As a health care ministry, Moravian Manor Communities’ priority is the safety and health of our residents, staff, and visitors. One of the key defenses against this pandemic has been the COVID vaccines. As MMC continues to progress to our employee-mandated vaccine date of November 8, it is appropriate to update our stakeholders.
- Fully vaccinated and partially vaccinated (first dose) employees: 238
- Employees who have resigned or have pending resignation: 18
- Employees who have unknown intentions or applied for an exemption: 16*
*Nine of the sixteen are either minors or occasional employees.
I am grateful for the ninety-four percent of our current employees who have thus far committed to receiving the vaccine. However, I am sorry that we have had to part ways with others who have not elected to receive the vaccine for various reasons. As a result, I anticipate that we will need to temporarily adjust our services in both dining and housekeeping for our residential living residents. We will share more information in the coming days.
We are presently experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak in our Baer Center for Assisted Living. MMC residents in the Bear Center are 100% vaccinated. As of this morning, MMC has six residents who have tested positive. Two of the six residents were hospitalized. Unfortunately, one resident passed away on Monday, October 11. Please remember the resident’s family and friends during this difficult time.
MMC has also had one resident in our skilled nursing neighborhoods test positive for COVID-19. The resident was quarantined and has moved through the two-week critical period. In addition, MMC has had eight employees test positive for COVID-19 since September 12. No employee has had severe symptoms from COVID-19.
I believe these incidents are a good reminder that although we are tired of the virus, the virus is still quite active.
The Bear Center for Assisted Living staff serves as the call center for all residential living residents. Effective Wednesday, October 13, we are instituting some changes to those services due to the outbreak in the Baer Center.
- Activating your device will alert the Baer Center staff and security.
- Security or maintenance will continue to respond to your call.
- If warranted, the nurse in the Baer Center will triage the call with you and the security personnel.
- Since the Baer Center staff is actively working in a “red zone,” they will be unable to respond to your call physically. However, you will need to call 911 if the triage call determines that additional help is necessary.
- MMC does not want to send a nurse working in a red zone to your home.
- ALWAYS call 911 immediately if there is a severe health emergency. This part has not changed.
I anticipate the above conditions to be in place for at least one month. We need to have two weeks of one-hundred percent negative tests following our last tested positive in that area.
Please keep our team in your thoughts and prayers as we continue to navigate unchartered waters. Our team is working incredibly hard to continue to provide excellent service and keep all of us safe. I appreciate your support of these exceptional individuals!
For those of you seeking additional information on COVID-19, continuous updates are available at the following websites:
Pennsylvania Department of Health: www.health.pa.gov
Center for Disease Control: www.cdc.gov