Libby Care Center begins easing visitation rules

While the coronavirus remains a serious threat to nursing homes, administrators at the Libby Care Center of Cascadia are concerned about the toll isolation is taking on their residents.

Rachel Toland, administrator of the center, said the care facility would begin reopening on Oct. 5 as part of a nation-wide push to resume visitations at nursing homes.

Officials with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal agency responsible for administering the nation’s major healthcare programs, updated guidelines for scheduling in-person visits at nursing homes on Sept. 17.

Though federal officials acknowledged the dangers of the coronavirus, they noted in a press release that physical separation from family and other loved ones has taken a significant toll on eldercare residents.

“While we must remain steadfast in our fight to shield nursing home residents from the virus, it is becoming clear that prolonged isolation and separation is also taking a deadly toll on our aging loved ones,” said Seema Verma, CMS administrator, in a press release.

Under the Libby facility’s reopening plan, Toland said up to two visitors per resident will be allowed inside the facility at a time. Officials have designated specific visiting areas and will limit visitor access to parts of the building. The facility also will open up their dining room and are welcome backing volunteers who provide church services and entertainment for residents.

“We’ll start getting some normalcy back for our residents,” Toland said.

As staff members reopen the center, Toland said they will continue to carefully follow protocol designed to prevent a coronavirus outbreak.

When reporting for work, employees and volunteers have their temperatures taken by staff and have to fill out a questionnaire to determine the risk of them having contracted the virus. While in the facility, Toland said staff members don scrubs and masks. Every week, employees are tested using an in-house system that returns results in 15 minutes.

“Really what it comes down to is good communication with our staff,” Toland said.

All new admissions to the facility are quarantined for 14 days, according to Toland. To keep residents in touch with their families, the facility offers window visitations. The center also has eight tablets, which residents use to video chat their loved ones.

Thanks to their efforts, Toland said the care center has yet to see a single case of the coronavirus.

While staff members remain vigilant, health officials have said the care center is still one of the most vulnerable sites to the coronavirus in the area. Dr. Gregory Rice praised the efforts of Libby Care Center employees during a Troy City Council meeting in August but noted that a single infection at the facility could prove devastating.

“The biggest threat to a ton of people dying in this community is the Libby Care Center,” Rice said.

Outbreaks in nursing homes generally spread rapidly, Rice said, since many elderly residents cannot be expected to wear masks and facilities do not have ventilation systems that can mitigate airflow carrying the virus.

Since Rice’s talk at the Troy City Council meeting, a coronavirus outbreak at a Flathead County nursing home validated his concerns. As of Sept. 25, 13 residents at the Whitefish Care and Rehabilitation Center died after 52 tested positive for the virus. Reports documented by the Daily Inter Lake, however, found that severe negligence from staff — including rooming residents who had tested positive for the virus with those that had tested negative — contributed to the outbreak.

At the Libby center, Toland said she has had residents express confidence in the staff’s ability to weather the pandemic.

“I had residents tell me ‘I’m in the safest place I can be,” Toland said, “That feels really good to hear.”

Kianna Gardner contributed to this report.