Safe with Us
At Home Health Foundation, our healthcare professionals value the trust you and your physician(s) have placed in us to care for you and your loved ones. We understand there is significant anxiety surrounding the spread of COVID-19 and we want to reassure you that we are well prepared to care for a patient infected with this illness, while also protecting all other patients and their families.
Since March 2020, Home Health Foundation has cared for thousands of patients, including those diagnosed with COVID-19, without issue. With an ample supply of PPE (i.e. face masks/shields, goggles, gowns, gloves, disinfectant, etc.) and continuing education on how to remain Safe with Us, we are proud of the way our staff has continued to deliver expert care throughout the pandemic.
The well-being of our community remains our primary concern. In addition to our regular safety precautions, we are taking appropriate steps organization-wide to limit potential exposure to patients and families. Some of the measures that we have in place include:
- telephone interview screenings prior to visits
- leveraging its knowledge of telehealth in new and innovative ways, and have expanded our telehealth program to meet this important need during the pandemic.
- limiting traffic in the home setting to essential medical staff
- daily monitoring of staff for exposure or symptoms
- Visitors to the High Pointe House, the in-patient residence of Merrimack Valley Hospice, are limited and screened at the entrance for COVID-19 symptoms and potential exposure in order to provide additional precautions to those who require them. For more about High Pointe House’s visitor policies, please see below.
- We are providing grief support groups online via Zoom video conference. Click here for more information.
- refresher courses for staff on the proper way to put on, take off and discard face masks, gowns and eye protection, which are highly effective in preventing the spread of the illness
- meeting regularly to discuss changes in guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Please share with your caregiver if you or a loved one begins to show symptoms of COVID-19, or has received a positive COVID-19 test result. You may feel confident that patient privacy remains paramount, and all patients and their diagnoses are protected under the same federally mandated standards.
If you have questions, concerns or need more information, please speak with your clinician. We have the expertise and resources, and we are ready and willing to help whenever you call upon us.
Blog Posts
- Home Health Nurse Reflects on 25-Year Career and Impact of COVID-19
- Nurses and Care Partners Give ‘All They Have’ While Confronting COVID-19 in First Hospice House Precaution Unit in Massachusetts
Resources
High Pointe House
Our team at High Pointe House values the trust you place in us to take care of you and/or your loved one. During the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, we continue to provide comprehensive hospice support while adjusting our policies to ensure that patients, staff and all visitors are always Safe with Us.
Upon admission, we test all patients for COVID-19, except patients who currently have confirmed COVID-19 or those who were recently diagnosed (within the past 90 days) and who are asymptomatic. We maintain enhanced precautions for patients who are symptomatic while we await the test results. In addition, we are writing to communicate that we will be adjusting our visitation policy effective Friday, February 18, 2022:
- Visiting hours are from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., 7 days per week. Visitors are limited to immediate family (as defined by the patient) only, with a maximum of six (6) visitors at a time, and may have a continued unlimited total number of visitors within a 24-hour period. Children under the age of 5 are unable to visit, and children 5 or older count as one of the visitors for the day. Management reserves the right to limit visitors at any time.
- Up to three overnight visitors are allowed per patient, all arriving at High Pointe House by 10:00 p.m.
- All visitors are screened with temperature checks and screening questions before entry, and are given a procedural face mask to wear while visiting High Pointe House. This mask must be worn at all times, including in the patient suite.
- Common areas have been reopened and areas are limited to one family at a time with, a maximum of six (6) people in the space.
- Social distancing of six (6) feet is to be maintained outside of the patient suite. Entry is not permitted via the patient patio door. All visitors must enter and exit via the main door.
- Patients admitted to the COVID-positive precaution suite, with requirement of BiPap or tracheostomy care, or whose COVID status is unknown and awaiting COVID tests results will have up to six visitors per day with two to three visitors at one time. These visitors will be provided with the same droplet precaution PPE as staff (N95 mask, face shield/goggles, gown, and gloves).
- Patients who are admitted to the precaution suite who are not COVID positive, do not require Bipap or tracheostomy care, whose COVID status is known, and who are asymptomatic will be allowed regular visiting hours (with a maximum of six (6) visitors at a time, and may have a continued unlimited total number of visitors within a 24 hour period and up to three overnight visitors are allowed per patient)..
- If you have any questions or need more information, please speak with your clinician.
We understand that stress and sadness may feel overwhelming when a loved one approaches end of life. Our goal is to ease the suffering of the family, as well as the patient, during this unimaginably difficult time. In return, we ask that you respect the expertise of the staff who is caring with genuine compassion for you and loved one.
Because this pandemic remains a dynamic situation, we are continuously assessing our policies and procedures and will issue updates as needed, including implementing recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
Thank you for the trust that you and your loved one has placed with us. We are proud that each day, our team of caregivers goes above and beyond to exceed it.