Dear Residents and Families of The Cardinal,
We want to thank everyone for their support and most importantly, their participation in this week’s COVID-19 vaccination clinic. CVS administered 500 doses of the vaccine to residents, Cardinal associates, and 3rd party essential caregivers. We could not be more pleased with how smoothly and efficiently things went on Tuesday and CVS did not have to waste as single dose. Many associates and some residents did succumb to the known potential side effects after receiving their second dose of the vaccine. While these side effects, including fever, chills, body aches and pains, headache, and extreme fatigue, were unpleasant for a brief time, we can all feel much better knowing that a few hours of discomfort is a small price to pay for 94% immunity against COVID-19. CVS will be back on-site March 2nd for their final clinic at The Cardinal. More information about this clinic will be forthcoming in a couple of weeks.
Unfortunately, we learned this afternoon that one of our private duty, 3rd party caregivers tested positive for COVID-19. This caregiver provides services to an assisted living resident and is completely asymptomatic at this time. We are in the process of retesting this individual today to determine if this is a false positive result. We are also testing the resident this caregiver provides services for in The Pines. The resident will quarantine until we receive today’s test results, and the 3rd party caregiver will isolate at home.
We continue to receive many questions about what life at The Cardinal will look like after we are all vaccinated. We are just as excited as you are for things to change and we are currently working with our Cardinal Management Team and Operations Support Team at Kisco on what our “new normal” will look like post-vaccination. We do not have all of the answers right now but hope to have some exciting announcements next week as we venture into our new normal in 2021. Please stay tuned for more information and updates.
The Pub officially re-opened yesterday, and we have enjoyed welcoming so many of our residents to dine with us in person. As a reminder, The Pub will be open between the hours of 11:00am – 5:30pm Monday through Friday. We will no longer reserve days of the week for each floor. Residents may call the catering line at 984-344-3983 from 9:30am – 11:30am to make a reservation. We ask that reservations be made a day in advance and reservations will be made on a first come, first serve basis. Until we begin reopening more dining venues soon, we ask that residents only reserve one seating per week to allow everyone the opportunity to dine in The Pub. More exciting announcements from the Dining Services Team will be announced next week.
We value your feedback and want to hear from you on how we are doing. The Cardinal will kick off its 1st Resident Satisfaction Survey process of 2021 on Monday, February 15th. More information will be forthcoming about this survey process and how to participate. We would love to have 100% participation this year!
February is American Heart Month and today we celebrated Wear Red Day at The Cardinal to raise awareness about heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States. We loved seeing so many of our residents and associates dressed in their best RED today and thank everyone who braved the elements to take a fabulous group photo this afternoon. The picture looks fantastic!
Throughout the month of February, we will be raising money for The American Heart and Stroke Association. We have set our fundraising goal of $2500 and there are several ways you can help us achieve our goal. The Wellness Team has been selling Candy Grams this week which consisted of assorted chocolate covered strawberries. Residents who purchased these Candy Grams for friends and loved ones will receive them next Friday, February 12th in time for Valentine’s Day. We will also be selling raffle tickets for some amazing prizes February 17th – 24th. There is no limit on how many tickets you can purchase or how many times you can win. Tickets are $5 a piece or $20 for six tickets. And finally, The Wellness Team will host a silent auction on February 24th with a variety of items ranging in value from $40 – $500. Bidding will begin at 7:00am and close at 3:30pm that afternoon. Winners will be announced at 4:00pm on the 24th at a cocktail social in the Gathering/Media Room.
Residents may contribute to our team fundraising goal by donating on The Cardinal’s page on the American Heart Association’s website. The link to our team page is:
https://www2.heart.org/site/TR/FunRaiser/General?px=20766046&pg=personal&fr_id=3929
Spectrum and K4 were onsite today to troubleshoot the issues we have been experiencing with our in-house channel 1341. We are pleased to report that channel 1341 is officially online and working again. We apologize for this unfortunate inconvenience and appreciate your patience as our vendors worked to resolve the issue.
As always, the love for our residents and our commitment to their health and safety remains the primary force behind the decisions being made and actions being taken here at the community as we transition into our “new normal” post vaccination. We appreciate your continued support and compliance with our COVID-19 protocols to keep our residents and associates as safe and healthy as possible. And as always, please continue to follow the 3 W’s; wear a mask, wash your hands, and watch for social distancing. Chris Jamgochian, Culinary Services Director, is Manager on Duty this weekend and will be available to assist you if needed. Have a wonderful weekend!
Sincerely,
Tom Ford, Executive Director
Mary Casey, Assistant Executive Director