With the holidays quickly approaching you may be thinking of how you will be able to spend time with loved ones, given the current circumstances, so we wanted to take this time to remind everyone of the CMS and health department approved Essential Caregiver Visits.
Per the Texas Health and Human Services website, “residents in any facility (or their legal representative) will be able to designate up to two essential caregivers who will be trained by the facility on PPE use and infection control, and they must meet the testing requirement. Essential caregivers, as defined in the emergency rules, must have a negative COVID-19 test result from a test performed no more than 14 days before the first essential caregiver visit, unless the facility chooses to perform a rapid test prior to entry into the facility. Essential caregivers will then be allowed to visit the resident in-room, one at a time, by appointment, provided the resident is not COVID positive, using PPE, being screened, being escorted into and out of the resident’s room. Multi-resident rooms will require adjustments to visits, and the facility must maintain all the requirements of its infection control plan and any mitigation plans that are in place.”
If you have any further questions or would like to schedule an essential caregiver visit please reach out the facility for assistance. We want to make sure our residents are able to visit with their loved ones while keeping everyone safe and healthy.
Thank you so much to everyone for all of the support you have shown while we navigate in this difficult time.
Sincerely,
– Samaria “Sam” Epps, LNFA, MSM, SLPA
Nursing Home Administrator
