COVID-19 Status Update

Latest Updates

Update 7/31/20

FAQ on Self-Isolation Protocol
Please find the FAQ on our Self-Isolation Protocol for
Independent Living Residents at Holly Creek effective August 1st, here.

Past Updates

Update 6/24/20

Outdoor Visitation Guidelines
Per Governor Polis’s direction, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment released directives for outside visits with loved ones for people living in long-term care communities such as assisted living, memory support and skilled nursing. The directives require new operational protocols, which we are in the process of developing. In addition, team member training must take place before outside visits can be scheduled. We will provide an update on Holly Creek’s ability to host these visits as soon as we can. We appreciate your patience.

Update 6/5/20

Holly Creek COVID-19 Status Update

Health and Happiness

While Colorado is in various stages of reopening, government restrictions have not changed for senior living communities. We are still under restrictive CDC status. However, CLC and Holly Creek are currently working to put procedures in place to strike a balance between the crucial need to maintain physical health with mental health leading to happiness.

Independent Living residents and families can now sign up for plexiglass visits outside Fellowship Hall. Holly Creek has enacted additional measures around health and happiness including the ability for independent residents to take part in medical visits and scenic drives without having to isolate upon return. You can read about some of the measures related to in-person visits, driving and isolation protocols, and excursions available at this time here. Please contact us with questions or for complete details.

FAQ

Q: What is being done to protect residents and staff?

A: We continue to implement rigorous virus sanitizing protocols daily. The county health department continues to direct our actions. Residents’ temperatures are taken twice daily and the team is vigilantly monitoring all signs and symptoms for everyone who lives and works at Holly Creek.

Q: Is Holly Creek Safe?

A: The COVID-19 Pandemic is a world-wide health crisis. While no place at this time is immune to the virus, we continue extraordinary precautions with the guidance of local health officials and the CDC.

Q: What are the ‘rules’ your respective communities follow to detect, contain and isolate COVID-19?

A: The health and safety of our residents and team members is our top priority and we will continue to practice all federal, and local mandated measures as well as our organizational procedures to limit exposure of COVID-19 in our communities.

Q: Who is allowed to visit your communities?

A: The community is scheduling video calls and courtyard visits (patio visits, lawn visits) with social distancing and plexiglass for family visitors.

For all licensed neighborhoods – assisted living and memory support are on ‘restricted status.’ We are adhering to visitation guidelines established by the state health department, CDC and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Visitation to assisted living community, or memory support community is limited to:

‘Essential Need Only’ visits. Essential need visits include support care and family visits in resident mental health and end-of-life situations.
Visits must be brief.

Q: How are visitors being screened?

A: We screen everyone entering the building everyday immediately, including team members and essential care providers. Screening includes:

Fever screening, we take temperatures of everyone, including team members
Cough and/or shortness of breath
Sore throat
Any travel outside of country or state
Identifying if they have visited another senior living community
Questions on purpose of visit
Once screening is complete, visitors must wash hands before visiting residents and after leaving the community

Q: What are residents doing to stay positive and connected

A: Maintaining a positive attitude is crucial. Positivity begets positivity. We encourage our team member to stay positive and imbue residents with positivity. We are also encouraging residents to:

Continue to be social and actively engaged at safe social distances – for example hallway BINGO, hallway exercising and trivia
Communicate with loved ones through texts, emails and social media. We’re encouraging community members to post photos on Facebook and tag everyone they want to see the photo
We’re leveraging technology (FaceTime, Zoom, Skype, Facebook, Instagram, emails and text) to connect residents with loved ones outside the community and with each other. Examples include:
- Virtual visits
- Bible study
- Playing and listening to music performances
- Message board photos
- Reading books to children via Skype
For residents who don’t know how to use/unable to use technologies, families can sign up for a team member to assist their loved one to use virtual visit technologies.
We’re encouraging folks to drop off a favorite pre-packaged food item or card. These will be wiped with EPA-approved disinfectant wipes before being delivered. We’re also encouraging:

Writing notes to each other, to family and team members
Enlist internal and external groups/committees – church, book clubs, knitters to do a card shower for residents and team members
Continuing Pen Pals programs – letters and notes back and forth between students and residents
Musical performances/poetry outside resident windows

Q: Can you describe your training protocols?

A: CLC/CLS already conducts extensive yearly training for all team members in managing infections and preventing the spread of infectious diseases. These protocols are multi-disciplinary and prescriptive to prevention, containment and how to stop the spread of the disease should it occur.

All communities are following a special set of coronavirus-specific policies and procedures modeled after our very successful flu and norovirus protocols. Training and protocols include:

Provide training for all employees on infection control standards
Report and act quickly if any symptoms are reported in the community
Start isolation procedures immediately if COVID-19 is suspected
Notify State and/or Local Health Department which coordinates with CDC to transport resident or team member to hospital for testing
Follow state report guidelines for any confirmed cases

Q: What is done if a team member or resident shows symptoms?

A: If a team member has any symptoms, they are required to stay home and report symptoms to their doctor to determine if they meet COVID-19 test standards. If a resident exhibits symptoms, we are contacting the local health department and their doctor to determine the best plan for testing.

Town Hall Recordings

You can view the last organizational Town Hall Webinar pre-recorded on June 25th here.

Letter from CEO

View a status update letter from Christian Living Communities-Cappella Living Solutions Interim CEO Camille Burke here:

June 17, 2020

Dear Residents, Team Members, Families, Supporters and Friends:

We have collectively traveled a long road together as our world navigates the COVID-19 pandemic. From efforts in early March of preparing, implementing, and ensuring communication of our undeterred commitment to the health and welfare of everyone who lives and works in our communities; to now, navigating our “new normal” of continuing virus mitigation and restrictions; we have made every decision with our mission in mind, of dignity, love, respect, and compassion for each individual.

The decisions that had to be made were difficult. Living within the required restrictions has been, at times, heart-breaking for everyone. Our continued commitment is to do all that we can for everyone’s health and well-being; this includes efforts to promote mental and emotional health.

For the last four weeks, our team has been working to balance health and happiness. An organizational leadership committee, which includes residents, has worked towards finding creative ways to adhere to required restriction yet allow for more personal connections and personal freedoms for older adults.

We are now entering another phase, where each community will determine how and when protocols and procedures will change for them based on their county and state directives. As we have all seen, across the nation, the decisions are shifting from federal directives to local control. That is the same for all 23 communities in our CLC-Cappella family. Our leadership will continue to guide and support all community teams in navigating the ever-changing government and oversight directives as well as resident and family desires.

The journey will continue as we know that the COVID-19 virus will be with all of us for some time. Every day we will work hard with residents, families, and associates in mind, asking what we can do and how we can do it better. We will not stop asking those questions, and we will not stop until this journey is done.

With sincere appreciation and everlasting hope,