- Good afternoon Fowler Family!
- COVID UPDATE:
- On Tuesday, December 1, Dallas County reported 1179 additional positive cases of 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Dallas County
- On Wednesday, December 2, Dallas County reported 1640 new cases, 1,407 confirmed cases and 233 probable cases
- That’s a total of 2828 new cases in the two days since our last briefing
- FOWLER UPDATES:
- As we continue to see COVID-19 positive cases rise in Dallas, we can expect to see them rise in our Fowler community.
- This is the reality of where we are
- As such, we have an additional case to report at Fowler Christian Apartments
- We received notice from a resident last Friday, November 27, that an independent living resident in the A/B Building was experiencing COVID symptoms
- On Saturday, they were tested and the results were confirmed positive on Wednesday December 2
- The resident has been in quarantine and not around any Fowler residents the week of November 23.
- The resident has been wearing PPE as required and was notified of a potential exposure from someone outside of Fowler
- We have notified all those who live on the same floor with the resident
- I have several things I want to discuss with you today based on feedback we have gotten from a few groups of residents
- 48 weeks ago, we came to you and told you we were closing the gates of our community
- At that point, there were a lot of unknowns – this was a NOVEL virus which means it was new, something we had not experienced and did not have a lot of concrete information
- The health authorities were doing their best to provide information to us as they learned it and we in turn provided that information to you
- We implemented extreme proactive measures to mitigate the risk of contamination
- We all witnessed changing information, as we learned more, our policies and protocols changed
- In June as we started discussing the “reopening” of Fowler, I shared with you that we each had a role to play in our combined efforts to mitigate the risk to our entire Fowler family
- Fowler had a role, our employees have a role, our residents have a role, and our family members have a role
- This is a collaborative effort to protect those who live and work at Fowler
- Your choices and actions are critical to fighting COVID
- Recently, we introduced a new form to our admissions packet – it is an Acknowledgement of Risk form and this represents the business side of our relationship with you
- When you moved to Fowler, we began a business relationship and a personal relationship – we are a community through our business relationship, and we are a family through our personal relationships in the way that we care for each other
- As with all the paperwork you signed when you moved to Fowler, this form was reviewed by our attorney
- If a new policy is implemented, or new paperwork is implemented, you will be asked to sign it as well. The new policy does not just apply to new residents
- I have gotten feedback that this was unsettling to some
- Please know that our intent is simply one more effort to concretely state we are in this together; we are collaborating in these efforts against COVID and you too have a responsibility; you are making decisions; and we cannot promise you protection
- We can pledge our best to mitigate risk and we truly believe that if we continue to do what we have been doing – communicate with transparency, educate, do our due diligence in our investigations, remain current in our research, adjust protocols and policies as new data presents, we will be successful in minimizing risk for all
- Another area that has gradually been modified over time is in our communication
- We thoroughly investigate each reported COVID incident at Fowler
- Our decisions about communication are consistent with the outcome of our investigation
- In some instances, enacting the entire calling tree has been warranted
- In others we have not
- In our last two cases at FCA, we did not enact the calling tree; we notified the residents who were living on the same floor
- The remainder of our residents will be informed through this briefing and through our website incident report
- Our primary form of communicating to you is through this briefing every Tuesday and Thursday at 2pm
- Regarding visitation in our independent living areas at Jackson and FCA
- We will be setting up designated outdoor visiting spots for you to visit outdoors WITH MASKS, properly distanced, with your family
- This will require scheduling and monitoring – please stay tuned for your next steps
- There has been a lot of conversation about the usage of a face shield instead of a face mask
- The CDC does not recommend face shields as a substitute for face masks. Face shields protect eyes
- However, Gentry will do research to determine if there is additional information that should be considered especially for those who have any breathing conditions that are impacted by masks
- Meanwhile, please continue to wear your mask as that has been the recommended protection
- I have also learned that a family visited during Thanksgiving and it was assumed by others that we had approved this visit which would have been inconsistent with our current visitation policy in independent living
- This was not an approved visit
- We will have conversations with those who are operating outside of the protocols that are in place to help protect all but these
- Just because you don’t know we are having conversations, doesn’t mean they aren’t happening
- Teammates:
- I wanted to remind everyone that our process is to take temps on the forehead. Wrist temps are not an acceptable method at this time. Due to the cold weather, you may have to stand inside for a few minutes before you will be able to register an acceptable temp.
- Please arrive earlier than your shift begins so that you can allow time for your body temperature to warm up
- We appreciate everyone’s diligence to this process to protect each of you and our residents
- Make it a great day on purpose!
All COVID Updates are posted on our website – www.fowlercommunities.org/covid19/
COVID Hotline: Phone: 214-515-7184 • Spanish Speaking Line: 214-515-1385
Email: Covid19info@fowlercommunities.org
COVID-19 Mental Health Support Line 24 hours a day, 7 days a week toll-free at 833-986-1919
