Dear Family Member/Responsible Party,

I am Chairman and CEO of CCR, Inc. the management and consulting company for your loved ones rehab center. We know this is a stressful time for you and your family and I’m writing today to provide you information about the current COVID-19 situation. Please know that the health and well-being of the residents and patients in our care and our employees, and family members is of the utmost importance to us.

Our staff is trained in infection control protocols and we do have experience dealing with contagious conditions such as the flu, norovirus and so forth. Previous to COVID-19 we had policies and procedures for dealing with infectious diseases and those have served as a roadmap to handling this national crisis. We are being proactive in our efforts to minimize the impact of COVID-19 on those entrusted to our care and I would like to share some of the specifics with you.

• First, we follow the guidelines of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the guidance and regulation provided by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). As the situation changes nationally these guidelines and regulations change. Our corporate staff along with our center Administrators and Directors of Nursing monitor these changes continuously and our policies and practices are changed accordingly.
• A corporate COVID-19 Task Force is in place and is meeting daily to update what we know and what we have learned the previous 24 hours.
• The Task Force then holds a daily update call with each center Administrator and Director of Nursing to pass along guidance, information and policy changes and to get feedback from each center about any and all challenges they have encountered. Any new information is then updated into communications with our families, patients and staff.
• In addition to CDC and CMS we work closely with a number of content experts and trusted sources including the Virginia Department of Health (VDH), the American Health Care Association (AHCA} and the Virginia Health Care Association (VHCA}.
• All employees (prior to shifts) and authorized outside vendors are screened prior to entry to the center. This screening includes an attestation they haven’t been out of the country, have not come in contact with someone that has had COVID 19, or have symptoms. In addition employee and authorized vendor temperatures are taken prior to entrance, documented and the time in time out of the center is recorded.
• We realize the visitation restriction is particularly difficult for you and we are working rapidly to enable technologies such as Face Time, High Five, Skype and so forth to allow live audio visual visitation with you and your loved one. We can accommodate phone conversations if you prefer.
• Residents and patients are being engaged in appropriate activities.

We do ask for your assistance to safeguard your loved one and others. If a family member or friend, you or your loved one has been in contact with becomes ill please notify the Center Administrator or Director of Nursing immediately. This will enable us to take appropriate action promptly.

Finally, while the prevalence of television and social media outlets is not necessarily a bad thing there can be confusing or contradictory information. The trusted sources we in the healthcare profession rely on are the CDC, CMS, VDH as well as AHCA and VHCA. They each have a website and are sources of information you can rely on.

As we navigate this together, we will do our best to communicate and provide information to you. We continue to be committed to caring for those entrusted to our care in a safe and compassionate way. Should you have any questions please reach out to the center Administrator or me.

Sincerely,

Deborah L. Petrine
Chairman and CEO

To see the official letter, please click here!