Homes respond to COVID
Staff writer
Some, but not all, county nursing facilities changed visitation policies since the delta variant of COVID-19 appeared in the county.
Terri Dye, director of nursing at Peabody’s Westview Manor, said policies changed Friday when the facility was released from quarantine.
During quarantine, no visitation was allowed.
“Right now, we have limited visitation,” she said. “People have to call and arrange to visit. We are limited to two visitors per day.”
Special precautions also are being taken.
“We are requiring visitors to mask up,” she said. “We are not letting anybody in the building who is not vaccinated, and we are encouraging outside visits if there’s decent weather, instead of inside the building.”
Amy Boudreaux, director of Marion Assisted Living, said her visitation guidelines have not changed.
However, she is monitoring the county’s delta positivity rates and could change rules if statistics change.
Peter Mungai, CEO of Salem Home in Hillsboro, also said his visitation guidelines have not changed.
“Now it’s a wait and see,” he said. “We don’t know until CMS (the federal agency that oversees Medicare) gives us new guidance.”
Peabody Health and Rehab administrator Melissa Parmley said visitation policy would change if a positive case were found among staff or residents.
Parmley said she was monitoring Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s positivity rate, which was 7.4 as of Monday. That puts the county in a yellow category, so staff members are being tested weekly.
“We don’t test residents unless they have symptoms,” she said.
St. Luke Living Center in Marion has also not changed visitation policies. An administrator at Goessel’s Bethesda Home could not be reached.