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Category: COVID-19 Updates

Independent Living (IL) COVID Guidelines [Rev. 01.19.2022]

Wed, January 19, 2022 Published by

Independent Living COVID-19 Self-Isolation Precautions at Beatitudes Campus

The COVID-19 virus is highly contagious and can be spread even when vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals carrying the virus do not have any symptoms. As such, Beatitudes Campus is compelled to encourage residents to take every measure possible to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and has put in place safeguard recommendations to better ensure the health of our entire community.

Exposed Residents:

  • Unvaccinated residents or those have not had a second dose or booster within six months: Residents who are unvaccinated or are more than six months out from their second mRNA dose (or more than two months out after the J&J vaccine) and not yet boosted, must quarantine for five days from the date of the exposure followed by KN95 mask use for an additional five days. Best practice would also include a test on day six after exposure before returning to normal routines on Campus.
  • Fully vaccinated and boosted: Individuals who are fully vaccinated and have received a booster shot within the past six months are exempt from quarantine, but should wear a KN95 mask for 10 days following the exposure.  If symptoms occur, individuals should immediately quarantine until a negative test confirms symptoms are not related to COVID-19.  Dispatch Health will provide in-home COVID tests for individuals who develop COVID-like symptoms.  They can be reached at 480-493-3444.

Positive Residents:

Asymptomatic Positive: Asymptomatic positive cases or those who are asymptomatic five days following a positive test may be exempt from quarantine after day five with the following:

  • Must receive a negative COVID test result after five days since the positive test.  Otherwise quarantine will last 10 days. (At this time, the Campus does not have enough tests to test residents and has limited availability to drive residents to testing sites.  Please make private arrangements for testing, if possible.)
  • Must wear a well-fitted KN95 in all public locations and in the company of others for an additional five days.

Symptomatic Positive: Symptomatic positives must continue to quarantine for a full 10-day period.

We sincerely hope you will fully cooperate with these procedures, and thank you for doing your part to stop the spread of COVID-19. Your adherence to these self-isolation protocols could help save lives.

Self-Isolation Procedures:

  • You may choose to leave Campus at any time to stay with family or a friend during this period of COVID-related restrictions on Campus.
  • Residents who have tested positive for COVID and those who have symptoms of COVID are asked NOT TO LEAVE their apartment for at least five days (depending on symptoms and test results) for any reason other than essential medical appointments.
  • On the 5th day of isolation, Resident Services will inquire about any COVID-related symptoms ask whether you have plans to be COVID tested. If you are asymptomatic and test negative for COVID, your quarantine will be complete. If you continue to have symptoms, test positive, and/or do not have proof of a negative COVID test, you will be asked to continue to isolate for a total of 10 days following your positive test.
  • You also MAY NOT gather with any residents while in isolation, and the CDC advises that you avoid contact with all persons, including members of your own household, as much as possible.
  • For the safety of the community and any staff who may need to enter your apartment in an emergency, an isolation sign will be placed on your door and a bin of Personal Protective Equipment will be placed outside your door.
  • If you require any additional help or care during your self-isolation period, Beatitudes at Home may assist with your needs. Beatitudes at Home can be reached at x18527.
  • If you experience any life-threatening symptoms, such as difficulty breathing, press your bath alert or personal help button or call 911.

Again, we thank you in advance for your cooperation and adherence to the mandatory self-isolation protocol. Any residents who are not compliant with these procedures will have a staff member placed at their door 24/7 to ensure adherence at the resident’s expense for the duration of their self-isolation. Please keep in mind that these procedures are temporary, and with your help, we will stop the spread of COVID-19 and make our community safer.

Revised: 01.19.2022

Coping with COVID: Temporary Dining Changes

Fri, January 7, 2022 Published by

The pandemic taught us the importance of having contingency plans to keep our community whole in a crisis. Of course, the hope is they will never be needed. Yet, Covid combined with a staggering workforce shortage, has brought us to a painful place. As I write this, 19 staff are out with confirmed Covid positives or serious symptoms. In addition, many need to stay home with children who are positive or home due to exposures.

State of the Campus – November 14

Sun, November 14, 2021 Published by

I want to thank all of you – residents, families and staff – for your dedication and steadfast support throughout the past twenty months. We have all witnessed the massive impact that COVID has had on all of us – from social distancing, to masks, to vaccines to families being separated and reunited. Our thoughts and prayers go out daily to everyone who has been impacted by this virus, directly or indirectly.

Much has happened this year regarding COVID-19 vaccines, both nationally and locally. Just think, a year ago we didn’t even have a vaccine and now more than 7.8 billion doses globally have been administered. The science and data clearly point to the vaccine’s critical role in protecting ourselves and each other from severe illness and hospitalization. The safety of our residents, families and staff members is and always will be our number one priority. It is for this reason that we announced our vaccine requirement for staff, in addition to the fact that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) required staff in our organization be vaccinated or apply for an exemption. Without this requirement, we would lose our ability to accept Medicare payments.

While we are disappointed to lose any of our dedicated staff due to this issue, we know that vaccine choice is a personal decision. We hear in the media so much about vaccine hesitancy and the passionate opposition to a vaccine requirement. What we don’t hear about is the voice of all the people who are the “silent majority” who think that the vaccines are important – to protect themselves and those around them. What is especially meaningful to me are those who choose to live our mission and our values to keep each other safe by getting vaccinated if they are able. I have received stacks of emails and letters from staff, families and residents who applaud the vaccine requirement, who feel safer because of it and who feel like they can move forward without the fear of COVID.

I want to lift up our Beatitudes Strong family, and especially the staff members who have been with us through this pandemic. I am very touched and proud of how our staff stepped up even more than usual to engage in acts of generosity and support. They are heroes in every way. They exemplify an amazing power of positivity and kindness, especially throughout the past months. They came to work every day while their children or loved ones were learning or working from home. They put their career dreams on hold to pivot for our residents – to deliver meals and Roadrunners door-to-door, to screen each other and visitors for COVID symptoms, to shop for groceries and to help with infection control. They worked long hours to figure out Zoom and the community channel and to figure out how to video so that our residents wouldn’t feel disconnected. More than a few staff lost loved ones or had family members who were ill. Most staff couldn’t even visit their families and have in-person support. Yet, they came to work every day (and still do!) to serve our residents cheerfully. Our staff supported each other, too, in so many ways, too – to lend a hand at work, to crack a joke, to bake cookies or bring lunch to a colleague, to help each other when we were exhausted. I am so proud of our team – they are the shining example of Beatitudes Strong! Please, when you walk past them on the sidewalk or meet with them or see them in the Bistro, give them a hearty thank you for all that they have done – and all that they will do.

Beatitudes Campus staff are now 90.1% vaccinated with at least one dose of the vaccine. We approved religious or medical exemptions for 4.9% of the staff. We have not heard of the intention to be vaccinated for 5% of the staff. Eight staff members chose to leave their jobs. I am so proud of our staff.

This week, we unfortunately have had three staff members test positive for COVID-19 – one support staff in Assisted Living, one support staff from Facilities and one direct care worker in the Health Care Center. All were vaccinated and all of them were exposed outside of campus and subsequently got the virus. All are doing well.

I want to wish all of our veterans a Happy Veterans Day. I salute the men and women who have fought for our country and for our democracy and thank them for their service. Our veterans are the epitome of dedication, selflessness and resilience. Thank you. Stay strong!

Sincerely,
Michelle Just, President and CEO

We Will Do All We Can to Protect Our Beatitudes Family

Mon, September 20, 2021 Published by

Beatitudes Campus mission commits all of us to a model of service for our residents – to inspire purpose and vibrancy in all that we do. Our mission compels us to do all we can so that we do no harm to the ones we love and serve. We are so grateful to our Beatitudes Strong staff, particularly in the last 19 months, who have lived out our mission and worked hard to protect our Beatitudes family and ensure the safest environment possible.

Below is a letter I sent to every staff member, informing them of the policy.

I want to thank all of you for your steadfast support and flexibility throughout the past 19 months of this pandemic. I hope that you and your families are doing well despite the many challenges we have collectively faced and continue to experience because of the pandemic.

Over the past month, much has happened both nationally and locally within life plan communities, such as Beatitudes Campus, regarding COVID-19 vaccines and requiring staff to become vaccinated. As we have always said, we will follow the science, and the science overwhelmingly points to the vaccine’s critical role in protecting our residents, our community and each other from this deadly disease.

We carefully deliberated and reviewed recommendations from scientists and the medical community and the requirements from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and we have made the decision to require all Beatitudes staff and contractors to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 by no later than November 15, 2021. Concomitant with this decision, on August 18, 2021, the White House announced an initiative to increase vaccination rates in America that included mandatory vaccinations for long-term care workers in nursing homes. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) followed quickly with an announcement of forthcoming regulation mandating vaccinations for all staff working in nursing homes. On September 9, 2021, President Biden signed an executive order that included the provision that 17 million health care workers at all facilities, hospitals, home health providers, dialysis centers and other health service providers that receive funds from Medicare and Medicaid be fully vaccinated.

This decision was not an easy one to make. We know that this requirement will affect a portion of our staff. But as COVID-19 variants emerge and proliferate, it is critical that we protect everyone who lives and works at Beatitudes Campus. Our campus mission commits us to a model of service for our residents that promotes soundness of mind, spirit and body. We chose to work in the field of aging so that we could serve some of the most vulnerable people in our communities, and we owe it to them to take every measure possible to ensure the safest environment possible. Our residents and staff expect to be safe at Beatitudes Campus and we need to do everything we can to protect our Beatitudes family. We have a unique and special responsibility to keep the campus as safe as possible to protect our residents and staff, especially as the risk environment rises, as it has during this pandemic.

We understand that this may be a heavy and emotional issue for some staff. There will be a very limited allowance for exemptions for our staff from being vaccinated. Those exemptions will be for legitimate, fully documented medical reasons as well as fully documented long-held religious beliefs. We also understand that some Beatitudes staff will choose not to be vaccinated who do not qualify for one of the rare exemptions. We urge those employees to reconsider based on facts and science. We are all in this together. Together we serve our residents and together we have a collective responsibility to keep them as safe as possible. We encourage you to talk to your manager or director, or, alternatively, we will have our spiritual life team of Rev. Peggy Roberts and Rev. Andrew Moore as well as our nurse educator, Karen Mitchell, who can talk with you confidentially.

Beatitudes Campus policy for a vaccine requirement has been distributed, as well as the forms should you seek an exemption.

Please take a moment to reflect on why you chose to work at Beatitudes Campus and with the seniors who live here. The campus would not have a 56-year history of success without the contributions of a dedicated staff. Throughout this pandemic you have demonstrated your dedication and bravery in the face of unprecedented and challenging circumstances. The residents you love to serve, the residents you help to live their best, most successful and engaged life, are enriched by the Beatitudes team. They deserve to live in the safest community possible. We must do everything possible to deliver a safe environment for them.

We are Beatitudes Strong! Thank you.

Sincerely,
Michelle Just, President and CEO

State of the Campus – August 22nd

Mon, August 23, 2021 Published by

We continue testing all staff weekly and unvaccinated staff twice a week. So far, since the beginning of the pandemic, we have administered over 16,000 tests for COVID-19. That’s a lot of nose-swabbing! This week, we have three Independent Living staff who tested positive for COVID-19 and are still in quarantine. We have no residents who have notified us that they are positive. Gratefully, all the staff and residents who have tested positive during this latest surge of COVID-19 infections have or are recovering.

Out of Care and Compassion: Behind every Mask

Mon, August 9, 2021 Published by

Beatitudes Campus was created out of care and compassion and today our actions are proof of this fact.  You are giving a beautiful gift in recognizing the health vulnerabilities, visible or not, that put your neighbors at risk. You are saving lives and preventing suffering through the simple act of wearing a mask today.  Thank you for this. 

State of the Campus

Fri, August 6, 2021 Published by

Since last Friday’s letter, two fully vaccinated Patio Home residents (living together) have tested positive for COVID-19 and one fully vaccinated staff (support staff in the Health Care Center) has tested positive, bringing our total active cases this week to six people, (3 residents and 3 staff) with two people recovered.

State of the Campus

Fri, July 23, 2021 Published by

Dear Beatitudes Community,

In our continued pledge of transparency, I am reaching out to you today to let you know that we have had two fully vaccinated people – one is a part-time staff member and one is a contracted nurse practitioner – test positive for COVID-19. They both had mild symptoms. We have done contact tracing with the residents with whom they had interaction, and, with our increased monitoring, no residents have shown symptoms.

The Delta variant is 60% more transmissible than the original strain of the coronavirus. We do know that there have been reported breakthrough infections among fully vaccinated people. The good news is that the virus in most cases is mild and hospitalization and death among the fully vaccinated people are extremely low. Health experts do say that being vaccinated is the best defense against the Delta variant.

Arizona, with its vaccination rate below 50%, ranks seventh in the nation with the most cases of COVID-19. The state’s seven-day average for new cases is the highest since mid-March and more than double the average from two weeks ago. The Delta variant is the dominant strain in Arizona. With the continued transmission of the virus, it will continue to replicate and create a higher risk that it could mutate into an even more deadly variant.

The good news is that 98% of our residents are vaccinated and 73% of are staff are vaccinated. That’s quite an accomplishment! During this past month, we have held 52 “vaccine conversations” with staff to help separate myths from science.

So please, if you aren’t vaccinated, consider getting your vaccine so that we can end this pandemic once and for all.

Stay safe.

My best,
Michelle Just, President and CEO

State of the Campus: March 26

Fri, March 26, 2021 Published by

We are showing that we are Beatitudes Strong because our campus currently is COVID-19 free. As the spread continues to decrease in Maricopa County and here on campus, we have been able to decrease the frequency of staff testing per our regulating agencies. We no longer will be doing twice a week testing for staff working in Plaza View or the Health Care Center.

State of the Campus: March 19

Fri, March 19, 2021 Published by
Beatitudes Campus Presents – The Michelle & David Show | March 19

Dear Beatitudes Community,

Beatitudes Campus is in Week 3 of our phased-in re-opening. I can’t tell you what joy it brings our residents and staff to regain social connections and have a life full of ordinary moments – coffee with a neighbor, a game of bridge, a long walk around campus. After a year of disruption, the very ordinary moments have become extraordinary. For Independent Living residents, the re-opening guidelines for the coming week are the same as the past week. We have done well and protected each other during the current phase. We will be expanding our re-openings at the end of this month, so watch for details. Of course, we require mask wearing in all areas (except for resident apartments) and ask that you stay physically distant from others who are not part of your group.

For our licensed areas, re-openings are regulated by state and county health departments. For our assisted living areas (Plaza View and Early Memory Support), we have received guidance for a controlled re-opening. Residents may leave their buildings and walk outside and enter certain buildings throughout campus. Communal dining in Plaza View and in the Bistro are now available if reservations are made; meal deliveries will still be available. Up to two visitors, seven days a week can visit residents in assisted living, indoors or outdoors. It is with such joy that I saw an assisted living resident ready to start his daily walk – with a bottle of water and a granola bar in hand, he could feel the fresh air and feel the warmth of the sun. For our health care center, we are able to have indoor and outdoor visitation for our residents in Sierra Springs (3rd floor), but for Vermilion Cliffs (4th floor), our advanced memory support area, we are in outbreak status until March 26, as a direct care worker tested positive for COVID-19 a week ago. This means that the residents cannot have visitors, except for compassionate care.

Visitor Guidelines can be found on our website (https://beatitudescampus.org/beatitudes-family/) and clicking on Visitor Guidelines. Independent Living Guidelines can also be found in the Roadrunner (current issues are posted on our website (https://beatitudescampus.org/beatitudes-family/) and clicking on Information for Residents). If you have any questions, you can email us at [email protected].

We continue to follow our staff testing regimen and this week, again, all tests are negative for COVID-19 (we administered a total of 394 tests this week). We do feel that testing is an important step in stopping/slowing the spread of the coronavirus. Right now, we have one direct care worker in the Health Care Center who tested positive for COVID-19 last Friday and is quarantining at home.

We are so grateful that our residents and staff have had the opportunity for getting the vaccine, either at the campus clinics or at the county and state PODS. Next week, March 23, is our last vaccination clinic at the campus with CVS. This clinic is primarily for residents/staff who received their first dose of the vaccine last month (February 23). If, however, you have been unable to get your first dose of the vaccine yet, you may use this clinic to get your first dose! The staff at the clinic will help you schedule an appointment for your second vaccine, which will be off-campus.

I want to thank all of you for your strength and leadership in adhering to public health guidelines and recommendations. We would not have gotten this far at the campus without your support. Please stay well!

My best,

Michelle Just, President and CEO

State of the Campus: March 5, 2021

Fri, March 5, 2021 Published by

After Wednesday, March 10th, Assisted Living/Early Memory Support residents will be able to start walking outside on campus. On Tuesday, March 9, we will be reopening our amenities for Independent Living residents – Backstreet Boutique, Gift Shop and the Salons. During two staff and resident testing sessions, we received all negative results! We will continue testing staff in the near future, as testing is key in mitigating the spread of the virus. We have no new cases of COVID-19 on campus as of March 5th.

State of the Campus: Feb. 19

Fri, February 19, 2021 Published by

Feb. 19th – We have some good news about vaccine rates here at the campus. Nearly all residents in Skilled Nursing and Assisted Living have been vaccinated. (Those in Skilled Nursing received their second dose last month and those in Assisted Living will receive their second dose next week.) Our Independent Living residents have a vaccination rate of 85%. We are still compiling the statistics for the rate of vaccination among staff. I want to thank all who chose to be vaccinated. Fighting this pandemic is a team effort. We are protecting ourselves, our co-workers, residents, families and our community.

State of the Campus: Feb. 5

Fri, February 5, 2021 Published by

We continue to do our mass COVID-19 testing of our staff across campus. On Monday, we conducted 277 tests and none were positive for COVID-19. We have decreased the number of COVID-19 cases to ten – three residents and seven staff.

State of the Campus: January 22nd

Fri, January 22, 2021 Published by

Four staff had positive test results this week (two Plaza View Assisted Living direct care staff, one Plaza View Assisted Living support staff and one Independent Living support staff). This past week, several staff have recovered and come back. Right now, we have 26 total positive staff. This past week, two Independent Living residents tested positive, several have recovered, and we now have 19 residents with active COVID-19 (none in Skilled Nursing or Advanced Memory Support, 13 residents in Plaza View Assisted Living/Early Memory Support, and six residents in Independent Living).

State of the Campus – Jan. 8

Mon, January 11, 2021 Published by

At our regularly scheduled mass testing on Monday, January 4, 315 staff were tested for COVID-19 and all were negative except four (1% positivity rate). This week, we have had several residents and staff recover from COVID-19, and we are thankful for their return to health. We are reporting 70 cases of COVID-19 among staff and residents.

State of the Campus – Dec. 23

Wed, December 23, 2020 Published by

Beatitudes Campus continues to see an increase in cases, which has doubled last week’s number of cases. As of today, we have 31 cases on campus – 20 staff and 11 residents. The individuals infected are across all campus areas. We continue to aggressively test staff and residents in our licensed areas as it is one of our tools to mitigate the spread.

State of the Campus, Dec. 11

Fri, December 11, 2020 Published by

On Monday, December 7, we tested 273 staff and contractors for COVID-19. We received 272 negative results and one positive result. This staff person who was positive works in maintenance, and contact tracing for possible exposure has been completed. We send our prayers for recovery to this staff person.