To Our Residents and Family Members:
We want to inform you that we received confirmation on August 27th, 2020 that a part-time employee at Spring Valley Health and Rehabilitation Center had tested positive with COVID-19 on August 26th, 2020. There have been no other positive cases (no residents and no direct care staff). There are also not any cumulative cases or cluster of any persons with symptoms associated with COVID-19.
Resident safety continues to be our top priority during this pandemic. Pierce County Public Health does not believe the person worked during their infectious period. We are being proactive and taking every best practice measure to ensure we stop even a potential spread of COVID-19 within our campus. This includes staying in very close communication with the Pierce County Public Health Office and Wisconsin health officials to ensure we are taking all of the appropriate steps. As a precaution, we have requested facility and campus-wide testing through Pierce County Public Health for ALL residents, tenants, and staff persons on a to-be-determined date. We continue to restrict all non-essential visitors on our campus, per the instructions of the Pierce County Public Health Department, CDC guidelines, and Wisconsin Department of Health Services directives.
We are continuing to focus on the following five priorities:
- Restrict all visitors except for compassionate care situations (for example, end of life)
- Restrict all volunteers and non-essential health care personnel (HCP), including consultant services (for example, beauticians and barbers)
- Actively screening each resident/tenant every nursing shift (3 times within a 24-hour period) for fevers and respiratory symptoms including the monitoring of their vital signs
- Actively screen all HCP for fevers and respiratory symptoms before starting each shift; immediately excusing from duty any HCP with even a single symptom of COVID-19
- Regularly communicating, sharing, educating, and informing residents, personal representatives, families, staff members, and associates of the most current strategies, guidance, and best practices to keep at-risk populations safe and mitigate the spread of COVID-19 infections
Please know that we are strictly adhering to all directions from the Pierce County Public Health and Wisconsin Department of Health Services. We encourage you to call us at 715-778-5545 if you have any questions or for updates on the status of your loved one. We understand that you are concerned about your loved one, but it is crucial that we continue to restrict visitation to reduce the spread of this virus. We also understand that connecting with family members is incredibly important to our residents. Family members are encouraged to connect with their loved ones through a virtual visit (Zoom, Skype, etc.), calling, texting, or other social media formats. Staff members can assist with setting up these virtual or alternate visits.
We will contact you if your loved one is suspected or diagnosed with COVID-19. You can also expect to receive weekly updates, such as this one, over the next several weeks. We want you to be assured that we are taking every precaution to prevent the spread of infection. We know that during this pandemic, it continues to be a difficult time for everyone. We are here to answer your questions or follow-up with additional information. If you have questions, please feel free to contact us.
Respectfully,
Kevin H. Larson, BSHCA, CNHA, FACHCA
Administrator | Chief Executive Officer