Coronavirus Update – Good Shepherd Independent Living Residents

March 11, 2020

Dear Good Shepherd Independent Living Residents,

Good Shepherd Communities is monitoring the Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation as we are sure many of you are as well. Currently, there are no known cases in Broome County, but we wanted to reach out to our residents and their families to provide up to date information.

Long term care facilities are working in collaboration with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the New York State Department of Health (NYS DOH), Broome County Emergency Operations, and our local Public Health Department to prepare for the likely presence of this virus in our communities.

We are diligently following all directives and recommendations from these entities to ensure that we are prepared to care for our residents.

Independent Living Residents

At this time, we are not limiting or restricting visits to IL residents. However, we do discourage visits, especially in group or congregate setting. Please help us keep you safe.

We will also be canceling all entertainment programming involving outside vendors or volunteers for the present time.

Education resources on COVID-19 will be provided in the Library. Please note the information is fluid and changing constantly. If you prefer to do your own research, we would urge you access credible sites such as those maintained by CMS, CDC or NYS DOH.

Health Care Residents

The New York State Department of Health and CMS have issued notifications regarding visitors to health care. Based on these notifications, we are implementing the following steps for our health care buildings and residents.

Limited Visitation
We have been notified that Wayne County, PA has confirmed Covid-19Case(s). Wayne County is adjacent to Broome County. Because of this, CMS recommends limiting visitation. Limiting means that visitors will not be allowed to enter the facility except for end-of-life situations or when a visitor is essential for the resident’s emotional well-being and care. Example: a daughter who visits her mother every Monday, would cease these visits, and limit her visits to only those situations when her mom has a significant issue. Also, during the visit, the daughter would limit her contact with her mother and only meet with her in her room or a place the facility has specifically dedicated for visits.

Screening for Visitors allowed under the exceptions to Limited Visitations

We will actively screen and restrict visitation by those who meet the following criteria:

Signs or symptoms of a respiratory infection, such as fever, cough, shortness of breath, or sore throat.
In the last 14 days, has had contact with someone with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID19, or under investigation for COVID-19, or are ill with respiratory illness.
International travel within the last 14 days to countries with sustained community transmission.
Resides in a community where community-based spread of COVID-19 is occurring.

Individuals who meet any of the criteria above should not be allowed in the facility at all, until they no longer meet the criteria above.

Additionally, we will ask:

Have you taken any recent trips (within the last 14 days) on cruise ships or participated in other settings where crowds are confined to a common location?

If the answer is yes, we suggest deferring the visit to a later date. If entry is necessary, visitors should use PPE while onsite. If we do not have sufficient PPE, we will restrict the visit, and ask the visitor to come back after at least 14 days with no symptoms of COVID-19.

If a visitor qualifies for an exemption to the Limited Visitation policy and does not meet the above criteria (1-2), they can enter the Facility but we may require the use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) such as facemasks.
All visitors must enter through the Designated Entrance only (see the Facility Specific Information below). There will be no visitor entrance from other areas.

In addition, please note we are cancelling any HC resident activities involving outside entertainment and\or volunteers. We will continue to provide resident activities using our employees in accordance with our infection control policies.

Staff

Staff will be screened on a daily basis using the process outlined above.

General

Information on practices will be posted at entrances, in the vestibules and on our website.

We appreciate your cooperation, and will update you on evolving concerns and plans. Please share this information with any friends and family who visit. At this time, we are unable to estimate the duration of the limitations on visits and changes to group programming, but we will modify our strategies based on regulatory directives and best practices. If you have any questions, please contact the appropriate personnel as outlined in the Facility Specific Information below.

Sincerely

Kathy Swezey MaryKay McKinney
GSFH Executive Director GSVE IL Executive Director

Facility Specific Information

	GSFH	GSVE
Main Number	724-2477	757-3100
Designated Entrance	Main Entrance	HC Entrance
General Inquiries on Visiting	Receptionist or House Charge RN	Receptionist or House Charge RN
Specific Guidance on Visiting	Apartments: Christa Webb ALR\EALR\ALP: Tracy Spence SNF: Christa Webb	Independent Living: MaryKay McKinney (484-6084) or Margo Doyle ALR\EALR\SNALR: Sandy Hoover) SNF: Leslie VanAustin
HC Specific Resident Health Status Inquiries (Limited to Mon-Fri 11a-1p. On evenings and weekends, please contact the Facility and ask for the House Charge RN)	ALR\EALR\ALP: Margaret Mattucci Cameo Court: Jenn Graef Rehab Unit: Jenny Mateer	ALR\EALR SNALR: Danielle Gulick SNF: Kathy Moore

Robert N. Keller Jr. has 45+ years of service in the local Banking Industry with a comprehensive knowledge of multiple areas of financial institutions. He is currently Vice President/Senior Project Manager of NBT Bank in Norwich, New York, where he has worked for 13+ years. Prior to joining NBT, Bob served as Vice President and supervised the Deposit and Loan Operations at BSB Bank and Trust. Before BSB Bank and Trust, Bob held many positions including Auditor, Comptroller, Chief Accounting Officer and Chief Financial Officer at Visions Federal Credit Union. Bob earned his Associate of Science Degree from SUNY Broome and his Bachelor of Science Degree from Binghamton University. He has obtained his Certified Credit Union Executive designation and completed the Stonier Graduate School of Banking program at Georgetown University. Bob has previously served on the Board of Directors of various organizations; Norwich Kiwanis, Chenango County Bankers Association, First Night Binghamton, Southern Tier Celebrates and Broome/Tioga County Literacy Volunteers. He was also on the Supervisory Committee for Empire Corporate Federal Credit Union. Mr. Keller lives in Johnson City with his wife Jill. They have two grown daughters and four grandchildren.

Linda Parke serves as GSC Corporate Director of Human Resources. She is responsible for providing overall direction and guidance to the HR Department. Linda rejoined Good Shepherd in 2015, and was with Good Shepherd Village at Endwell from 2009-2010. She has over 18 years of human resources experience with a specialization in talent management including workforce planning, recruiting, training, performance management, employee development, and employee engagement. She also has significant experience managing employee relations, benefits, compensation, and compliance issues. Linda is very passionate about human resources. Linda loves the variety and the challenges that human resources offers as there are so many different facets of human resources, which makes every day different. During her tenure with Good Shepherd, Linda has developed, participated, and implemented various projects including HR compliance audits, handbook development, training, recruiting, and compensation design. She is actively working with Chase on aligning their HR policies and procedures with Good Shepherd’s. Linda has a BS in Human Resources Management from SUNY Empire State and she also has received her accreditation from the Society of Human Resources as a certified professional (SHRM-CP). She is a certified Professional in Human Resources (PHR) through the HR Certification Institution. Linda is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).

Mike Keenan
President/CEO

Mike Keenan has almost forty years of long term care experience and is responsible for strategic planning, fiscal performance and quality assurance at Good Shepherd Communities which includes Good Shepherd Fairview Home, Good Shepherd Village at Endwell, Good Shepherd Communities Foundation and Chase Memorial Nursing Home. Mike holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Management from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh and a Master of Science Degree in Healthcare Administration from the New School for Social Research out of Manhattan.

Mike is a member of the American College of Healthcare Administrators. He is a member of the New York Association of Long Term Care Administrators and the Southern Tier Long Term Care Administrators. He is past Treasurer of LeadingAge New York which represents not-for-profit providers of housing, services and long term care in New York State.

During his tenure at Good Shepherd, Mike has brought to life the concept of Good Shepherd Village at Endwell, New York’s first and only fee-for-service continuing care retirement community. He has renovated and created new levels of care and services at Good Shepherd Fairview Home. He has overseen the affiliation of Chase Memorial Nursing Facility in New Berlin, NY into the Good Shepherd Communities organization. Mike is committed to developing programs and services to meet the needs of seniors in our community.

Mike is the recipient of the LeadingAge New York 2010 James W. Sanderson Memorial Award for Leadership in long term care and the 2020 Lawrence E. Larson Memorial Award of Honor, LeadingAge New York’s highest award.

Coronavirus Update – Good Shepherd Independent Living Residents

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