Careers Form

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

September 16: COVID-19 Update

Phase III Reopening

On May 18, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a memo to address the reopening of nursing homes in phases. Reopening means easing some of the restrictions that have been put in place to protect residents and team members during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic and moving in a stepwise manner toward more normal operations.

The Glebe successfully completed required baseline testing in the licensed areas in July allowing the ability to attest and start Phase II for visitation. The Glebe is getting positioned to apply and attest for Phase III. The goal in Phase III is to allow in person visitation in health care, assisted living and memory care. The leadership and LifeSpire team will keep residents informed as Phase III requirements are met.

Testing

Glebe team members recently distributed a letter to from LifeSpire Director of Clinical Services, Paula Bolton, outlining new mandated testing in all Medicare and Medicaid certified nursing facilities. As The Glebe pursues permission for Phase III reopening, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) continues to update regulatory guidance in an effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in high risk settings, such as nursing facilities.   

The most recent regulatory guidance update requires routine testing of health care team members, contractors, vendors, consultants, and volunteers based on the COVID-19 positivity rate in the area surrounding the community for the prior week. The latest update states that routine testing of residents is not recommended, however, if routine team member testing exposes asymptomatic positive results, The Glebe will be required to begin testing residents immediately. 

Team member testing under the updated regulation will begin Monday, September 21, and will continue weekly until the positivity rate increases or decreases dictating bi-weekly or monthly. This new regulation does not apply to assisted living or memory care team members or residents. Residents and team members will be tested if they become symptomatic, in the event of an outbreak or as directed by Virginia Department of Health.

Updates to current Phase II Precautions

Visitation for Health Care, Assisted Living, Memory Care:

Resident family members and friends may continue to schedule visitation with residents in health care, assisted living and memory care through the scheduling application, Calendly. Beginning September 7, the scheduling application was modified to allow more flexibility for weekend visits. The visitation scheduling is available Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m.–4 p.m. and Sundays from 1–4 p.m. Please contact Program Manager Derek Rohrig at 591-2177 with any questions.

Temperature Camera Placement:

The temperature screening terminal, located at the main entrance and the health services entrance, is an access control terminal integrated with high accuracy temperature screening and mask detection functions. It can quickly measure skin-surface temperature. During the temperature screening process, an audible warning will also alert if no mask is detected and the person will be verbally denied entrance until a mask is detected. The Glebe’s team is currently in a testing phase for the monitor; therefore, door access will not be denied during this testing phase. Please feel free to contact the administration for further questions regarding the temperature stations. 

Social Distancing:

Social distancing is a phrase used daily not only in our community but personal lives. The CDC recommends practicing standard precautions to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19. Social distancing means staying no less than six feet from one another in social settings. Based on this request and guidance, new occupancy standards in all meeting spaces, fitness areas and dining venues have been determined.  The Glebe will follow the new standard based on the total number of individuals in the room at one time. This number will include team members, residents, visitors, etc. Contact a member of the leadership team with questions regarding the occupancy standard.

Environmental Services:

Over the past several months, COVID-19 has continued to challenge not only the community but daily routines.  As adjustments and changes are made in support of mitigating and providing barriers against the virus, LifeSpire has selected Aramark as its new environmental services and laundry management company. Aramark is a national provider of environmental services and laundry services with a track record of excellence. With this new partnership, Aramark will employ a new director of environmental services, all other current environmental services team members will continue to be employed by the Glebe. In the new world of COVID-19, there are very strict and precise cleaning strategies and standards to help reduce the spread in all areas of the community.  Aramark will help with structure and processes to meet these ongoing and everchanging guidance of sanitizing and safeguarding against COVID-19.  Aramark will officially begin October 1.

Please check the COVID-19 communications hub at https://glebeprd.wpengine.com/blog/covid19/ for up to date communications. Questions may be submitted via email at [email protected] or 540-591-2104.