On Feb 26th Andrus on Hudson issued its first memo outlining initial and precautionary interventions to protect residents and staff -that were to be implemented because of an "emerging virus" that could pose a public health threat. Since then, AOH has been working diligently to protect its residents and staff by implementing a comprehensive set of policies and practices.
Fast forward to April and much has changed around us- but what hasn't changed is Andrus on Hudson's unwavering dedication to "fighting an invisible enemy", every single day. This has also been coupled with enhanced communication with loved ones/guardians/residents and staff to better inform and ensure a high and proper level of transparency.
Important Information:
1.Because in-house (non-hospital) testing is not available for COVID19 ("CVD19") and a slower turnaround time for Flu tests/kit-- in order to better respond to any potential cases of the illness, protocols were developed to manage and care for "suspected CVD19" cases in individuals showing signs or symptoms of a respiratory illness. This includes isolation care of the resident, active monitoring of symptoms and medical interventions when necessary.
2. Currently, AOH is actively caring for a very small number of CVD19 positive and a small number of CVD19 suspected residents. This includes known CVD19 residents that were directly admitted for short-term CVD19 care from a hospital(s).
To date, there have been a very small number of confirmed CVD19 positive employees. These employees (and any potential future CVD19 positive employee cases) followed Department of Health guidelines/requirements for quarantine/isolation before returning to work- which Andrus on Hudson fully enforces.
As you may be reading in the news, healthcare providers in NYS and around the country are working hard to protect their employees and the people they care for from the CVD19 virus. Andrus on Hudson is doing the same.
Under no circumstances are employees to work, be requested or encouraged to work if they are symptomatic of CVD19 (or any other communicable illness).
There is obviously and unfortunately no magic wand or system to remove all risk of contracting an illness in any healthcare setting.
That being said, employees do not want to be sick, become sick or transmit a sickness to anyone else whether it be someone they are caring for, their family/loved ones or anyone else-- which is why infection control precautions are taken very seriously and many efforts are being made to mitigate potential risks.
Privacy rules/laws prohibit specific personally identifiable information from being shared but communication is made with residents, family members/responsible party and staff when appropriate.
3. To date, Andrus on Hudson has worked on and implemented a multitude of infection prevention and control counter-measures. Some of the measures may have limited value but because there is no "silver bullet" however the strategy is to: Prevent, Contain and Target any potential spread of the virus from as many directions and in as many ways as possible, including (but not limited to):
* Active oversight of organizational wide medical interventions by a new Chief Medical Officer
and a Medical Director and Assistant Medical Director
* Regular check ins and communication with the New York Department of Health
* A CVD19 Task Force was established in early March which meets on a every weekday morning to ensure a flow of communication, organizational alignment on CVD19 related initiatives occurs, discussing openly and candidly any concerns, process improvement needs and resource availability bottlenecks
* All persons entering the building must have their temperature taken and are asked several screening questions
* There are multiple programs in effect to better ensure any staff that have respiratory infection signs or symptoms or related CVD19 symptoms, stay home
* Actively monitoring and ensuring adequate stocks of protective equipment are available and utilized
* All staff members have been issued N95 and face masks and medical protective glasses and are using them to "reverse isolate"
* Enhanced infection control cleaning frequency and resources through an outside commercial/healthcare cleaning vendor to supplement internal infection control cleaning
* Activated Contingency Plans to manufacture/assemble "in-house" protective equipment and sanitizing chemicals to serve as backup "safety stock" in the event the materials/PPE cannot be obtained through vendor supply sources
* Regular and consistent dialogue and updates including weekly town hall meetings (with distancing!) with staff/clinical care staff to ensure new protocols, guidelines, etc. are being communicated-- and for staff to directly and openly ask questions, share concerns, ideas or any other need directly with the senior management of AOH
* Placement of H13 HEPA (Medical Grade) Air Purifier Systems throughout the building as a measure to potentially capture aerosolized viral particles-- this is in process and due to be implemented shortly
* Pilot of an in-house generated program for the placement of copper/alloy on some high touch areas as Copper has been shown to potentially kill the virus on its surface faster than plastic, wood and other materials
We will be posting a new update with "Frequently Asked Questions" we ask that questions be submitted to: aohnotify1@gmail.com and as many possible submitted ones will be selected for inclusion in the FAQ.
For other information on COVID-19 please contact: icp@health.ny.gov