Updated Visitation Guidelines…

Dear Gianna Homes Families and Friends,

We are excited to share the news that we are resuming visitation in our setting. The Minnesota Department of Health has issued guidance on how we can safely re-open our setting to visitors and continue to protect the health of our residents and staff. We have carefully developed a safe and comprehensive reopening plan and expect visits to resume this week.

Our ability to resume visitation would not have been possible without the incredible commitment and dedication of our staff team, who have worked tirelessly to manage the risks of COVID-19 and providing compassionate care and support to our residents at a time when they are physically separated by their loved ones. We know that you, too, have made sacrifices during this incredibly difficult time, and thank you for your patience and understanding.

The guidance provided by the Minnesota Department of Health is quite comprehensive. These requirements not only apply to our ability to resume visitation but also identify triggers for when we may need to restrict visitation if we experience a positive case of COVID-19 among our residents and staff or if our broader community falls into a higher risk category.

It is our intention to resume visitation this week. Attached you will find additional information on the policies, protocols, and scheduling for both indoor and outdoor visitation.

For your planning purposes, please know we will follow a similar procedure for visitation inside our setting as we do for outdoor visits. This will include:

∙ Scheduling visits with the RN Case Manager. We will do our best to accommodate all requests but do reserve the right to deny a visit if we are at the capacity of guests or in the unfortunate situation of positive COVID-19 cases with residents, staff, or a rise in county cases.

∙ Please sign in upon arrival using the screening log. This log will require you to check temperature and record, screen for symptoms, sign, and provide a phone number.

∙ Use sanitizer prior to entering the building and a mask must be worn at all times.

∙ Limiting the visit to a resident’s room and/or a designated area with our building.

– At SC this will be the lower level

– At GP this will be the foyer

∙ Limiting physical contact (hugs, kisses, handshakes, etc.) to continue protecting everyone from potential virus transmission. Essential caregivers are allowed to physically touch the resident.

∙ Limiting the number of visitors in our building and the hours for visitation. We will be limiting the number of visitors to 3 people total per resident. Visitation hours remain from 10am – 7pm.

∙ Asking you to review and agree to our visitation requirements and accept that there is some  COVID-19 risk even in these protected situations.

We deeply appreciate the sacrifices you made to limit the impact of COVID-19 on our community and your patience as we prepare our setting to host safe visitation and other activities. Our entire team looks forward to seeing you again—families and friends are a core fabric of what makes our community so special.

Thank you again for being partners with us in fighting the COVID-19 virus. Your messages of support,  prayers, and caring will not be forgotten. There may be more challenges ahead, and we may need to make adjustments as we roll-out this next phase in our visitation. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me at 763-442-4484 or cari@giannahomes.org if you have any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Cari Doucette
Executive Director