COVID-19
COVID-19 Infection Prevention and Response Action Plan
Dear Dimensions Living Residents, Families, and Team Members,
As highly transmissible COVID-19 variants spread throughout the United States, our top priority is protecting the health and wellness of our residents, team members, and those residing in our broader community.
We Keep Everyone Safe and Healthy
Our priority is to keep everyone safe and healthy at all times. We adhere to current guidance from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and state and local health officials to protect our residents and team members from COVID-19, and are taking every action possible to prevent it from spreading in our senior communities.
Requiring Our Team Be Vaccinated
Staying up-to-date with your COVID-19 vaccine is the best way to protect yourself and others. Any team member with an approved medical or religious exemption to the COVID-19 vaccine will adhere to reasonable accommodations to protect the health and safety of everyone in our senior community, like wearing well-fitting face masks. Highly transmissible COVID-19 variants are a major risk to anyone unvaccinated. Therefore, we encourage everyone to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and will provide resources to those who need it.
Infection Prevention and Control Training
We have assigned one leader at each Dimensions Living community to oversee all training in infection prevention and control and to successfully implement all elements of our COVID-19 Infection Prevention and Response Action Plan.
Utilizing Proper Source Control
When our community transmission rate is "high", everyone is asked to wear a well-fitting face mask, per CMS and CDC guidelines. In addition, masks are required for those who, within the last 10 days, had symptoms of respiratory illness, close contact or a high-risk exposure with someone who has COVID-19, they work in a place currently experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak, been told to wear a mask by public health authorities, or are a vaccine-exempt team member and reasonable accommodations require masking.
Screening and Monitoring
We have increased our screening and monitoring of residents and team members for COVID-19 symptoms, including fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, or diarrhea.
We all play a part in keeping ourselves and others healthy. Please wash your hands often, use alcohol-based hand-rub, avoid touching your face, cover your coughs and sneezes with a tissue, wear a well-fitting mask, and practice
physical distancing as appropriate.
Residents
Please let a team member know immediately if you feel ill or have COVID-19 symptoms.
We are here to support and care for you.
Team Members
Don’t enter the community if you are ill.
Contact or director of nursing or your supervisor to schedule a COVID-19 test as soon as possible.
We Continue Educating everyone about COVID-19
For additional information, please visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.
Tracing Symptomatic Individuals
We follow federal and state health officials’ guidance regarding testing our community members for COVID-19. Those with symptoms of the virus are tested three times following close contact or high-risk exposure to someone who has symptoms of COVID-19 or has tested positive for the virus. This process helps us quickly complete the appropriate contract tracing and investigation, in partnership with state and federal health officials, so we identify and quarantine residents and team members who are positive for COVID-19.
Quarantining COVID-19 Positive Residents
COVID-19 positive residents are quarantined as needed and supported by designated team members until they are well and cleared by medical professionals, and meet the CDC symptom-based criteria for return to normal activity.
Advising Team Members Appropriately
For the health and well-being of our senior communities, symptomatic team members are asked to notify their supervisor and schedule a COVID-19 test. We follow CDC guidance on the return-to-work criteria for health care professionals with confirmed COVID-19 diagnoses.
Environmental Safety Precautions
We’re taking environmental safety precautions. Our housekeeping team continues to take extra measures to clean and disinfect all high-touch areas throughout the building. This includes countertops and tables, faucet handles, toilet flush handles, doorknobs, door handles, crash bars, bathroom and kitchen areas, elevator call buttons, and handrails.
Safe Gatherings, Activities, and Visitation
We support the well-being of all by adhering to the core principles of infection prevention and control when welcoming visitors and during our congregate dining and group activities. Especially when our community has “high” COVID-19 transmission rates, all residents, team members, and visitors will wear well-fitting masks, practice proper hand hygiene, and physical distance as appropriate.
Help Keep Us Safe and Healthy
Please postpone your visit to Dimensions Living if, during the last 10 days, you have tested positive for COVID-19, have shown symptoms of respiratory illness, or have been exposed to COVID-19. If a visit is postponed, please know our team is available to support residents and their loved ones stay connected in alternative ways, like by coordinating a virtual visit.
Visitors are Welcome!
General Infection Control Practices for all In-Person Visits:
- Please postpone your visit if you have had a positive viral test for COVID-19 in the last 10-days, have any symptoms of respiratory illness, or have been exposed to COVID-19 in the last 10 days.
- Visitors: please complete hand hygiene with an alcohol-based hand rub upon arrival.
- All visitors, regardless of vaccination status, must wear a well-fitting face covering or mask when at our community if our community’s COVID-19 transmission status is “high”.
- As appropriate, participants should practice physical distancing and limit time spent within our community’s common areas.
While visits are permitted at all times—even in the event of an outbreak—there are risks associated with entering our community if we have active COVID-19 cases. While federal officials do not recommend it, residents on transmission-based precautions (TBP) or quarantine due to active COVID-19 may still receive visitors in the residents’ suites while practicing the general principles of infection prevention.
Our team is always available to help with any alternative visiting methods!
Virtual Visits
If anyone is unable to visit—due to illness or inability to travel— please maintain contact by phone, letters, video chat, and/or social media. If assistance is needed with these communications methods, please contact our team so we can help.
Outdoor Visits
Outdoor visits pose a lower risk of virus transmission due to increased space and airflow. While the option to visit indoors is now possible, state and federal health officials advise that it is safest for older adults to participate in outdoor visits whenever comfortably possible.
Our Residents are Family!
- We maintain communication with our medical director, other providers, and state and local health officials. We also closely monitor all information from the CDC, CMS, and state and local health departments to ensure we adhere to applicable revisions in guidance related to COVID-19 and infection prevention and control.
- Please know our team is readily available to help coordinate and accommodate visits with Dimensions Living residents in a way that is appropriate for our physical setting, meets personal needs, and maintains the comfort and safety of all.
- *Per CMS, an individual is deemed up-to-date with COVID-19 vaccinations if they have obtained all first series of their initial COVID-19 vaccine as well as all boosters they are eligible to receive.
Thank You
Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns you may have. We thank you for your support and understanding during this difficult time. We are all in this together.
