A Message From Your Executive Director
Last week I focused on our response to a staff member testing positive in our 3/29 testing. I worked closely with the Vermont Department of Health to determine a reasonable response. Our high vaccination rates worked in our favor and we were able to keep our dining room open and continue to have socially-distanced activities. The one major change for the week was we restricted visitors. I’m happy to say that while a staff member did test positive on Monday, all of our residents tested negative. We repeated testing for the whole community on Friday and we had NO POSITIVE TESTS! We will conduct one more round of testing for all residents and staff tomorrow to be sure we are in the clear but we can now reopen to visitors.
We are likely to experience blips like this throughout the spring and summer and we will do our best to keep you informed and also to keep life at The Village moving forward.
A reminder that we now allow up to 4 visitors per resident per day, up to 2 at a time. As the weather improves, we encourage outdoor visits for maximum safety. The incidents with the hair stylist and the staff member show us that being vaccinated does not mean you can’t contract/carry the virus and we want our residents and their loved ones to be as safe and healthy as possible.
Also as a reminder to residents, we will be returning to full dining room service and going back to our policy of meal delivery only in the case of short-term illness. We are working to set up a system for takeout meals for those who still wish to eat in their apartment. Stay tuned for more information in the weeks to come.
Thank you for your continued support, enjoy the Spring weather, and we will see you soon!
Nikki
Community Connection
Last week at The Village residents enjoyed daily fitness and walking sessions, afternoon socials on Cantore Terrace, daily movies, a scenic drive to Mascoma Lake in Enfield, NH, a shopping trip to the Co-op food store, and our weekly Happy Hour. On Tuesday we were very excited to welcome back Jim Hollis to Miller Stage for some live music. Jim is a solo pop-rock act specializing in classics from the 60s and 70s. He is a familiar face in the community and his performance was a big hit for all. On Friday many residents attended a virtual Good Friday mass in Lyric Cinema. We wrapped up the week with a violin & viola concert on Sunday morning followed by an Easter Egg Hunt and a virtual Easter Sunday mass.
This week residents can look forward to daily movies and documentaries, scenic drives, Chair Yoga with Swan Drsti, and more seed starting. On Wednesday, April 7th at 2:00 pm Rich Araldi will join us for live music on Miller Stage. Memory Care residents can look forward to daily fitness sessions, balloon volleyball, word games, art projects in Newton Lounge, and daily evening movies in Newberry Lounge.
NOTE: As always, Skype calls are available to keep everyone connected. To schedule, please sign up at https://teamup.com/kszegtj8g4jco615xw and reach out to Sam with any questions.
Community Connection – Vaccines
Our pharmacy has announced that they now have access to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and that is what they will be distributing to long term care communities at this time. This is a single dose vaccine and we can get a vial for every 5 residents and/or staff who would like to be vaccinated. We are excited about this development as a one dose vaccine eases some of the burden of logistics for providing 2 doses.
We understand that you may have questions about this process as well as the vaccines themselves, for that reason we are sharing below the links to the CDC and Johnson & Johnson websites to help answer some of your inquiries.
Team Member Spotlight
Mike Josselyn – Maintenance
Recently Mike was named Employee of the Month, becoming the first Village employee to receive this award twice. Mike has been with The Village since before we opened our doors and has been a key player on the team, displaying loyalty, hard work, and a friendly manner with our residents. He is always willing to take on extra work and helps both residents and coworkers with enthusiasm. More than once he has been called on to fill in as our transportation person in addition to his role as maintenance associate. We are grateful to Mike for his dedication to our residents. Congratulations, Mike!
Tips For These Times
Visit Brooklyn Botanical Garden during Cherry Blossom Season and witness this exuberant display that changes day-by-day. There is no greater celebration of spring!
Talk Time
Join Nikki every Wednesday at 10:00 am via Zoom for COVID and community updates and have an opportunity to ask questions.
This Week’s Menu
This Week’s Activities
COVID-19 In Our Community
We are committed to keeping you informed of how COVID-19 is impacting The Village at White River Junction. We continue our robust commitment to following the guidelines from both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local health authorities by:
- Based on our current Phase and the positivity rate in our county, visitors will be allowed beginning 2/26/21
- All visits must be scheduled ahead of time. We need to record the time you enter the community and the time you leave.
- Limit of 2 visitors per resident at a time, up to 4 visitors per day
- We will gather name and contact info for contact tracing for every visit.
- Visits may occur between 9am and 7pm.
- Core principles of COVID-19 infection prevention will be enforced. These include:
- Screening before each visit
- Hand hygiene
- Mask use for all visitors and staff
- Physical distancing when possible
- Visits can occur in the resident’s apartment or outside.
- Requiring all staff to wear surgical or procedural masks and adhere to screening processes
- Maintaining the frequency and rigor of cleaning and sanitizing all surfaces
- Reviewing our emergency preparedness and response program
- Asking residents and employees to adhere to the State of Vermont travel restrictions
- Coordinating best practices across our large partner network
- Group activities are held following social-distancing guidelines
Helpful Links
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/prevention.html
- www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/index.html
LCS COVID-19 website
Local health department website
From the Governor
