September 25, 2020

As of today, we have no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in our care center. 

We continue to routinely test facility staff according to CMS guidelines.  “Facility Staff” is broadly defined to include employees, consultants, contractors, volunteers, and caregivers who provide care and services to residents on behalf of the facility, and students in the facility’s nurse aide training programs or from affiliated academic institutions.  Our care center is currently in a low county positivity rate. The requirements outline routine testing depending on our county positivity rate:

• Low: Monthly testing in counties with less than 5% positivity
• Medium: Weekly testing in counties with 5-10% positivity
• High: Bi-weekly testing in counties with greater than 10% positivity

We continue to follow the recommended guidance from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), and take all appropriate measures possible to protect the health and wellness of all who live and work here. We test symptomatic residents and staff as symptoms arise and perform entire-site testing during an outbreak (1 or more positive cases of either a resident or staff in our care center). Should a confirmed case come from any of these tests, we would promptly notify our residents, their families and staff.

On September 17, 2020, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) released Memorandum QSO-20-39-NH Nursing Home Visitation – COVID 19 which provides updated visitation guidelines for skilled nursing facilities; https://www.cms.gov/files/document/qso-20-39-nh.pdf. We are currently waiting for the MN Department of Health direction on this Memo before we begin working on a policy & implementation plan.

Please follow our Facebook page (@Littlefork Care Center and Jackpine Chateau) for all COVID updates and information on what is happening inside our care center. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to Stephanie Fairchild, Associate Administrator, at 218-278-3481 if you have any questions or concerns.