COVID-19 Update – 5/29/2020
Dear 75 State Street Families,
Thank you for your continued cooperation and support as we head into June. We still have no positive COVID-19 cases among staff or residents. We continue to stay informed of the latest CDC guidance and available resources as we navigate next steps. We look forward to our next family Zoom call on June 3.
As you may be aware, the mail delivery has returned to its normal schedule. We ask that you plan package drop-off between 9:00 AM and 3:00 PM, Mondays to Fridays and 9:00 AM to 12:30 PM on weekends. This will allow our staff adequate time for quarantine, disinfection, and delivery to your loved one. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
We are resuming medical transportation on a limited basis. Routine appointments will still be handled by telehealth. All transportation requests must be made for Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays starting at 9:00 AM and ending by 3:00 PM. We will have new protocols for transportation to include disinfecting between appointments, driver and resident wearing a mask, and use of sanitizer. Director of Resident Life Jessica Goodell will outline our transportation guidelines on our Zoom call next week.
Residents are enjoying resuming some of our normal activity offerings and we are looking forward to building on our current schedule. We are adding an additional summer position to our activities team, to allow for additional programs, continuing with a limited number of participants. Further, our dining team is working on limited outside dining service for lunch. We are working out the logistics of this and have ordered individual “tray tables” to so that we can offer socially-distanced dining when weather permits.
75 State Street Strong,
Katy Tavares
Vice President of Senior Living
***
COVID-19 Update — 5/27/2020
Dear 75 State Street Families,
At present, we do not have any confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 in our community. We continue to be vigilant in our precautions with residents and staff.
Residents have been enjoying the spring weather and our activities team has been working hard to manage requests for exercise classes and film viewings following safety protocols like mask-use, social distancing, and cleaning intervals between activities.
We will host a second virtual meeting on Wednesday, June 3 at 4:00 PM where you can hear from 75 State Street leadership and ask us questions, in real time.
The update will include the following information:
- Summary of operational changes and phased planning for lifting restrictions
- Updates on risk-management protocols for both residents and staff
- Facility communications, staff spirit activities, and resident wellness initiatives
- Universal testing
- Current challenges with phasing opening
- How you can help
- Live Q & A
I look forward to speaking with you and answering your questions. We will be providing a recording of the meeting in case you are unable to join in real time.
75 State Street Strong,
Katy Tavares
Vice President of Senior Living
***
COVID-19 Update – 5/22/2020
Dear 75 State Street Families,
It has certainly been the most unique time in many of our lives. We are pleased to relay that we remain Covid-19 free, as we have had no confirmed cases at 75 State Street. We are grateful to our residents, staff, and family members for cooperating with our safety protocols and working hard to help make this happen.
As the State of Maine begins to reopen, we want to let you know that at present our visitor restrictions will remain in place. We will continue to request that residents take appropriate precautions (face coverings, social distancing, washing hands, etc.). While we begin to work towards a restoration of a new normal, we also want to make sure that we do everything in our power to keep everyone safe and healthy. Thank you again for your patience and cooperation.
As we head into Memorial Day weekend, we will pause to reflect and honor those who died serving our country in the Armed Forces. May we take a moment to remember those who served and sacrificed for our freedom. We wish you all a safe and healthy weekend. Thank you for your support.
75 State Street Strong,
Katy Tavares
Vice President of Senior Living
***
COVID-19 Update – 5/20/2020
Dear 75 State Street Families,
It has been brought to our attention that misinformation about a positive case of COVID-19 at 75 State Street was circulated during and/or after Dr. Shah’s press conference yesterday. I want to assure you that 75 State Street Square continues to have no positive cases among residents and staff. However, we did learn that there are positive cases at a nearby facility. Please remind your loved one to follow guidelines of wearing a mask and social distancing when out of 75 State Street for walks.
We have opened up some programs in the community including outdoor exercise in small groups and socially distanced movies in two locations. We do ask that you remind your loved one that the success of continuing on the path to normal operations lies in each of us taking precautions to adhere to the guidelines established by the CDC.
Families can arrange visits with loved ones outside, following protocols of wearing a mask and maintaining social distance of six feet from your loved one and others. We have observed many recent outside family visits and many are not following the six-feet protocols. This puts our entire community at risk. We urge your cooperation, and thank you in advance, as we do not have the staff to monitor each visit.
75 State Street Strong,
Katy Tavares
Vice President of Senior Living
***
COVID-19 Update — 5/12/2020
Dear 75 State Street Families,
At present, we do not have any confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 in our community. Mother’s Day went smoothly and thank you for your continued patience as we remain vigilant in our precautions for the health and safety of residents and staff.
We are continuing to schedule staff-assisted Zoom calls between residents and their families. If you would like to schedule a Zoom call, please reach out to Lauren Webster at Webster@75StateStreet.org and a member of our Resident Life team will schedule a time to help you connect with your loved one.
On Friday, May 8 we reopened our salon with strict adherence to the infection control protocols set forth by the State of Maine. We look forward to our residents’ feeling a bit spiffier as we work through quite a backlog of appointments.
We will be adding a COVID-19 response page to our website so that potential residents and their families will understand the precautions the community has taken during the pandemic. If you would like to write a testimonial about your experience with 75 State Street, please send it to Lauren Webster at the address above.
Thank you for your continued support. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to me personally at Tavares@75StateStreet.org or 207-775-7775 x2265.
75 State Street Strong,
Katy Tavares
Vice President of Senior Living
***
COVID-19 Update — 5/4/2020
Dear 75 State Street Families,
The generosity and kindness you have shown us has been beyond any expectation. Thank you! 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.
The Zoom call last week was very successful. For those of you who missed the event, we have uploaded the complete meeting to YouTube. Please follow this link to watch the recorded meeting: https://youtu.be/YKaPyMSgVr0. We will be scheduling another Zoom meeting in the future.
Mother’s Day is next week and we want to help make your mom’s day as special as possible. We’ll be sending each resident mother a card and a flower with their lunch tray on Sunday, May 10.
If you will be sending flowers or dropping off care packages and are able to do so prior to Sunday, May 10 please consider an early delivery. We are expecting a significant increase in deliveries and want to be able to maintain our safety protocols.
We will be coordinating pre-arranged 15 minute “window visits” on Sunday, May 10; Monday, May 11; and Tuesday, May 12. If you would like to schedule a 15 minute window visit with your loved one please RSVP by Thursday, May 7. While we are not be able to schedule Zoom calls for Sunday, May 10 we are scheduling Zooms for next week. Please email Lauren Webster at webster@75StateStreet.org if you would like to schedule a window visit or a zoom call.
In response to Governor Mills’ extension of the stay at home order, our community will continue with our existing policies to safeguard the health and safety of residents and staff. As the Governor’s plan to gradually restart Maine’s economy included the reopening of hair salons on May 1, 75 State Street is developing an operational plan to reopen our hair salon soon with strict precautions, including glove and mask use by our stylist and a complete surface sanitization between each appointment.
Thank you for your continued patience and support. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to me personally at Tavares@75StateStreet.org or 207-775-7775 x2265.
75 State Street Strong,
Katy Tavares
Vice President of Senior Living
***
COVID-19 Update — 4/17/2020
Dear 75 State Street Families,
April 12 marked one month since we closed our community to visitors. Your support has been tremendous; thank you all for your emails, Facebook comments, and donations for staff and resident comfort.
While we have sent regular communications by email, we wanted to host a live virtual meeting where you can hear from and talk with 75 State Street leadership in real time.
The meeting will include the following:
- Summary of operational changes
- What protocols we have in place to minimize risk for both residents and staff and how these protocols were established
- Communications, staff spirit activities, and resident wellness initiatives
- Daily resident calls
- Current challenges
- How you can help
- Live Q & A
If you need the meeting login information, please contact Lauren Webster, Marketing and Admissions Director, webster@75StateStreet.org.
I look forward to speaking with you. We will be providing a recording of the meeting in case you are unable to join in real-time. If you haven’t already, join the community at: www.facebook.com/75statestreet.org/ to see posts about our daily community activities.
75 State Street Strong,
Katy Tavares
Vice President of Senior Living
***
COVID-19 Update — 4/13/2020
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 vigilant in our precautions with residents and staff.
I am so thankful for our employees’ dedication, compassion, and teamwork over the past few weeks. As we continue to navigate through these difficult and uncertain times, I have seen the 75 State Street staff continually go above and beyond to support our residents and each other. As a way to acknowledge the work that they are doing to care for our residents, we are instituting an additional “hazard pay” for our hourly employees, effective immediately.
In last week’s memo we asked for your support and donations. So many of you responded with an outpouring of generosity that it will take us a little while to catch up with our social media thanks. What a wonderful problem to have! Please contact Lauren Webster, Marketing and Admissions Director, at Webster@75StateStreet.org / 207-775-7775 x2224 to arrange for any donations for staff or residents.
As ever, thank you for your continued patience and support as we safeguard the 75 State Street community. If you haven’t already, join us at: www.facebook.com/75statestreet.org/ to give thanks during this difficult time.
75 State Street Strong,
Katy Tavares
Vice President of Senior Living
***
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.
