Weekly Update June 10, 2022
June 10, 2022
To: Solheim Employees, Residents, Family Members and Stakeholders
From: Sam Oden, CEO of Solheim Senior Community
I’m pleased to announce that at our Annual Meeting of the Corporation this past Sunday, we welcomed aboard two new Board Members: Ben Beckler and Adria Navarro. We’re also thankful to have Carol Peters and Barbara Rogers each returning for a 2nd term. Solheim’s Board of Directors is voted in by delegates from our ELCA church congregations, and the Board helps to shape and guide Solheim’s direction as an organization and a community. I am personally very thankful for their dedication to Solheim; without their generous support, I’m not sure we would have been able to serve this community for nearly 100 years!
LA County DPH has now 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 be tested for indoor visitation. 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.