12/7/2020
Dear Maristhill Residents and Families,
The facility has tested all of our staff on November 30th and December 1st per Department of Public Health guidance for those individuals that had previously tested negative. Our staff continues to show no signs or symptoms of COVID-19. We will continue to test all of our staff every week as directed by CMS and DPH. The change to weekly is due to the severe trend upward of positive COVID-19 cases in the community. The second surge of COVID-19 has hit Massachusetts hard and will be with us for the fore seeable future.
The risk of spreading the COVID 19 virus is very real and with the holidays upon us we are at greater risk to spread the virus. I am requesting that each family think through the great risk that visitations may possibly bring to your family member and the Maristhill community as a whole. The efforts that are being made to control the spread of the virus by the various communities that we live in had not been as successful as we had all hoped. Until a vaccine is distributed to our residents and staff they are still at risk to the COVID 19 virus. At this time we are still having in-person visits, but it may be a better idea for all to utilize the IPad for virtual face to face visits. Since Thanksgiving many families have moved to this type of visit and have been thoughtful in helping us in preventing the potential spread of COVID-19. We recognize the positive impact of in-person visits for our residents, but we are very aware of the negative impact that COVID-19 has had in our Maristhill community.
And, to make it even more concerning for all of us is that we are entering the Flu season as well. I am pleased to inform you that we have provided the Flu vaccine to both our residents and staff. Nearly 100 % of our residents and staff have received the flu vaccine. Excellent news!
We ask that our residents and staff do all that they can to support our facility and our community by following the recommendations set forth by the CDC and DPH:
- Social Distancing/staying home if possible and wear a facemask in public;
- Washing Hands for 20 seconds with soap and water or use a hand sanitizer;
- Self-isolating if showing any signs or symptoms of COVID-19; and
- Seek medical assistance as necessary
We wish to remind you that we have updated our Maristhill website and we hope that this updated version will be helpful for the families to keep in contact with the activities and news from Maristhill. Also, we still utilize Facetime and Skype for visits with families and residents.
Thank you all for your support. If you have any questions, please let me know.
Regards,
James Tracy
James Tracy,
President
