Long Term Care visitor update

“For right now, our visitation guidelines are not changing, and this is to protect both Long Term Care residents and staff,” said Dr. Tom Bracken, Infection Prevention and Long Term Care Medical Director.  Bracken was responding to inquiries from some community members, who believed the state had relaxed rules around nursing homes and visitation policies.

MLHS COO and Long Term Care Administrator Kim Kucera explained that initially, the MLHS Long Term Care was abiding by safety rules regarding no visitors. Then it began holding outdoor visits and window visits because there were no cases of COVID-19 in that facility.

At the end of August, the state had put out recommendations for how and when to safely transition to what they called “next level throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.” According to that plan, there are two visitation/activity levels; Level 1 is more restrictive and Level 2 is for facilities that haven’t had positive cases in the past 28 days.

“We were in a good place, and then an employee of our Long Term Care tested positive,” Kucera said. “That meant we had to move backwards into a more restrictive mode and had to comply with the rules about testing all staff and residents.”

The state requires that the nursing home have a plan of action; and the COVID policies, processes, and infection control practices have to be reviewed and approved by a state surveyor (which has taken place).

Kucera said the second round of testing showed one positive resident, and they are still waiting on results from another round of tests. “This is important,” she said, “because when we can be without any positive cases amongst staff and residents for 28 days, we can think about transitioning to a less restrictive plan or Level 2 for visiting and activities.”

However, even if the MLHS Long Term Care meets the criteria to move to the Minnesota Department of Health Level 2, there may be circumstances – for example, a high level of community or county transmission­ –­ that would support the facility needing to stay at one level for an undetermined period.

At this time, Kucera said the MLHS Long Term Care is in a fluid state as far as visiting and activities, and noted the facility will move forward with “safety and care, according to the state guidelines.”