Lewis County Residential Health Care Facility Reopens for In-Person Visits

 

Published: June 09, 2021 at 02:00 p.m.

By: Nick Altmire

 

Lowville, NY- The Lewis County Residential Health Care Facility (LCRHCF) reopened to in-person visits on Tuesday, after completing the required 14-day period with no new positive test results for COVID-19 for staff or residents.

 

The facility was closed to in-person visits on May 18th, when it was announced that two staff members had tested positive for COVID-19. On May 24th, an additional staff member tested positive for COVID-19, resetting the 14-day requirement of no positive test results for visits to resume.

 

On Monday, family members of residents were notified via a broadblast alert from the facility that, with no new cases reported, visitation would resume on Tuesday.

 

On Tuesday, LCRHCF was notified that two staff members on the second floor were diagnosed with scabies. If your loved one was affected and needs precautionary treatment you will be notified by facility staff, according to a broadblast alert from the facility. The first floor has already received treatment, and they will be treating residents affected on the second floor today, the fourth floor on Thursday, and the third floor on Friday, as a precautionary measure. The facility reports that the affected staff members wore appropriate personal protective equipment, so this means they do not have to close for in-person visitation as a result of the scabies cases. However, when visiting a loved one, all visitors will be required to wear appropriate personal protective equipment, including gloves, a gown, and a facility issued face mask.

 

Once all residents and staff receive treatment, visitors will no longer have to wear gloves and gowns. Due to

COVID-19, facility issued masks will still need to be worn at all times, per New York State Department of

Health guidelines.

 

If you are planning on visiting a resident at the LCRHCF, note the following visitation guidelines:

 

·      Visitors must adhere to the core principles of COVID-19 infection control, which include appropriate personal protective equipment, a facility-issued mask, 6-foot physical distancing, and hand hygiene.

 

·      Visitors are not required to have a COVID test and do not need to schedule a visit. There are no age limitations for visitors. Also, while there are no restrictions on the time you can spend with your loved ones, we ask that you consider not visiting the residents during mealtimes. Visits during mealtime should be limited to those visitors involved in a scheduled feeding program.

 

·      Visits should occur in the resident's room. If your loved one has a roommate who already has a visitor, you may use the visitation room set up on your loved one's floor or the vestibule area near the elevators. There is no restriction to the number of visitors; however, you must maintain the six-foot social distance requirement for indoor visits. We encourage larger groups to consider visiting outdoors.

 

·      For contract tracing purposes, all visitors must also sign in and out for every visit.

 

The full visitation guidelines are posted on the Residential Health Care Facility page of the Lewis County Health System website. Please review the updated guidelines before your visit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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