Ascent Living Blog

March 16^th at 11:45 am

Dear Residents, Families and Associates,

We have an important personal update to share with you that concerns us (Tom & Susie) directly.

Late yesterday afternoon, the Colorado Department of Health and Environment (CDPHE) issued an update, advising anyone who had visited the counties of Eagle, Summit, Pitkin or Gunnison counties in the past week, “should minimize all contact with other people whether or not they are experiencing symptoms.” 

As we continue our commitment to remain transparent with you during this Coronavirus emergency, it is important for us to inform we were in Snowmass, in Pitkin County, from March 6^th to March 8^th with our children, which includes the very tail end of the time frame referenced in the update. 

Here is the link to the CDPHE update: https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/cdphe/news/cdphe-strongly-advises-all-visitors-and-residents-eagle-summit-pitkin-and-gunnison-counties

We want to be very clear that nobody in our family, including us, is experiencing any symptoms consistent with COVID-19.  However, nothing is more important to us than the safety and health of our residents, families and associates. Therefore, we are going to follow the advice of the CDPHE and will minimize contact with other people.  We will not be visiting either the Village at Belmar nor Pine Grove Crossing in person until either CDPHE issues further guidance on how long contact should be minimized, or two weeks from when we left Pitkin County which would be the evening of Sunday, March 22^nd.  We have consulted with Dr. Singh, our Medical Consultant, and he concurs with this method to minimize contact with others given this CDPHE update.  

While we will not be present at either community for this period of time, we want to assure you that we will be in close and continual contact with our leadership teams and associates at Village at Belmar and Pine Grove Crossing.  We have complete confidence in their professionalism and skill.  We will continue working diligently and constantly from our home office to continue to ensure the health and safety of our residents, their families and our associates.  

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who participated in our conference call town hall Sunday afternoon.  Please understand that the CDPHE update on Eagle, Summit, Pitkin and Gunnison counties was released after our virtual Town Hall update.  We certainly would have discussed this development during the Town Hall if we had been aware of it at that time.

Sincerely,

Tom Finley and Susie Finley

Today, Sunday, March 15th, Tom and Susie Finley of Ascent Living Communities hosted a virtual town hall, where they discussed preparations for COVID-19 and answered questions from residents and their families.

COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Frequently Asked Questions

March 14, 2020 at 4:30 pm

What are the visitation restrictions in place at Pine Grove Crossing/Village at Belmar?

Currently, no visits are permitted by family members of Assisted Living and Memory Care residents. Special exceptions will be made for end of life care and may be granted for other special circumstances.

In addition, no visits are allowed by non-essential vendors or outside personnel.

Why is Pine Grove Crossing/Village at Belmar restricting visitation?

Nothing is more important to us than the health and safety of our residents, families and associates. To reduce the risk of the virus spreading to our residents, we need to reduce the exposure of our community to the virus. Health experts advise us that decreasing social interaction is one of the best ways to do this.

We made this decision in accordance with recommendations from the CDC, CDPHE and Governor’s office, as well as local health officials and our own Medical Consultant, Dr. Gagandeep Singh. 

Can my family or friends come and pick me up for an outing?

At this time, we ask that residents do not leave the community for non-emergent visits or trips. If you have a special circumstance, please speak with the Concierge or the on-duty manager. They will contact the appropriate individual to facilitate the special circumstance request. 

What if I have a doctor’s appointment scheduled?

We strongly encourage residents to cancel or reschedule non-urgent medical appointments. Of course, residents may leave in emergent care situations.

What if a resident needs an outside family member to bring him/her medications or medical supplies?

If an outside family member or friend is responsible for getting medications or medical supplies to a resident, please bring the labeled items to the community and leave them in the vestibule and they will be delivered to your loved one. 

What are you doing to ensure your associates are not exposing residents to the virus?

We ask our associates to undergo screening whenever they are returning to the community. This includes having their temperature taken and answering a detailed questionnaire to determine if they may have been exposed to coronavirus.

Our associates are fully aware that they need to be mindful of their own health and if they are experiencing any symptoms such as cough, fever or shortness of breath they are required to stay home and not come to work. 

What is the plan for reducing risk for communal dining and activity programming?

Per direction from NCAL (National Center for Assisted Living), the assisted living dining room will be closed effective March 15^th and a meal delivery service will be implemented to serve our residents.  In addition, all group activities will be suspended and our Life Enrichment teams are working quickly to develop specialized one on one programming, visits, outdoor walks and other creative ways to keep our residents as socially engaged as possible.  At this time, residents are not restricted to their individual apartments, but we are encouraging and guiding them to follow proper social distancing guidance by remaining six feet away from one another. 

For our memory care neighborhoods, in suite dining is not feasible so we will be spacing and/or adding tables to allow for appropriate distance between residents during mealtime as well as moving to two mealtimes to further space out the residents. Similar Life Enrichment programs are being developed and implemented. 

What is the status of independent living residents (Village at Belmar Only) who typically access the main building?

Effective after dinner on March 14^th, the dining room and clubhouse will be closed, and a meal delivery program will be implemented.  A detailed memorandum went out separately to those residents outlining this program.  

How can I stay in touch with my family and friends?

We understand this may be a stressful and lonely time for our residents and we want them to stay connected with family and friends. Fortunately, it is possible to do that and still protect yourself and our community from exposure to the virus. 

To ensure our residents can still stay in touch with loved ones, we will be assisting with appropriate technology so they can connect via text, phone or video conference methods such as Skype and Facetime.

How can I interact with healthy people in my community?

Health experts are reminding us that limiting exposure is critical to containing the virus. That means we all need to adjust some social behaviors that might seem harmless. For the time being, we want to discourage you from typical friendly interactions like handshakes, hugs and kissing with friends and/or associates. It is also recommended to keep a distance of at least 6 feet between yourself and others you may interact with.

We appreciate that this might feel awkward, but this will not last forever. For now, ensuring the health of our community needs to be all of our responsibility. 

What else can I be doing to protect myself from the COVID-19 (Coronavirus)?

Health experts say one of the best ways is social distancing. We strongly recommend that you stay in your suite/apartment and limit your interaction with others and as much as possible.

For our Independent Living residents, we strongly recommend that you limit off-site trips to the outside public and allow for our team or your family members to run errands and pick up items for you.

In addition, one of the best things you can do to protect yourself is to frequently wash your hands with soap for at least 20 seconds. Sneezing or coughing into a tissue is preferred, if not available your sleeve is the second-best option.  

Above all, if you start to experience symptoms, you should immediately limit contact with others and notify your clinical team so appropriate steps can be taken.

What should I do if I’m concerned that I may have been exposed or am becoming ill?

Please be mindful if you start to exhibit any symptoms such as cough, fever or shortness of breath.  Let your clinical team know immediately, and limit interaction with other people but please don’t panic. Remember, we are still in the traditional cold and flu season. It will be important to immediately isolate you from others while you are tested to determine if you have a common illness or COVID-19 (Coronavirus).  Remember, early diagnosis means early care.

What will you do if there is a symptomatic resident at the community?

You can feel confident that we are prepared to handle this situation. We have formed special Emergency Response Teams to be ready in the event a resident or associate is exhibiting symptoms or confirmed to have the virus and an isolation or quarantine will be put in place.

If someone is experiencing symptoms (cough, fever or shortness of breath), they will immediately be isolated.  The CDC and CDPHE will be contacted and will immediately become involved and give direction to our teams.  The person will be tested for the influenza and/or COVID-19 (Coronavirus) and remain in isolation in their apartment and away from the rest of the community. They will get immediate care while awaiting results of the test.

If it is determined the resident has the virus, they will need to remain quarantined for 14 days.

If it is determined the resident does not have the virus, they will need to be isolated from others until 48 hours after symptoms subside.

What will you do if there is confirmed case of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) at the community?

We will follow the same procedure as above.  In both cases, all associate and staff taking care of any infected residents will only deliver care to these individuals to safeguard the rest of the community.  

How is Pine Grove Crossing/Village at Belmar prepared to handle the limited access of supplies to our communities?

We feel confident in our preparations for this current situation, which began in January. We have been anticipating that the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) crisis could elevate to this serious level. For months now, we have been stockpiling supplies and to prevent the risk of cross-contamination and theft, they are now located in a climate controlled, off-site storage facility. These include additional food, medical supplies, protective gear and cleaning products as well as air mattresses if we have staff who must remain at the communities for long periods of time. If those critical supplies are needed, we have staff members who will access and deliver them to our communities as needed.  

How long will all of this last?

The situation surrounding coronavirus is rapidly evolving so it’s impossible for us to give you a specific date when we might be able to lift these restrictions. Like you, we hope this is short-lived and we hope to minimize the disruption it will cause while our community copes with this health crisis.

How will continued updates be communicated?

Regular updates are being posted to the community websites  (www.villageatbelmar.com and www.pinegrovecrossing.com) as well as on social media.  Archived updates are also located on the websites. Our teams are also sending out any updates to the community email distribution list.  We will be conducting a Virtual Town Hall Meeting on Sunday, March 15^th at 2:00 pm.

To access this online meeting go to:

Please join my meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone.
https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/498060501

You can also dial in using your phone.
United States: (646) 749-3122

Access Code: 498-060-501
New to GoToMeeting? Get the app now and be ready when your first meeting starts:
https://global.gotomeeting.com/install/498060501

We will also post a recording on the community web sites of this Town Hall for future listening.

Independent Living Dining Room, Bistro & Clubhouse Temporary Closure

March 14^th at 4:00 pm

Consistent with our other efforts to shield Village of Belmar residents from COVID-19 (Coronavirus), we have made the difficult decision to temporarily close the Independent Living Dining Room, Bistro and Clubhouse effective Sunday, March 15^th. To ease the burden of this change, we have created a comprehensive meal delivery program that will begin on Monday, March 16^th, and have also removed the fee for delivery of meals while the dining venue closure is in effect.   

Meals can be ordered daily by calling (303) 351-5455, extension 120. All orders will be confirmed with a follow-up phone call.  Breakfast and lunch meals offerings are $7.00, and dinner has been reduced to $12.00 (from $15.00).  These prices go into effect after you have utilized all meals in your meal plan for the month.  The meals will be delivered in disposable, microwavable containers.  

On March 15^th only, Brunch (delivered at 9:00 or 1:00) must be ordered any time before 7:00 am on March 15^th.

Seven Day Per Week Meal Delivery Service Will Begin on March 16^th:

Breakfast (delivery options of 8:00 am or 9:30 am) must be ordered by 7:00 am

Lunch (delivery options of 12:00 pm or 1:30 pm) must be ordered by 10:30 am

Dinner (delivery options of 4:30 pm or 6:00 pm) must be ordered by 3:00 pm.

Each meal (breakfast, lunch and dinner) has two delivery time options, so be sure and indicate your preferred delivery time when calling in your order.

The breakfast and lunch menus are the same as those offered as part of the featured Assisted Living weekly menu plan.  The dinner menu will remain the same as is currently offered in the Independent Living dining room.  Menus for the week will emailed to you.

In addition, and per the direction of today’s briefing from NCAL (National Center for Assisted Living), which we are following community wide, all group activities will be temporarily suspended.  Stephanie and the team will be working on creative programming options that can be done individually.  If you choose to get together with friends and neighbors, please continue to follow proper social distancing guidance by remaining six feet from one another.  Fresh air is good for you – get out an take a walk and enjoy the sunshine!

Please contact Village at Belmar Executive Director, Michael Ruback, if you have any questions or concerns about these changes.  We understand that these changes are difficult and go against the social model that we so firmly believe in, but we are confident that vigilance and being proactive is our best line of defense.  As with the other adjustments we are making to safeguard our community from COVID-19 (Coronavirus), we appreciate your support and understanding for this temporary change. 

Finally, reminder to please refrain from unnecessary travel outside of the community to public areas.  We are happy to arrange for our associates to run errands or pick up items for you at no charge to you.

March 12, 2020  at 4:30 pm

Dear Residents, Family Members & Associates:

In the wake of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation, Ascent Living Communities including Pine Grove Crossing and the Village at Belmar are moving to a new policy of strictly limiting all visitation to our communities.  While this is a difficult decision to make, it comes after careful consideration and the advice of our Medical Consultant, Dr. Gagandeep Singh, and in accordance with the latest official recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) and the Governor’s office.

March 12, 2020 

Dear Residents, Family Members & Associates:

We would like to start by acknowledging the concerns surrounding Coronavirus, COVID-19.  We recognize and understand heightened levels of concerns for residents, families and associates and want to you to know how diligently our teams are working to implement heightened infection control measures in our communities.