your trust in us, and thank you for all your support. Have a good weekend! We will check on next week or sooner if needed! Thank you!