COVID-19 Update — 4/6/2020
Families and Friends of 75 State Street,
Thank you for your continued support and patience during this time. At present, we do not have any confirmed or suspected cases of Covid-19 in our community. We continue to be extremely vigilant in our precautions with residents and staff.
Many of you have asked how you can help. Here are some ideas and we welcome yours. Please contact Lauren Webster, Marketing and Admissions Director at Webster@75StateStreet.org / 207-775-7775 x2224 to arrange donations for staff or residents.
If you would like to make a donation for staff morale, we generally have 75 staff members working on any given day. Any donations of food and beverage must be prepackaged and single serving for our break room areas. Non-perishable, shelf-stable snacks are the easiest for all three shifts to enjoy. Ideas: Keurig pods, unopened paper hot cups with lids, energy bars, chips and crackers, bottled water, sweets, individually wrapped rolls of toilet paper, etc. We could also use three new-boxed Keurig machines.
Donations of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), including masks, gloves, protective gowns, etc., are always most welcome. Please contact Jessica Duffy, Director of Nursing at Duffy@75StateStreet.org / 207-775-7775 x2204 to arrange a donation of PPE.
We are rolling out a “75 State Street Express Trolly” (think Harry Potter’s Hogwart’s Express rolling refreshment cart) to brighten residents’ long days of sheltering in place. Again, donations of food or beverage are welcomed but must be prepackaged (no homemade goods). With appropriate notice, perishable items are welcomed. Ideas: sweets (sugar and sugar free), beer and wine, munchies, ice cream cups or novelties, new large-print crossword books, new puzzles, unopened art supplies, origami paper, etc. We have 145 residents in-house at present.
We recognize that not everyone has the means to donate material goods during this crisis. If you would like to write short notes of support or perhaps pen a poem in honor of our residents and staff, they can be read aloud on our Resident Communication Line, put on our digital display boards, shared here on Facebook, and included in staff & resident communications. If you would like to write individual notes of support to be delivered to residents, please write in large print in dark colors, and do not seal envelopes.
For 166 years 75 State Street has provided care and community for our residents. Your support is invaluable to the well-being of our staff and residents during this crisis and to the health of the organization in the decades to come. From the bottom of our hearts we thank you.
75 State Street Strong,
Katy Tavares
Vice President of Senior Living
***
COVID-19 Update — 3/31/2020
Families and Friends of 75 State Street,
At present, we do not have any confirmed or suspected cases of Covid-19 in our community. We continue to check every staff member at the beginning of each shift and any staff members with symptoms of illness are staying home.
If you are dropping off a care package to your loved one, please deliver it to the Gray Street entrance between 9:00 am and 2:00 pm. If you would like the items same day delivered, please arrive before 2:00 pm. Please alert the staff if there are perishable items or medications in the package.
This week has been designated “75 State Street Spirit Week” and both staff and residents are being encouraged to participate.
The daily themes are as follows:
MONDAY, March 30–Color Block Day
Dress in all one-color from head to toe
TUESDAY, March 31–Sports Day
Wear your favorite team’s jersey
WEDNESDAY, April 1–Pattern Confusion
All mismatched, all the way for April Fool’s Day
THURSDAY, April 2–America the Beautiful
Wear red, white, and blue
FRIDAY, April 3–Hay Day
Wear jeans or overalls, plaid shirts, or a cowboy or baseball hat
As ever, thank you for your continued patience and support as we safeguard the 75 State Street community. We have been receiving donations of Personal Protective Equipment, snacks, and many well wishes. Follow us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/75statestreet.org/ to see good news happen in real time.
75 State Street Strong,
Katy Tavares, Vice President of Senior Living
***
COVID-19 Update — 3/24/2020
Families and Friends of 75 State Street,
At present, we do not have any confirmed or suspected cases of Covid-19 in our community. We are rolling out increased precautions with more staff wearing masks and other Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
Our decisions on the use of PPE are being guided by current best-practice information from the National Center for Disease Control (CDC). The use of masks, gloves, and other PPE is for our residents’ safety. Care staff aiding residents for more than 15 minutes or providing care that includes direct physical contact will be wearing appropriate PPE – masks and gloves.
Please be assured that any staff members with symptoms of illness are staying home. We continue to check every staff member at the beginning of each shift and monitor throughout their shifts. Staff will be using PPE, and masks especially, as an extra precaution.
If you have PPE you would like to donate to 75 State Street, please contact the concierge staff at (207) 775-7775 for guidance on the procedure for dropping off masks, gloves, gowns, etc. Thank you for your patience and support as we continue to take precautions and follow guidance from local and national advisors, such as the Center for Disease Control, to keep 75 State Street safe.
75 State Street Strong,
Katy Tavares, Vice President of Senior Living
***
COVID-19 Update — 3/18/2020
Families and Friends of 75 State Street,
At present, we have no cases of COVID-19 at 75 State Street. We are exercising the following precautions as we remain vigilant in keeping our residents and staff safe:
- Communal dining rooms closed. All meals delivered to residents and served on disposable paper products/utensils
- New admissions have been suspended
- All construction work has been halted
- Residents are being monitored twice daily for symptoms by nursing staff
- Continued screening of all staff and essential visitors who enter 75 State Street. We have closed the community to non-essential homecare visitors, like physical therapy and occupational therapy
- Suspended all activities programs, committees, and resident meetings. Residents are being encouraged to stay in their apartments
- Increasing resident trash pickup from unit to three times per day
- Increased dumpster trash removal to four times a week
- Utilizing all staff to assist with increased cleaning and tray delivery to residents
- Staff break room moved to the Adams center to allow for social distancing
- Free meals for staff on each shift worked
- Daily phone calls to all residents by staff
- 75 State Street staff will do essential laundry as requested by residents. The community laundry rooms will be open and limited to 2 people at a time. Please stay tuned for a sign up as we operationalize
- Ongoing monitoring of supplies. We have completed the forms to be on the wait list for additional personal protective equipment, as it becomes available to us, from the state of Maine
- Daily communication with the Maine CDC for updates and revised protocols
- We have ordered four laptops to help resident communication with family
Thank you for your patience and support as we roll out precautions for the community. We are working on virtual volunteer ideas to alleviate the hardships posed by social distancing and sheltering in place. Please stay tuned as we roll out these comfort initiatives by following our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/75statestreet.org/
75 State Street Strong,
Katy Tavares, Vice President Senior Living
***
COVID-19 Update — 3/17/2020
Families and Friends of 75 State Street,
While the “no news is good news” adage rings true, we understand that now more than ever, that good communication is essential. Official communications will continue to be emailed to you. Please reach out to Lauren Webster at webster@75StateStreet.org if you are a family member and need to be added to the list. If you’d like daily contact with the community, please follow our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/75statestreet.org/. We’ll be posting every day with news from 75 State Street, social distancing entertainment activities, and human interest stories from our residents.
Please do not hesitate to reach out with questions and concerns, the response may be a little slower than usually but we promise—we’ll get back to you.
75 State Street Strong,
Katy Tavares, Vice President Senior Living
***
COVID-19 Update — 3/16/2020
Families and Friends of 75 State Street,
Thank you for your patience and support as we navigate these uncharted waters together. The ever-evolving news around COVID-19 is stressful on many levels and we want you to know that the staff of 75 State Street are working hard behind the scenes. Every precaution we can take for the safety of our residents and staff is being taken.
To that end we have made a difficult, but necessary, decision to suspend communal dining and group programming. We will provide tray service to resident apartments for each meal. More information on menu selection and timing of tray service will be provided shortly. We are also closing the hair salon and the common laundry rooms. We are working on a system for staff to do your laundry, please stay tuned for details. All non-life sustaining medical transportation that is provided by 75 State Street will be suspended.
We want to remind you that suspending going into the outside community and practicing social distancing, as well as regular hand washing, are the best ways to exercise precautions for yourself and those in our community. It is recommended that residents stay in their apartments. Open your windows for fresh air. Please call your loved ones regularly and stay close to the phone.
The activities staff are working on things to keep residents engaged during this difficult time. Furthermore, we are setting up wellness check-ins by phone twice daily. One of the hardest parts of our new reality over the coming days and weeks will be the effects of social isolation. Please use the telephone, email, internet, as well as books and crossword puzzles to keep yourselves entertained. This will pass and we will soon be enjoying returning to our normal routines.
Sincerely,
Katy Tavares, Vice President Senior Living
***
UPDATE – 3/13/2020
75 State Street is continuing to monitor recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and industry leaders. We have made the difficult decision to suspend all visitors, except essential visitors (healthcare providers and supply deliveries) effective immediately. We will be closing all entrances to the community, except for the Gray Street entrance, where there will be a screening checkpoint for all individuals. We will restrict entry for those with respiratory symptoms, possible exposure to COVID-19, or those who have recently traveled, following CDC recommendations.
We understand that this decision will be difficult, but our hope is that it will protect the health and safety of our residents and staff. We will review these recommendations regularly as CDC recommendations changes.
This decision will have the following impact:
Family and friends of residents
Volunteers
Outside performers/speakers
Outside groups
Avesta employees
Board members
Tours
We will be issuing email communications to the families of our residents regularly. If you need to be added to the email distribution list please contact Lauren Webster, Marketing and Admissions Director at (207) 775-7775 x2224 or by emailing webster@75StateStreet.org.
