As the global outbreak of COVID-19 (coronavirus) continues to unfold, please be assured that the health and safety of our residents and employees remain our number one priority.
In line with recent legal changes and recommendations from various government and health authorities, including the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), we have revised our visitor policy across all Lincolnshire Place communities. At this time, visits are prohibited, with certain, very limited exceptions.
- Essential visitors include medical providers, hospice care providers, and visitors of residents who are at the end of life. End of life visits will be limited to one family member or significant other per shift.
- Under no circumstances may anyone under the age of 18 be allowed entry into a community.
- Routine social visits are prohibited at this time. Non-essential visits are not permitted anywhere within or on the grounds of the community. We understand this may be very difficult, but given the circumstances, we believe this is an important step in limiting potential infection exposure to our residents and team members. Additionally, community entry doors will be secured and authorized visitors will be buzzed into the community, as an extra precaution.
- Recommendation that residents not leave the community other than for essential medical visits so as to limit possible contact with infected individuals as much as possible.
- We will continue to carefully screen everyone in our communities – including all employees, essential visitors and residents – for signs of infection, recent travel history, and potential COVID-19 exposure.
- New residents must also be screened prior to move-in as part of our infection control efforts.
- All sales tours and assessments of potential residents must be conducted virtually only.
- We know how important it is for our families to have regular, meaningful contact with their loved ones, so we are working diligently to help meet residents’ social needs virtually, whether through video options like Skype, phone calls or other correspondence. We are also stepping up our in-house programming to keep our residents engaged in meaningful and purpose-filled activities.
In the event of a positive COVID-19 diagnosis at a community, we will implement additional responsive measures, in coordination with the CDC and local health departments, including:
- Informing residents and family members as soon as possible.
- Cancelling all small-group resident activities. We would work with our team to engage residents in meaningful and purposeful activities in their apartments.
- All resident meals will be served in their apartment.
- Engage in deep clean the community.
- Continuing to closely track our employees’ movement by documenting which residents they serve.
This situation is evolving every day and we’ll continue to work closely with the CDC and other health and government officials to ensure we are taking the necessary precautions to help protect our residents, families and staff members.
