Chat Suites arriving and upcoming flu season

We are constantly looking at how to safely connect our residents with their loved ones. It’s extremely important to us! We are committed to expanding our virtual connection options by developing what we call ‘Chat Suites’ in each community. These specially designed rooms are being set up in each community to help your loved one have a whole new video calling experience so that they can more easily see and hear you on Zoom, Facetime, or Skype calls.

We found that small screens such as cell phones are hard to hold, and hearing can be difficult for many. For our Chat Suites we’re installing a large-scale monitor, speakers, and a microphone so that residents can connect and enjoy video calls much better. They’ll be able to connect with loved ones as well as connect with their doctors for telehealth appointments. Plus, we’ve even added a meditation video feature called, Zen-spiration to help our residents relax and nurture their emotional health.

Where We Stand Today

We strive every day to have zero infections in our communities, ensuring rigor in discipline in the execution of our infection control protocols and practices. We are currently managing 15 positive cases in our communities and are doing whatever we can to reduce that number back to zero. Amid our 2,200 residents across the west coast, we have seven positive, and six cases among our 2,500 staff members. The communities managing the virus this week include West Seattle, Queen Anne Galer, Queen Anne Rodgers Park, Marymoor, Newcastle, Shadowridge and Corte Madera. We are constantly conducting contact tracing and testing in an effort to control the spread and protect our residents and staff. We’re dedicated to transparency and are in consistent contact with resident families and the staff affected about the status of the results of testing in our communities.

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

Preparing for Flu Season

With Fall on the horizon, flu season is right around the corner. Just as we do each year, we are preparing to fight this virus as well. You’ll begin to hear more about our annual flu season vaccines coming up for both residents and staff in October. Know that virus control has always been part of our business of serving seniors, and rest assured that our care team leaders bring decades of deep expertise in this area. Our community general managers will be sharing more details with family members and residents in the coming weeks as we approach flu season.