Dear Residents, Families, and Associates of The Cardinal,
Yesterday, North Carolina reported 4,296 new cases of COVID-19 and as of Wednesday of this week, our positivity rate was 8.3%. This percentage continues to rise and is heading in the wrong direction. Governor Cooper stated earlier this week that he is not ruling out new statewide restrictions if the data continues to trend in this direction.
Last night, we learned that one of our pool groups in the pooled saliva testing process from this past Wednesday returned a positive result. The individuals in this pool, consisting of 3rd party providers, were all notified last night and asked to come in today for individual PCR swab testing so we can identify who in the pool is positive. Today we continued our PCR swab testing of all Cardinal associates in addition to the individuals in this pool group. We will continue to PCR swab test all Cardinal associates next week. We are happy to report that we have received over 130 test results from the individual samples taken from our healthcare residents and Cardinal associates on Wednesday and they are all negative. Due to the upcoming Thanksgiving Holiday, we will only be pool testing Independent Living residents on Monday, November 23rd. We ask that all IL residents report to the Art Studio on Monday between the hours of 9:30am – 3:00pm to be tested.
We have received guidance over the past several days from the Department of Health and Human Services and the CDC in regards to holiday celebrations and small gatherings. The recommendations state that everyone should avoid in person gatherings with anyone who does not live in their household. For individuals residing in a residential senior living or care setting, their “household” is defined as the residents and staff within their community. Due to the greater community’s high positivity rate at this time, DHHS recommends that residents residing in senior living communities not leave their home/community to attend holiday gatherings with others outside of their household. Because our resident population is one of the most vulnerable and high-risk for COVID-19 transmission, we must be mindful that all of our actions, associates included, could impact the health and safety of others, as well as ourselves.
We realize that some of our residents may still choose to leave the community to spend time with loved ones next week. Per the Department of Health and Human Services, any resident who chooses to leave the community for a holiday gathering should be tested for COVID-19 upon return and quarantine for 14 days. This applies to all residents of The Cardinal.
We truly understand that this is not the message our residents and their families wish to hear at this time, especially after almost 9 months of restrictions. We continue to hear promising news of a vaccine that could be released as early as mid to late December. Our community has been so fortunate thus far with a minimal number of positive cases and we would hate to see that change when there is possibly an end in sight.
With Thanksgiving is less than a week away, our Dining Services Team is busy preparing a wonderful holiday menu for our residents to enjoy. In observance of Thanksgiving Day, there will only be one meal served in Independent Living on Thursday, November 26th. The Thanksgiving meal will include traditional holiday favorites and will be delivered between 12 Noon and 2:00pm. The IL Thanksgiving
Dining Schedule is as follows:
• On Wednesday, November 25th, Dining Services will be dropping off menus for Thanksgiving Day and Friday, November 27th during the lunch meal delivery service.
• A dining team member will pick up menus for both of these days during the dinner delivery service on Wednesday, the 25th.
• We will not drop off or pick up any menus on Thanksgiving Day.
• Our regular dining ordering service will resume on Friday, November 27th.
Technicians from K4 Connect were at the community today to troubleshoot challenges with our in-house insertion channel, 1341. New equipment was installed today and K4 will be following up early next week to fine tune and tweak a few things. Due to the new equipment that was installed, we may run into a few glitches this weekend with programming and wanted to make you aware of the reason why. We should have everything resolved and working properly before the Holiday. We cannot thank you enough for your patience as we implement this new technology from K4.
Earlier this week, resident Ron Levine and Culinary Services Director, Chris Jamgochian partnered up once again to compete in the semi-finals of the Kisco National Spelling Bee. Ron and Chris competed against other residents and associates from Kisco communities all along the East Coast. We are thrilled to announce that Ron and Chris were crowned Spelling Bee Champions and will advance to the Kisco National Finals in a few short weeks. Kisco Home Office associates are telling everyone that they have never seen someone spell as well as Ron and Chris and that they are definitely the team to beat. Congratulations, Ron and Chris! We look forward to cheering you both on again soon. Stay tuned for more details about the finals coming soon.
The North Carolina Department of Insurance approved our Disclosure Statement for 2020. We will be placing a copy of the updated Disclosure Statement in the Library for residents to review. If you would like your own personal copy of this document, we will be happy to provide you with a thumb drive containing the electronic file. You may also access this document on the DOI website by clicking on the link below. Please reach out to Tom Ford with any questions you may have.
Calling all Holiday Elves! We are super excited to be decorating the community for the holidays this year with all new décor. We need your help! A flyer has been sent out and we are asking for any resident volunteers who would like to help deck our halls to sign up at the front desk. We will be decorating on Wednesday, December 2nd from 11:00am – 3:00pm in the Living Room. Spaces will be limited to allow for social distancing. We will have an Angel Tree in the main lobby this year to support The Wake Med Children’s Hospital. More information about the Angel Tree and how to safely contribute this year will be announced soon.
As we continue to monitor the COVID situation closely, we will keep everyone informed of any changes. The Cardinal will continue to promote the safety and overall well-being of everyone. We appreciate your continued support and compliance with our COVID-19 protocols to keep our residents and associate as safe and healthy as possible. Stephen Mullis, Maintenance Manager, is Manager on Duty this weekend.
We hope you all have a wonderful evening!
Sincerely,
Tom Ford, Executive Director and Mary Casey, Assistant Executive Director
Mary Casey, Assistant Executive Director