Washington Governor Announces Guidance for Long-Term Care Communities

On August 6, 2020, Washington state Governor Jay Inslee announced guidance that allows long-term care communities to offer limited visitation and other activities under controlled conditions. This gradual restart plan for long-term care will give Aegis Living, as well as our residents and families, direction for resuming activities such as visitation. This week, in accordance to the Governor’s guidance, we rolled out a robust strategy that outlines our processes and conditions for community access, visitation and personal outings.

We are proud to share that our previously developed opening plans were, in large part, consistent with the recently released Washington State guidance to gradually reopen our group dining experience, small group activities, and offering visitation options that are consistent with the state’s plan for each of our operating Counties.  We are pleased that our Counties have given permission to those Communities who are in Phase 2 to offer limited and controlled Salon Services to our residents.

As family and friends look to visit their loved ones, Aegis Living continues to take every precaution to make sure that visits are safe, and our residents are protected. We are recommending technology-enabled visitation options wherever possible, such as phone chat or video chat. In communities that are in Phase 2 counties in Washington, we are offering limited and controlled scheduled outdoor visits via our Outdoor Living Rooms. All visits must be scheduled with the community before a visitor will be allowed on the premises so we can maintain our vigilant safety standards and work to keep the virus out of our communities.

These visitation options are being offered across all our communities in Washington state who are in Phase 2, but also in our communities in California and Nevada, in an effort to curtail the spread of the virus.

For more resources and information from the CDC visit our Expert & Family Resources page.

Where We Stand Today

We remain in a state of heightened safety protocols as we work every day to keep COVID-19 out of our communities. We’ve seen national and statewide spikes in positive cases with the broader spread of the virus. This week, we are managing 48 positive cases. Amid our 2,200 residents across the west coast we have 25 positive cases, and 23 cases among our 2,500 staff members. The communities managing the virus this week include Shadowridge, Madison, Corte Madera, Rodgers Park, Newcastle, Marymoor, West Seattle, and Granada Hills. We continue conducting contact tracing testing as part of our rapid response culture. We will continue to communicate regularly with updates via email and phone to our residents, their families and the staff effected, to remain transparent in our status and report the results of universal testing in our communities.  

Innovations in Memory Care

Tactile stimulus is a terrific tool for those who live with dementia. At our Memory Care community in Kent, Washington, we have installed a Helios Touch light wall – a series of hexagon shaped touch panels that have heat sensors and respond to the lightest of touch. We sanitize the wall in-between uses to keep it clean and available for our memory care residents to interact with. This week, one of our residents, Ted Moser, explored the light wall during an escorted walk around his community. We’re passionate about continuing to find new and exciting ways to engage our residents every day.