Weekly Update April 2, 2021
April 2, 2021
To: Solheim Employees, Residents, Family Members and Stakeholders
From: Sam Oden, CEO of Solheim Senior Community
Faith communities everywhere are observing Holy Week and Passover. For Christians, the Easter story reminds us that death is not the end; there is still joy and hope after suffering. For the descendants of the Hebrews, Passover is, as it has been for thousands of years, a timeless story of liberation and promise. And for secular individuals, this is the beautiful season of Spring, which calls us outside so that we can shake off the cold of Winter. This time of year, we all somehow feel rejuvenated and motivated to make our lives, and the world, a better place. Regardless of your beliefs, I wish the goodness of this Season to all!
We are excited to share with you that our dining room will be fully open starting on Sunday, April 4th, and all meals will be served there—with residents able to share tables (if they so choose)! Masks will still be required, but I know that many residents will be thrilled to begin enjoying their meals with tablemates once again! (Since all meals will be offered in the dining room once again, we will also be returning to our prior system for meal delivery requests to apartments.)
It has been a joy to see our residents and family members visiting and enjoying these long-awaited renewed personal connections. We are continuing to move forward with our outdoor renovations, in the hopes that, as the weather warms, residents and visitors will soon be able to enjoy one of several beautiful outdoor spaces. And we also remain on schedule with our ongoing Health Center Room renovations, completing approximately 4 rooms a week!
As a reminder, here are our current visitation guidelines. We appreciate your patience as we implement these guidelines, and, as always, we ask for your partnership and diligence in following these rules:
All visitors must still continue to wear masks at all times, practice social distancing, and schedule your visit with Kathy Rust at KathyR@solheimsenior.org
All residents, regardless of vaccination status, may have “in-room” visits, but must continue to social distance
If a resident has been fully vaccinated, and all of their visitors have also been fully vaccinated, then limited direct physical contact (i.e., a hug, touching, assistance with care needs, etc.) is also permissible
Any personal “in-room” visits in our Health Center should be scheduled in common areas, or when the roommate is out of the room
All visitors must still continue check in when they arrive on campus (including temperature and screening questions) and sign our COVID-19 waiver
We will still continue to limit visits to 30 minutes maximum, whenever possible
We still continue to encourage outdoor visits or visits in our common areas as much as possible
Should you have any questions about these guidelines, please contact Tina Antypas at tantypas@solheimsenior.org, or Meg Pierce at mpierce@solheimsenior.org.
Dory Polo has resigned from her position as our Director of Nursing to pursue a great new opportunity, and her last day will be April 9th. We are very thankful to Dory for her service to Solheim, and we sincerely wish her the best in all of her future endeavors! If you have questions or concerns, please reach out to me or Meg Pierce, our Senior Director of Healthcare Services. We will be looking to fill this position as soon as possible; in the interim, Meg will continue to have oversight over our Health Center.
Finally, as of today’s writing, I am very happy to report that we have no new confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 anywhere on campus.
If you have any specific questions, please direct them to Tina Antypas at 323 257-7518 X225 or tantypas@solheimsenior.org.