, the medical director at one of the largest chains realized he needed a new playbook to take on an outbreak this dangerous.
"We're doing a lot of things, and we're being very creative in trying to meet regulations to keep the residents safe and also ensure that we prevent COVID-19 in our organization," said Keith Myers, President and CEO of MorseLife, one of the largest senior care facilities in Florida, with more than 800 residents."It's very challenging."
The nursing home system is doing what it can to conserve vital protective equipment, like masks and gowns. This week, the entire population of a New Jersey nursing home had to be transferred to another facility when coronavirus swept through, infecting residents and caretakers and leaving the original location short-staffed, New Jersey Department of Health officials said Wednesday.
Officials at MorseLife, a large not-for-profit senior care facility in West Palm Beach, took that step three weeks ago, shutting down the sprawling campus to visitors and volunteers, and canceling activities from the outside.Carmen Shell, who oversees the skilled nursing home and long-term care center as the Senior Vice President of the MorseLife Health Center, says MorseLife now takes the temperature of all staff when they initially enter the building and twice throughout their shift.
She said some employees are using scarves, while others"are actually making, sewing cloth masks that can be reused until our inventory gets up because of the number of residents that we care for and the number of staff members, we have a very high burn rate. And right now we don't have sufficient masks to give everyone else."
Does anyone else think that picture looks like the entrance to Jurassic Park?