NURSING HOME RESIDENT VISITATIONS UPDATE 11/15/2022
Effective immediately, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service (CMS) and the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) have issued new visitation guidance for nursing homes. We are pleased to let you know that there will be no restrictions on nursing home visits at this time. Scheduled visits are no longer required. Please be advised that Covid-19 may be present in the building, however, visits may take place with appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and clear understanding of the risks faced with this type of visit. That said, we still must maintain safety of all residents and the following rules will apply. Arriving at the facility, all visitors must check in at the main entrance of the hospital. They then go directly to their residents unit and check in at the desk with staff and sign in (this is imperative to ensure our ability to contact trace in the event we have positive cases).
The New York State Department of Health continues to require testing of all visitors on each occurrence.
- All visitors to the Wyoming County Hospital Skilled Nursing Facility must test for COVID, less than 24 hours prior to the visit.
- You can utilize your own test and bring in the result (dated & timed) from home, or the facility can provide a test for you at the time of the visit.
All visitors must adhere to the core principles of infection prevention, including the following:
- Visitors who have a positive viral test for Covid-19, symptoms of Covid-19, or currently meet the criteria for quarantine, should not enter the facility.
- All visitors must be screened for signs and symptoms of Covid-19 to enter the facility.
- Hand Hygiene (use of alcohol-based hand rub is preferred).
- Face coverings or mask (covering the mouth and nose) and physical distancing, at least six feet in between people.
- Appropriate use of personal protective equipment (PPE).
When visits occur inside the building, all visitors must only go to the resident’s room and they must follow all infection prevention requirements including:
- Leaving their facemask on at all times (This includes the resident).
- Maintaining six feet of distance apart; do not wander through the halls of the building.
- Using hand sanitizer prior to and after your visit. It is available in hallways throughout the facility.
- Visitors must assure the safety of co-residents by maintaining six feet apart and both wearing masks. Residents in semi-private rooms should have no more than two people visiting at a time with the curtain pulled separating the co-resident in order to maintain social distancing.
- Visitors may not attend group programs or be present during meals in the dining room (visitors can assist with feeding the resident in their room).
Residents may go out on pass with families/friends. While residents are out of the facility, guardians will be responsible to ensure residents are following all infection prevention guidance.
NURSING HOME RESIDENT VISITATIONS UPDATE 11/18/2021
Effective immediately, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service (CMS) and the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) have issued new visitation guidance for nursing homes. We are pleased to let you know that there will be no restrictions on nursing home visits at this time. Scheduled visits are no longer required. Please be advised that Covid-19 may be present in the building, however, visits may take place with appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and clear understanding of the risks faced with this type of visit. That said, we still must maintain safety of all residents and the following rules will apply. Arriving at the facility, all visitors must check in at the main entrance of the hospital. They then go directly to their residents unit and check in at the desk with staff and sign in (this is imperative to ensure our ability to contact trace in the event we have positive cases).
All visitors must adhere to the core principles of infection prevention, including the following:
- Visitors who have a positive viral test for Covid-19, symptoms of Covid-19, or currently meet the criteria for quarantine, should not enter the facility.
- All visitors must be screened for signs and symptoms of Covid-19 to enter the facility.
- Hand Hygiene (use of alcohol-based hand rub is preferred).
- Face coverings or mask (covering the mouth and nose) and physical distancing, at least six feet in between people.
- Appropriate use of personal protective equipment (PPE).
When visits occur inside the building, all visitors must only go to the resident’s room and they must follow all infection prevention requirements including:
- Leaving their facemask on at all times (This includes the resident).
- Maintaining six feet of distance apart; do not wander through the halls of the building.
- Using hand sanitizer prior to and after your visit. It is available in hallways throughout the facility.
- Visitors must assure the safety of co-residents by maintaining six feet apart and both wearing masks. Residents in semi-private rooms should have no more than two people visiting at a time with the curtain pulled separating the co-resident in order to maintain social distancing.
- Visitors may not attend group programs or be present during meals in the dining room (visitors can assist with feeding the resident in their room).
Residents may go out on pass with families/friends, but will be quarantined and Covid-19 tested for two weeks (14 days) upon their return to the facility. While residents are out of the facility, guardians will be responsible to ensure residents are following all infection prevention guidance.
We are both excited and a bit nervous for this change as we have spent the past two years doing our very best to keep everyone safe throughout the pandemic. Safety remains our priority and we require your cooperation to keep the residents safe. Please adhere to these rules so that everyone may have safe visits. Visits will be restricted if infection control measures are not followed.
NURSING HOME RESIDENT VISITATIONS UPDATE 09/27/2021
NURSING HOME VISITATION UPDATE 03/17/2021:
Effective March 22, 2021
We are excited to announce that in-person visits resume on Monday, March 22, 2021.
All residents and staff have tested negative for the past two weeks. We continue to vaccinate new residents and all staff that desire a vaccination. We will be offering the same visiting days that we currently have for window visits (Monday, Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday). Visits will increase from 20 minutes to 45 minutes. We have specific guidance from both federal and state regulatory agencies with a few areas highlighted:
- Social distancing and masks are still required
- No visitors will be allowed on the unit
- Movement in the facility is limited. Visitors should go directly to the designated visitation area, no walking around different halls of the facility
- Visitors are required to pass the screening to enter for a visit (temperature, travel questions, exposure questions, and provide address and phone for tracing in the event it is needed)
If the County positivity rate goes above 5%, you will require a negative Covid test to have visits. To check the positivity rate visit: https://forward.ny.gov/percentage-positive-results-county-dashboard
Please follow all provided guidance. Do not come to the facility, if you do not feel well.
All family members are welcome, two visitors at a time, including the younger members as long as they are accompanied by an adult 18 or older.
To schedule your visit, please call (585) 786-8940, Ext. 4719, weekdays. Staff are not assigned to answer calls and make appointments on the weekends, so please leave a message and a member of our team will return your call during the week. Thank you for your ongoing support and cooperation please be patient as we re-implement this process.
NURSING HOME VISITATION UPDATED 11/03/2020:
Beginning today, November 2, 2020, the skilled nursing facility window visits will resume. All staff and residents have tested negative for COVID-19. Please call (585)-786-8940 extension 4719 to schedule your visit in November. We are not booking any visits for December at this time. We will continue to monitor residents and test staff weekly. As you are most likely aware, the community is experiencing an increase in the number of positive cases of COVID-19. We will continue to remain vigilant in our screening of staff and twice-daily screening of residents.
NURSING HOME VISITATION UPDATED 09/24/2020:
Changes once again in the visitation guidelines for the Skilled Nursing Facility. At this time we qualify to do face-to-face visits, six feet apart. If there were a positive staff or resident, we would lose the ability to allow visits face-to-face. The two main changes that affect our residents and their families are:
- The facility must be COVID-19 free for fourteen (14) days (this was twenty-eight (28) days).
- All visitors must have a COVID-19 test that has been within the past seven (7) days prior to the visit (this was not required before).
With this significant change, we will be returning to our window visits (between the glass). If the visitor can provide a copy of a negative COVID-19 test within seven (7) days we will allow a face-to-face visit. This change has decreased the number of visits we will be able to do as we can only schedule one at a time. Please feel free to reach out to your state and local legislators and to the governor’s office as well to let them know your feelings about the most recent changes.
NURSING HOME VISITATION UPDATE 7/20/20:
Long-awaited in-person visits will begin today for the Skilled Nursing Facility. We have submitted our plan to the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH), and have received notification that we qualified for visits. Please note that many restrictions are in place for us and we are unable to allow visitors on the units or anywhere upstairs. Please review the following:
- You must make an appointment for the visit and only two (2) people per resident at one scheduled time.
- Please Call Sue Winiecki, Activities Director for an appointment (585)-786-8940 X4709.
- YOU MUST BE ON TIME OR WE CANNOT ACCOMMODATE THE VISIT.
- Visits will occur outside six (6) feet apart from each other.
- All visitors must be screened (temperature and questions) prior to the visit occurring.
- If the weather is not conducive to outside visits, the visit will still occur inside the building in a designated area.
- Inside visits, we can only allow one visitor per resident. (if two (2) people come, the visit time can be split).
- All visitors and residents must wear a mask during the visit. We also cannot allow any contact (hugging, etc.) you must remain six (6) feet apart.
- Visits will be 30 minutes maximum to allow everyone to have an equal chance to schedule a visit.
- Visits will be available Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday; if you have special situations please speak with Sue when you call. The hours available will be 10:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
We are pleased that we are able to do outside visits; many nursing homes do not qualify to offer these visits. We can easily lose our ability to provide visits if one of the following occurs:
- A resident tests positive for COVID-19
- A staff member tests positive for COVID-19
- We have to continue to COVID test all staff weekly and report results.
- Fail to report daily to the NYSDOH and Center for Disease Control (CDC) the status of all residents, staff, personal protective equipment (PPE), and testing abilities.
- Shortage of
- Shortage of staffing
These are just some of the examples that can cause us to lose the ability to do visits. Please bear with us as we do our best to accommodate these visits.
