Weekly Update June 3, 2022
June 3, 2022
To: Solheim Employees, Residents, Family Members and Stakeholders
From: Sam Oden, CEO of Solheim Senior Community
For many, Memorial Day signifies the start of Summer (although technically, June 21st is the first day of Summer). There’s something about Summer that seems to excite everyone, from young to old! As the weather gets warmer, and the days get longer, I encourage you to enjoy our beautifully renovated outdoor spaces and spend time in the sun visiting with family, friends, and loved ones!
As a reminder, our Annual Meeting of the Corporation is scheduled for THIS Sunday June 5th at 4pm. Once again, this year, our Annual Meeting will be held virtually. We will be presenting new Board Members for consideration to join our Solheim Board of Directors. By way of reminder: This meeting is a gathering of delegates from our ELCA church congregations and other interested parties.
LA County DPH has mandated that all Skilled Nursing Facilities pause communal dining and group activities, and begin testing of all residents once weekly and all staff twice weekly.
In addition, ALL Health Center (Skilled Nursing) visitors, including essential visitors who were previously exempt from all visitor testing requirements, should now be tested for indoor visitation until further notice. We will continue to provide rapid antigen tests to all visitors until further notice, but due to the increase in testing requirements for Solheim staff and residents, we strongly encourage you to acquire your own over the counter tests. If you have not done so already, USPS is offering 8 free rapid antigen COVID-19 tests, and you can order yours at https://special.usps.com/testkits. Please note that all over the counter self-tests must be conducted in the presence of Solheim staff who can verify the test result belongs to the visitor and conducted on the appropriate date/time prior to visitation.
Our visitation guidelines remain the same as last week in our Residential, Assisted Living and Halvorson neighborhood, but Health Center visitations have changed slightly as described in this communication – (please be aware that we stop offering rapid tests at 4:30pm). If you come to visit after that time, we ask that you provide your own proof of a negative Covid-19 test result from within the past 48 hours. I sincerely thank you for your patience, as our guidelines will likely continue to evolve considering changing regulatory guidance. Our current visitation guidelines are:
All visitors in our Residential, Assisted and Memory Care levels of living on campus may visit indoors if the visitor is fully vaccinated OR provides proof of a negative PCR COVID-19 test result within 48 Hours, or a negative Antigen test within 24 hours.
All GENERAL visitors in our Health Center (SNF) must provide one of the following prior to entering the facility for all indoor and in-room visits, REGARDLESS of vaccination status: a negative PCR COVID-19 test result within 48 Hours, or a negative Antigen test within 24 hours.
All ESSENTIAL visitors in our Health Center (SNF) must be tested twice weekly or provide proof of a negative PCR COVID-19 test result within 48 hours, or a negative Antigen test within 24 hours.
Testing is not required for OUTDOOR visitation.
Indoor visitors and visitors eligible for outdoor visitation must always wear a facemask during the visitation and physically distance themselves from facility staff and other residents and visitors that are not part of their group at all times during the visit.
Alternative communication such as phone calls, video calls, and online communication is always available.
I am pleased to report that as of today’s writing, we have no new staff or residents who have tested positive for COVID-19.
If you have any specific questions, please direct them to Tina Antypas at 323 257-7518 X225 or tantypas@solheimsenior.org.