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Valley View to Partially Reopen to the Public

Valley View Home will reopen their doors to the public on March 22 after more than a year of excluding open visitation to non-residents.

According to Valley View Home administrator, Wes Thompson, the home is calling it a soft open and it comes with some caveats. Mainly, unscheduled visitation can only occur during business hours on weekdays, and even then, the visitors must check in with the office secretary before they can visit their resident. Visitors will be screened for symptoms, must wear a mask, must wash hands and can opt to be rapid tested for COVID-19 before entering.

Visitation will be available after hours and on weekends but by appointment only. The same restrictions—screening for symptoms, mask wearing and so on—will still apply. Visitors will also be limited to the most direct route to their resident’s room and cannot congregate in common areas. Visitors are also required to check back in with the secretary if they are visiting multiple residents between visits to sign in and sanitize.

Visitors will also be able to meet with their family and friends outside in the courtyard. The home’s administrator said they were preparing to install a large metal gazebo to provide ample outdoor space for such visits as the weather improves and people are able to comfortably spend time outdoors.

Thompson expressed equal parts optimism and anxiety while discussing the plan with the Courier. He said after the Center for Medicare/Medicaid Services (CMS) decided to allow the change at skilled nursing homes on March 11, Valley View held an emergency residential council meeting at which 24 of the 28 participants voted to move forward with allowing visitation, four members opposed the idea.

“We want [Valley View] to be opened, of course,” Thompson said. “They’re all fed up and as you know it’s already been a full year.”

The facility will also be limited to no more than 50 visitors at a time, a number Thompson did not anticipate reaching during the restrictions but that exists, nonetheless. “We’ve never had more than 50 in the facility at once,” he said, “except for special occasions.”

To date, every resident and employee of Valley View has been offered the opportunity to be vaccinated. That does not mean that everyone has seized the opportunity. According to Thompson, about 75 percent of the home’s residents have received the vaccine and only about 55 percent of the staff—the vaccine is not mandatory to maintain employment or residency at the home.

“My ultimate goal,” Thompson said, “is if we get exposed again—which is going to happen sooner or later—but if we get exposed again, how can we quickly trace it.” For Thompson, being able to trace and isolate COVID-19 infected residents and employees to prevent further spread. Part of the solution is constant symptom screenings for those entering the facility. That includes vaccinated residents who are able to leave the facility and move about around town. Thompson explained that once they return, they undergo 14 days of screenings checking for fever or other symptoms of COVID-19 to quickly detect and isolate possible infections.

What the home hopes to avoid is a complete shutdown, which is what will happen if the disease enters the facility and cannot be traced or isolated. Thompson said they will rely heavily on visitors to comply with the rules and safety procedures to protect residents and employees going forward.

“We’re really excited,” he said. “We’re anxious but also a little nervous. So, we’re going to take our time with this, and we just ask for visitors to be patient with us.”

The year-long pandemic has taken a toll on the home. Before the pandemic hit in March 2020, Valley View had a total resident population of 73, today there are only 56 residents living in the home. Thompson said that such reductions are par for the course and added that nursing home populations are down 23 percent nationwide for a number of reasons. One, is that family members are nervous about putting their loved ones into nursing homes with the possibility of infection ever present, and two is the fact that a large number of family members have been working remotely or laid off so they can care for their family members more freely than before.

Regardless of the reasons for the reduction, the numbers will ultimately harm Valley Views already fragile bottom line despite COVID relief monies coming in from CMS, the CARES Act and the American Recovery Plan. Thompson sees the finances of Valley View needing time to recover from the pandemic’s effects.

Compounding financial concerns is the fact that the home will need to do a complete overhaul on the facility’s boiler system. That project will cost the nursing home over $220,000 this summer. It is the second major renovation project the home has been forced to undertake after the roof was redone due to major leaking in 2018, sacking the nursing home with a massive chunk of debt.

Thompson explained that with all the hurdles in view, the home will most likely ask the public to continue funding the hospital district that was passed as part of public support in 2018 and set to expire in 2022. Originally, the district was funded at around $300,000 per year, and Thompson anticipates asking the public for the same amount in 2022.

 

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