NYS DOH Assisted Living Visitation

NYS Department of Health (DOH) now permits visiting at assisted living communities during the Covid-19 pandemic, even if residents or staff have tested positive.  While this news is certainly welcome, it is important to note that although cases of Covid-19 have fallen, there continue to be occasional cases on Long Island, where many of our staff and visitors live, so occasional positive results are unfortunately not unexpected.   Any staff member who tests positive is required to isolate at home and must be free of symptoms before returning to work.   Any resident who tests positive will be quarantined for 10 days, per the current NYS DOH guidelines, and any resident who had direct exposure to this resident will be tested, and the family notified.

Visitors to our community must be symptom-free, screened, wear a mask and assure appropriate social distancing.

ASSISTED LIVING VISITING INFORMATION

Our assisted living community follows the New York State Department of Health’s directions to use the CDC’s COVID-19 County Tracker to develop our operational guidelines. This county tracker measures community transmission and hospitalization rates.

Operational status is updated based on Suffolk County’s COVID-19 color-identified community level infection tracking system (GREEN, YELLOW, or RED). Transmission levels, along with masking requirements/recommendations, will be posted on signage in the lobby at our front desk.

“RED” = high transmission level in Suffolk County, or when 5% or more of our assisted living residents have an active infection.  *If community status moves to “RED,” families will be notified via email and residents will be notified with a letter in their mailboxes.

When status is “RED”, all staff members and visitors must wear a face mask. Residents also will be strongly encouraged to wear a mask while moving about our community.

“YELLOW” = medium transmission level.

During these times, masks are optional, but welcome, for staff and visitors. Masks will always be available at our front desk.

“GREEN” = low transmission level.

Masks are optional, but welcome for staff and visitors and are available by request at front desk.

While we are pleased that our updated policy allows individuals to follow their personal infection control preferences, we will always follow the core principles of COVID-19 infection control. Visitors and staff will continue to be screened before entering the community, and COVID-19 boosters and flu shots are always readily available for residents and staff. When a new COVID-19 case is identified among staff or residents, we will continue to notify the Suffolk County Department of Health and follow their most recent recommendations for quarantining, return-to-work guidelines and contact tracing.   Our residents and families continue to be informed whenever there is a new case of COVID-19 in our community.

As always, our goal is to prevent and mitigate the spread of COVID-19, while enhancing the well-being of our residents.  

Guidelines for Visitation

• Visitors to our community must be symptom-free.
• All visitors must sign in and sign out when visiting our community.
• Temperature checks will be screened at the front desk.
• Hand sanitizer must be used when entering and exiting.
• Visitor stickers will be provided by the front desk, and must be worn in visible area.

Thank you for your support and understanding.  We are looking forward to seeing you!