PioneerCare

Dedicated to Care

Pandemic

Essential Caregivers On Hold

July 24, 2020

Dear Family Members and Friends,

We are aware that the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has provided guidance for a new designation of an Essential Caregiver in nursing homes and assisted living.

An Essential Caregiver is an individual who was previously actively engaged with the resident or is committed to providing companionship and/or assistance with activities of daily living. The Essential Caregiver would be allowed to visit the facility under certain guidelines and restrictions.

We recognize the critical role family members and other outside caregivers, such as friends, volunteers, private personal caregivers, often have in the care and support of our residents. One of the most difficult things about COVID-19 for our residents has been the prolonged separation from families and loved ones. With the virus still very much a threat in our community, we must take careful steps in any plans to re-open our settings to visitors.

Realizing both the potential benefits and risks of allowing additional essential caregivers into the building, we will carefully consider this guidance as well as other criteria, such as the current status of COVID-19 in our setting and local community and the overall health and safety of all who live and work here.

We ask for your patience over the next few days as we review this guidance and determine our next steps in terms of how it aligns with our infection control practices and diligent commitment we have to combat this virus as we balance the safety, health, and wellness for all who live and work here.

We know the desire of our residents and their loved ones to be connected in a more meaningful way and also recognize the concerns that many of our residents and families regarding our ability to prevent and contain this virus in light of more people having access to our building(s).

Please know we are carefully considering our options, evaluating our policies and protocols, and will be sharing more information with you as soon as we have completed that process for each of our locations. In the meantime, please reach out us if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Nathan Johnson, CEO  |  218.998.1518

Sara Watkins, Administrator, Care Center  |  218.998.1516

Ann Boutwell, Housing Director, Pioneer Cottages  |  218.998.9677

Stephanie Lunde, Housing Director, Pioneer Pointe  |  218.739.7772

Second Case Identified

(July 14, 2020) In our web post dated July 8, 2020 we shared news of our first staff positive case of COVID-19 at the nursing home. We immediately conducted an Exposure Risk Assessment and began testing of many residents and staff. We ended up testing about 70 people. We received those results today. One additional positive case in a resident of the nursing home was identified. The staff member is recovering at home and the resident (currently asymptomatic) is recovering in our designated COVID-19 unit.

Our COVID-19 unit was set up several months ago and is designed to care for residents with confirmed positive COVID-19. This unit is completely separated from the rest of the building, has negative air pressure, and is staffed with designated staff who will only work on that unit.

We are taking all precautions to stop the spread of this virus, and we are actively working in collaboration with the Minnesota Department of Health to ensure we are taking all appropriate steps at this time.

Wide-Spread Testing.  Because we now have a positive case identified in a resident, it is necessary to implement Point Prevalence Survey testing once again. This means we will be testing all nursing home residents and staff weekly until we have two consecutive weeks of no new positive cases identified.  Wide-spread testing will give us the best picture of the scope and magnitude of what we are dealing with.

Ongoing Communication/Situation Update. Being transparent and upfront with residents, their families, and staff is important to us. To manage this efficiently and effectively going forward, here is a general outline of our communication plan:

  • Personal Phone Call. Families of any resident who tests positive will receive a personal phone call from staff.
  • Website.  For situation updates, we will use our website to communicate current active cases in residents and staff, by location.  You may view this update here.
  • Phone System.  As an alternative to our website, we have created a message center on our phone system with a pre-recorded situational update message. Call 218-998-1500 and follow prompts to hear the situational update.

Next steps:  Effective immediately, here is a summary of additional steps we are taking in response to this development:

  • Resume Wide-Spread Testing.  Thursday, July 16, 2020, nursing home staff and residents only.
  • Enhanced Restrictions and PPE Use. All nursing home residents should be restricted to their rooms with limited travel throughout the facility. All residents in Short Stay and the Apple Blossom household will be cared for using transmission-based precautions (COVID-19 PPE) until further notice.
  • Communal Dining. Communal dining is cancelled on ALL households until further notice.
  • Small Group Activities. Small group activities are cancelled on ALL households until further notice.
  • Outdoor Visits. Outdoor visits for ALL residents are cancelled until further notice. Closed window visits and electronic visits are still permitted and encouraged.

Our goal in implementing these actions is to quickly limit further transmission of this virus. We are confident in our infection prevention and control measures, and in our ability to manage this small outbreak safely and effectively.

We sincerely hope these additional restrictions are very short-term. We will continue to provide updates on any news, emerging issues, or additional changes in our operations.

Outdoor Visits Permitted

Guidance for Outdoor Visits
Dear Friends,
We have good news about outdoor visiting options starting Monday, June 22.  Thanks to you, our staff, and community, we are managing the risks of COVID-19 well at PioneerCare.
As a result, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has provided guidance on outdoor visits. Indoor visits will continue to be limited to essential health care personnel and compassionate care situations for now.
Here are some general details of our Outdoor Visiting Program:
  • Fair Weather. PioneerCare will allow outdoor visits on fair weather days. We will do our best to determine an appropriate definition of “fair weather,” and will reserve the right to cancel visits due to weather. In general, weather cancelations would result from rain, high wind, storms, extreme heat, etc.
  • Number of Visitors. We are limiting number of visitors per resident to one immediate household, or a maximum of four people from different households.
  • Advanced Scheduling. Due to the requirement to have staff available for support, we are requiring you to schedule your visit in advance during designated visiting hours. Visiting hours vary by location, so please contact the location where your loved one resides, or check PioneerCare’s website for specifics by location.
  • Designated Visiting Areas. Each location has designated outdoor visiting areas. These areas are set up to be comfortable, allow staff to monitor, and to promote the required social distancing and cleanliness requirements. Please contact the location or check PioneerCare’s website for specifics by location.
  • On-Site Visitor Screening and PPE. Each location will require visitors to be screened by designated staff prior to their visiting time, to wear masks and use alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Staff screeners will be readily available during visiting hours.
  • Avoid Physical Contact. To continue protecting everyone from potential virus transmission, we ask that you avoid hugs, handshakes and other physical contact.
  • MDH Guidance for Outdoor Visits. During your first outdoor visit, we’ll ask you to read a description of the visit requirements provided by the MN Department of Health (MDH), agree to follow those instructions, and accept that there is some COVID-19 risk even in these protected situations. PioneerCare is required to follow MDH guidance. I’ve included a copy for you. Please familiarize yourself with these guidelines.
  • Volunteers. MDH is allowing facilities to use volunteers to help coordinate outdoor visits. If you would like to volunteer, we would be excited to talk to you about those opportunities.
  • FAQ. For specifics on what to expect, see the Frequently Asked Questions document posted from our professional association, LeadingAge Minnesota.
I understand how difficult this has been for you and your family. We were all asked to prioritize safety during these past few months and the limited social contact with families was painful.
We deeply appreciate the sacrifices you made to limit the impact of COVID-19 on our community. While the virus will be with us for many more months, we all now know more about how take precautions like wearing masks, making sure our hands are clean, and deep cleaning high-touch surfaces to prevent COVID-19 from spreading.
Our entire team looks forward to seeing you outside and enjoying our well-earned Minnesota summer days. I will continue to keep you up to date on how our COVID-19 protection efforts are going. We are following state and federal guidelines in planning to re-open inside visiting as quickly as we can. For now, we will do everything we can to make your outdoor visits as comfortable as possible.
Thank you again for being partners with us in fighting the COVID-19 virus. Your messages of support, prayers, and patience will not be forgotten. There may be more challenges ahead, and we may need to make adjustments as we roll-out our new Outdoor Visiting program. If you have ideas to make it better, please do not hesitate to contact the building manager or reach out to me at 218-998-1518 or by email directly.
If you haven’t done so already, please consider signing up for our Email Updates frequently sent through Constant Contact as news from PioneerCare is available. You can register at https://www.pioneercare.org/join-our-email-list
Sincerely,
Nathan Johnson, CEO
PS: For more specific details on the new outdoor visiting guidance from Minnesota Department of Health, please click this button:

From Nathan Johnson: Facility Wide Tests Coming

A printed copy of this letter is being mailed to all PioneerCare staff, residents, tenants, and families…

 

To All PioneerCare Staff, Residents, Tenants and Families,

It has now been two months since President Trump declared a national emergency in response to the global coronavirus pandemic – two months that for many of you probably seem like a lifetime.

Despite Fergus Falls’ relative success in slowing the spread of COVID-19, we are beginning to see increasing infection in our area and around the state – especially with our more vulnerable populations.

I have an important message today about testing for all.  This week has been a flurry of rapidly evolving news. This past Sunday the White House announced its recommendation to test ALL long-term care staff and residents in the next two weeks and directed states to make a plan. On Wednesday, Governor Walz announced his plan to implement regional mobile testing teams for priority COVID-19 testing of ALL residents and ALL staff in long-term care. He directed the state epidemiologists and the National Guard to conduct the testing until more permanent Strike Teams for Testing are in place. Beginning yesterday COVID-19 testing will take place at 10 congregate care settings each day, and will increase up to 20 sites a day by next Thursday. The State’s goal is to conduct 10,000 tests each day starting next week. The tests will be prioritized for nursing homes and assisted living settings where COVID-19 is present. These are facilities like our Care Center and our Pioneer Cottages Memory Care. We are seeking clarification how Independent Living buildings, such as Pioneer Pointe, will be prioritized. Because we do not have a positive case in any of our settings, we are unsure what priority we will be given.

This approach to facility-wide testing on a single day is referred to as a “point prevalence survey,” or PPS, and provides information on the overall number of affected individuals in the facility. This strategy will help identify symptomatic and asymptomatic infected residents or staff. Residents who test positive will be cohorted on a dedicated unit or transferred to a COVID-19 specific facility.  Staff who have a positive COVID-19 test will not work. Asymptomatic staff with a positive COVID-19 test will not work. Return to work procedures will be strictly followed. Any staff required to be temporarily off work will be afforded all protections under the CARES Act. Regarding negative tests – negative tests only represent a single point in time and should not create a false sense of security. Repeat PPS testing will be conducted every seven days until there are two consecutive weeks of no new positive test results.

PioneerCare has informed MDH of our interest to voluntarily participate in facility-wide testing of ALL residents and ALL staff. We have requested Monday, May 18th as our testing date, but that is yet to be confirmed by MDH. It is MDH who will determine our level of priority and the actual testing date. We are asking everyone to be prepared to mobilize for testing quickly if/when it happens. All staff, residents, tenants and families will be notified if we get a positive test.

This is big news, but it is good news given the circumstances. I want you to know that PioneerCare, along with our Medical Director Dr. Colt Edin, supports this action.  I am asking for your support as well. While testing is only one component of PioneerCare’s broad-based response strategy, testing will help us assess the scope and magnitude of outbreaks and guide additional prevention and control efforts designed to further limit transmission among residents and staff.

Lastly, a quick word on the Governor’s action lifting the Stay at Home order and replacing it with a Stay Safe order. As of this writing, the Stay Safe order changes nothing for our settings. While the rest of the state begins to open up, MDH is requiring long-term care providers to leave all restrictions in place, including visitor restrictions. Staff should continue to do their best to take extra precautions while off duty. We continue to monitor this issue daily and will keep you promptly updated with any developments toward re-opening our buildings.

I will end by stating that from day one our top goal at PioneerCare has been the health, safety and wellbeing of our residents and our staff. As new information has poured in nearly every day, I am so grateful for how you have responded with a profound sense of urgency to keep residents safe, and to ensure their lives are filled with love and human connection despite the many restrictions we have in place. I am also grateful for how you care for yourselves, your families, each other, and our greater community. I urge you to keep leading by example as you follow the Governor’s Stay Safe order and wear your source control masks in public settings. I have said it from the beginning, and I will say it again – the better Fergus Falls does at mitigating the spread of this virus, the better chances our long-term care facilities have at doing the same.

Stay Healthy,

Nathan Johnson, CEO

It’s Puzzling

Everyone everywhere is rediscovering puzzles. They’re joining in the fun during this time of staying home. It’s always a popular pastime at Pioneer, but probably never as popular as now. We recently caught Mildred, Florence, and Charlotte in puzzle making action. (Photos by Cynthia Hanson).

Preparing for Outbreak

President Trump on Monday recommended that states test all nursing home residents and staff over the next two weeks. Last Thursday, the Governor unveiled a five-point plan to support Minnesota’s long-term care facilities, the people they serve, and their caregivers. The plan aims to bolster significant work already done by PioneerCare and the rest of the state’s care providers.

The approach includes:
  • Expanded testing for residents and workers
  • Creating strike teams to provide testing support
  • Providing additional personal protective equipment to facilities
  • Ensuring adequate staffing levels at all facilities
  • Partnering with local public health to coordinate support

Yesterday, PioneerCare staff participated in a webinar hosted by Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) to learn more. So far, ten senior care providers have been identified by MDH to test all residents and employees of their facilities each day. Next Thursday, that goal will increase to 20 per day. The tests will be prioritized for settings where COVID-19 has been reported. To-date, no one has tested positive at Pioneer. PioneerCare leadership will review the information now available and determine testing plans.

FEMA is coordinating shipments of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), totaling a 14-day supply, to Medicare- and Medicaid-certified nursing homes across the U.S. Each nursing home will receive two shipments, each containing a seven-day supply of eye protection, surgical masks, level 1 medical gowns and gloves. Depending on the length and number of people infected, PioneerCare already has secured supplies to manage a potential outbreak here. However, a shipment from FEMA will enhance PioneerCare’s readiness.

The State Healthcare Coordination Center (SHCC) identified healthcare workers throughout the state who are interested in working in long-term care settings. The state is also using a new workforce software system to connect long-term care settings with potential healthcare workers to assist in meeting immediate staffing needs (less than 48 hours).

Since the Coronavirus was recognized as a potential local threat, PioneerCare has been implementing policies and procedures recommended by Federal and State health agencies and has been participating and collaborating with Otter Tail County Public Health and other local healthcare partners.

More information on the State’s five-point response and support for Minnesota’s care facilities is available here.

Galloping Guests

The Day the Horses Came to Town

Local horse owners gave us something to talk about this week. Leah Landwehr and her husband, James, showed up on horseback on Monday afternoon. Leah saw it done in another community and decided she needed to follow through and do the same for PioneerCare Center and Pioneer Cottages residents whose visitors are restricted.

“Oh, that was a LOT of fun,” Leah commented on Facebook, “James and I pranced and galloped around the beautiful grounds of Pioneer as well as went right up to each window that had a resident in them. It was heartwarming beyond belief to see the smiles, waves or getting a ‘hand’ kiss.”

You can see more images and video on our Facebook and Instagram.

Share Your Story

We’d Like to Know

How have you engaged with a friend or family member living at PioneerCare Center, Pioneer Cottages, or Pioneer Pointe? Have you connected with staff here? How has the pandemic challenged you or someone you care about? We’d like to know your story. Please share it with us by email to Steve Guttormson. (Photo by Cynthia Hanson: Florence enjoys virtual visits with her daughter, Lucia.)

Email Your Story

Preserve Your Story for History

Thanks to a partnership between LeadingAge and StoryCorps, a new opportunity is available to create and preserve valuable conversations between older adults and their family members or friends.

StoryCorps is a nonprofit organization whose mission is “to preserve and share humanity’s stories in order to build connections between people and create a more just and compassionate world.” Some public radio listeners may be familiar with these inspiring stories. Now, in response to the pandemic, they’ve created StoryCorps Connect.

StoryCorps Connect encourages older people to share their life stories through intergenerational discussions. Families and friends can record an interview with a loved one remotely with video conference technology to help residents strengthen bonds with their loved ones. Their stories will be preserved for future generations at the Library of Congress.

The audio and a still photo from each interview goes into an archive at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. How cool is that?

About StoryCorps

Thank You

To all who have donated supplies and sewn masks these past days, we offer our sincerest gratitude.

By wearing masks at all times, we’re practicing source control, protecting residents and coworkers from potential infection. And by using home-sewn masks at this time, when there is no known infection within PioneerCare Center, Pioneer Cottages, or Pioneer Pointe, we’re conserving our limited supply of medical grade protective gear.

Residents also are asked to wear masks or cover their mouth and nose while receiving direct care.

Home sewn masks are used to provide source control – protecting others from the person wearing the mask. While we have enough masks for now, we may be asking for help from the community again in the weeks ahead.

Again, from all of us, thank you.

Seeking Screener

We’re Seeking a Temporary Part-Time Screener

PioneerCare seeks a part time screener responsible for screening staff and any others entering the care center. If you know someone who may be a good fit, please share this news with them.

Duties include using the provided screening tool to interview staff members for COVID-19 related information, using a forehead thermometer to check and record temperatures, sanitizing and packaging masks provided for source control, and periodically sanitizing contact areas in the front lobby.

The ideal candidate has a positive, upbeat attitude, good interpersonal communication skills, and is able to follow existing infection control and safety protocols. We’re seeking to cover shifts on Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Other shifts are covered.

We’re hiring in other areas as well, and finding creative ways to complete the hiring and onboarding process.

More details are found on our website’s Careers Page.