Nursing homes asked to cease visitation

Aug. 27--ELIZABETHTOWN -- Nursing homes in Essex County have agreed to suspend in-person visitation following a plea from the Essex County Board of Supervisors.

The request follows a COVID-19 outbreak cluster at Essex Center in Elizabethtown, where 44 residents and 29 staff members have been infected with the coronavirus. Four residents have died.

The Essex County Board of Supervisors, which has the dual responsibility as the Essex CountyBoard of Health overseeing the Essex County Public Health Department, issued a request Tuesday to suspend visitation at all nursing home facilities in the county for two weeks.

That includes Essex Center, which never restarted visitation after the crisis began, and Elderwood at Lake Placid and Ticonderoga, Neighborhood House in Keene Valley, Champlain Valley Senior Community in Willsboro, and Saranac Village at Will Rogers in Saranac Lake.

"Protecting the health and welfare of all Essex County residents is our primary responsibility," Board Chairman Shaun Gillilland (R-Willsboro) said in the request letter that went out.

14 DAYS

The request asks that facilities suspend all visitation for 14 days as a way to prevent community spread.

Nursing homes must comply with strict state guidelines in order to allow visitation, including having a COVID-19-free environment for at least 28 days.

"We know that this disease is insidious and lethal when it gets into nursing and elder care facilities," Gillilland said.

"I realize this is a significant hardship, especially on residents, but we need to take all measures to protect our most vulnerable."

PROACTIVELY CLOSED

Champlain Valley Senior Community said it will heed the county request.

"CVSC and Vilas Home (in Plattsburgh) have already closed to visitors proactively," administrator Eli Schwartzberg said by email.

Saranac Village at Will Rogers Executive Director Jamie Whidden said they followed the county request.

"We proactively stopped in-person visitation yesterday as part of our safety measures in response to the outbreak of COVID-19 at Essex Center," he said by email.

"We had been allowing visitation in outdoor areas on our grounds and we had not been allowing inside visits at our retirement community. We suspended the outside visits on Tuesday, Aug. 25."

Elderwood facilities in Lake Placid and Ticonderoga posted they will also comply with the county request.

"Based on guidance from the Essex CountyBoard of Health regarding increased incidences of COVID-19 in the county, we are temporarily unable to welcome visitors," the homes wrote.

"We will notify families directly as soon as limited visitation can resume."

A staffer at Neighborhood House said they also will comply with the county request to halt in-person visitation.

HOSPITAL SUSPENDS VISITS

University of Vermont Health Network, Elizabethtown Community Hospital has also suspended visitation to its facilities.

"The health and safety of our patients, staff and community is our highest priority," ECH Medical Director of Emergency Medicine and Chief Medical Officer Dr. David Clauss said in a news release.

"We have been working with our neighbors at Essex Center and with the Essex County Health Department to closely monitor the recent outbreak and limit the spread of COVID in our community."

Clauss said the visitor restriction was an added precaution. It builds off safety protocols implemented since March, including employee and patient screenings, strict adherence to federal and state health guidelines, and enhanced cleaning protocols.

Special considerations for pediatric patients, end-of-life care patients and patients with an intellectual, developmental or cognitive disability are included in the updated visitor policy.

The temporary suspension of visitors will be reassessed in the coming weeks to determine when it will be appropriate to return to limited visitation, the release said.

For updates and resources on COVID-19, please visit https://www.ech.org/COVID-19-Information-and-Updates.

DECISION SUPPORTED

Gillilland said COVID-19 testing is ongoing at Essex Center.

"Additional testing is in progress of residents, staff, and quarantine contacts," he said.

"Waiting for results from the state lab."

Essex County Public Health Director Linda Beers said she and her staff support the decision by Gillilland and the Board of Supervisors.

"We are taking extra precautions for this population, because the data shows that they are much more vulnerable to serious illness from COVID-19," Beers said in a release.

"We want to prevent further infections and limit the impact to our surrounding communities."

A memorial service for the Essex Center patients who died hasn't been set.

"With everything happening so fast we have not discussed this as yet," Gillilland said.

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