Update 5.5.2020
Plymouth Place™ Friends and Family,
During the last 40 days, we have had tremendous engagement with residents and loved ones who continue to buoy our spirits with encouragement and support. Understandably, we have also received many thoughtful questions, concerns and requests, all of which we have attempted to respond to directly, or through the FAQ on our website.
A common and very important inquiry is how Plymouth Place handles testing of residents and team members.
As with most decisions regarding this virus, we continue to lean heavily on our experienced medical directors for guidance and recommendations, and larger health authorities such as the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH). We transport kits kindly provided to us from IDPH to their lab near downtown Chicago, where we tend to receive results in 3 to 7 days.
Any resident who exhibits signs or symptoms of the virus will be tested, per their physician’s order, and those in independent living can receive a test through our on-site Campus Care clinic. Through detailed contact tracing, we also test anyone who we know may have had contact with a COVID-positive member of our community. COVID-positive residents are immediately quarantined in our specialized Dedicated Isolation Unit, where they are closely monitored and cared for. Those with symptoms are also quarantined while awaiting the results of their tests.
We continue to appropriately test team members – those who present signs or symptoms, those who self-report contact with a COVID-positive individual, or those who simply want to be checked for their peace of mind. Any COVID-positive team member is required to self-isolate and recover at home, per our protocols.
Of course, our testing approach supplements comprehensive precautionary measures we’ve operated under for weeks. This includes full vital signs checks of residents in the Health Care Center four times daily, temperatures and/or oxygen saturations of residents in Assisted Living and Memory Care taken three times daily, and detailed screens of all team members before each shift and twice per shift for clinical and support services professionals.
As with any of our measures, we will make any necessary adjustments to best protect those who live and work here. This is an ongoing battle; we are fortunate to have so many advocates for the Plymouth Place family. We will continue to persistently implement a singular and shared focus on the well-being of our community.
Stay safe and stay well,
Jay Biere
President/CEO