Procedure Updates for Independent Residents & Family

This is an update on the status of COVID cases at Dow Rummel. We currently have 1 staff in Village South assisted living/Dow & Runnel Wings and 1 staff in Village East memory care/assisted living who have recently tested positive for COVID-19. Our nursing staff are closely monitoring all the residents in those areas doing frequent health screenings and on-going testing as needed for staff and residents. We are COVID free in Village North IL, Village West IL, and in the health care center (nursing home). We are continuing to closely monitor the residents in the nursing home and will continue our weekly testing of those residents and semi-weekly testing of staff who work with our nursing home residents.

We are partnering with Avera Health on coronavirus vaccines. Close to 100 staff received their first doze of the vaccine Dec 17-19 and will receive their second doze Jan 7-9. Next Tuesday, January 5th Avera will be at Dow Rummel to provide the vaccine to all the residents in our licensed areas (nursing home, memory care and assisted living) who agree to receive it as they are in group 1B. Staff who did not receive the vaccine in Dec will have another opportunity to do so next Tuesday as well. We will provide the same opportunity to our independent living residents as soon as they are eligible; they are in group 1D. We are providing ongoing education to staff, residents and family members about the vaccine to help them make the right decision about receiving the vaccine.

We have heard a number of people saying that as soon as they get their vaccine, they can stop wearing a mask and go back to normal. However, we will need to continue to wear masks, practice our physical distancing and good hand hygiene for some time yet. It will also be a while before we can lift our visitor restrictions. Hopefully, we will continue to do a good job in Sioux Falls keeping the number of cases down (keep wearing your masks-it is making a difference) and as more people get the vaccine, we will be able to get the go ahead for CDC and the Department of Health to start loosening our restrictions.

I will keep you posted on any changes or new news but in the meantime, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me with any questions or concerns. Please feel free to call me at 605-575-0177 if you have any questions or concerns.

LONG-TERM CARE RESIDENTS AND LOVED ONES: Answering Common Questions About COVID-19 Vaccines answering-residents-loved-ones-questions