Coronavirus Updates

March 25, 2020

Dear Seacrest Residents, Families and Associates,

I hope this finds everyone well during this trying time. I am pleased to share that at this point, we have no known cases of the Covid-19 virus. That said, we are prepared, if and when the time comes.

As we receive updates from the CDC and other resources, we now need to put into place further precautions, recognizing the data indicates the Covid-19 virus continues to spread in masses.

The CDC states that each of us needs to act as if everyone with whom we come into contact has the virus. It is for this reason, as well as for your own health and well-being, that effective immediately, we are mandating the following:

• Residents are not to leave the Seacrest Campus. We encourage you to walk around the campus and our patios to get fresh air. If you do this with others, you must stay 6 feet apart.
• If you have a doctor’s appointment, please call your building director to discuss.
• If you need food or other items, we ask that you first ask your family members if they are able to go to the store for you, and to then utilize our new system of dropping off supplies outside our main entrance. If they are unable or don’t live locally, please speak with your building director and we will take care of it for you.
• We strongly discourage small group activities such as card games and socializing with each other in your apartments, given it’s nearly impossible to maintain social distancing of 6 feet apart from one another.

To our families-

• We greatly appreciate the support we’ve received and hope to continue to receive. Now more than ever, we need your help.
• Please do not come into our buildings or onto our campus. Using your loved one’s access card to get in is prohibited.
• Bringing any possible illness to Seacrest is not fair to our community as a whole. We implore you to abide by this for EVERYONE’S safety and well-being.
• If your loved one needs items and you are able to shop for them, please drop off items outside our main entrance. If you don’t live nearby or cannot for any other reason, please encourage your loved one to please contact their building director and we will take care of it.

To our staff-

• You are our rock stars and your dedication to our residents shows no bounds. We all feel it and are ever so grateful.
• Please continue to enjoy your meals provided by our wonderful Culinary Dept and stay healthy. If there is anything else you need, please tell us.

In closing, I want to say that we MUST work together to protect everyone in our care. Please follow these new precautions we are requiring, take us seriously, and do your part to keep our residents, staff and yourselves safe.

Please visit our YouTube page for a video message highlighting this letter at https://youtu.be/NtTBlY-5ZFw

Pam Ferris
President/CEO
The Melvin Garb Foundation
Presidential Chair

March 20, 2020

Dear Seacrest Family and Friends

I am writing to provide another update in response to the Governor’s new ruling requiring all non-essential employees to remain home. For ease, I will breakout this information and more, in the sections below.

Residents and Family Members-

Here is the most important way you can help…please, please, please do not leave the campus if you live here and do not leave your homes if you do not. We know many residents have cars and are used to going out, though at this critical time, we need for you to stay here, and for those living outside Seacrest, to also stay home. Walking outside is encouraged using appropriate social distancing, though going out into the community only increases your risk, the risk of exposing our residents and staff, and your family members as well.

If you feel you must take your family member to a medical appointment you need to first call the respective building director before doing so.

Health care and essential staff who need to care for the public, are saying, “I stayed at work for you, you stay home for us! I could not agree more and hope everyone will heed this important request!

In an effort to stay connected to our residents and to keep them from feeling isolated, the following steps have been taken and so far, are working beautifully.

• Our SVTV station has a very robust daily calendar and we encourage residents to turn on channel 1390 in all resident rooms except residents in the Goldberg Healthcare Center—their channel is 1070 to see what’s going on in addition to checking the schedule put on their doors daily. Our Director of Spiritual Life has a new daily show called, “Chai There from Rabbi Leah” which I’m sure the residents will enjoy! They can also participate in daily virtual fitness programs, music programs and movies.
• Our Life Enrichment team is setting appointments with families to FaceTime, Skype, and Zoom
• with their loved ones. This has been so popular that the following schedule has been implemented.
• Goldberg Health Care Center and the Lee & Frank Residence Court residents will best on Monday and Wednesdays. The Leichtag Family Assisted Living Residece and The Katzin Residence will be Tursday and Thursdays. For birthdays and special requests, or to sign up for the program, please contact Marisa Rosenberg or Wendy Vurik at mrosenberg@seacrestvillage.org and wvurik@seacrestvillage.org.
• Staff have been provided three residents each to check in with them daily for a chat either via the phone or Facetime, to see how they’re feeling and whether there is anything they need. This program too has been well received as residents are both pleasantly surprised and pleased for the additional interaction. I say additional because our wonderful culinary staff are personally delivering meals to their rooms three times a day.
• Other support our residents will soon receive from our greater community are cards and pictures from the LFJCC preschool children, and contact made virtually by the students involved with Hillel.
• Mail and packages received are being held for 24 hours before being delivered so that we can properly wipe them down.
• Our beauty salons are now closed and caregivers will be washing residents’ hair as needed.

Seacrest Staff-

• Staff who are able to work remotely have been identified and are working from home. While some managers need to be on site, our entire management team is connected via zoom, in addition to other means of communication like email, text, etc.
• All other non-direct care providers will now stay home. Our Human Resources team is ready to assist staff with any questions, and are staying abreast of new federal and state programs being implemented to support employees during this difficult time.
• While our incredibly dedicated direct care providers are working hard to care for our residents, we are doing our best to care for them. Effective Sunday, Seacrest will be providing meals to all our staff so that worry will be off their plate (pun intended!). Snacks (some healthy, some not so!) are being provided in all our breakrooms.
• Staff are encouraged to go home directly from work to rest, refuel and enjoy their families, before returning to work. And when they do, they (and outside healthcare providers) are getting their temperatures taken and washing their hands before they begin their shifts or see residents.

As you can imagine, tremendous additional support is now required to keep Seacrest Village residents and Seacrest at Home clients safe and healthy in their homes. 

Seacrest Foundation is grateful to have received a matching gift from Esther Fischer. Her generosity will double every one of your contributions, up to $25,000. Please consider a contribution to Seacrest Foundation to help continue this critical work. Click here to contribute.

In closing, please know we continue to do everything possible to protect our residents and staff and to keep them safe, while still paying acute attention to their emotional, social and spiritual needs. I am incredibly grateful for the technology we have in place so that we can all stay connected during this trying time. A tremendous thank you for your on-going support. I will continue to provide updates and as always if you want to talk, please call.

Stay safe everyone.

Most sincerely,

Pam Ferris

President and CEO

The Melvin Garb Foundation

Presidential Chair

March 16, 2020

Dear Seacrest Family and Friends,

Let me begin by saying that we are all in this together and appreciate the calls and emails of support. Over the weekend our executive team did a great deal of strategizing and planning. This morning we gathered with our entire leadership team. Below, I would like to share the outcome of our meeting. We ask that everyone be as understanding as possible; moment by moment things are changing and we are responding to these changes as quickly as possible.

As of tomorrow, Tuesday, March 17, 2020: We will be serving all meals in our residents’ rooms in Independent Living, Assisted Living, and in many cases Skilled Nursing. Residents who live in The Katzin Residence will be served in their dining room for safety precautions.

There will be no large group gatherings; groups of 5 or less are permitted in Independent Living.
As stated in a previous letter, there will be no visitors in any building with the exception of pre-approved medical professionals or caregivers.

We strongly request that Independent Living Residents not leave the building and put themselves and others at risk by being in places with large crowds. We are encouraging walks outside and around our campus. Residents have asked about going to their family members’ homes for Pesach, and although we prefer they not, this is ok as long as no one in the home is ill.

Our staff is being cared for and supported during this time so that they can continue to provide the best care for our residents. We continue to monitor the health of each employee and will support their needs.

We will continue with frequent updates and ask that you read and discuss with your friends and families. All communications can be found on our website at www.seacrestvillage.org

What Residents Can Do During This Time:

• Stay calm and enjoy some solitude by staying out of crowds. Staff will be interacting as they deliver meals.
• Wash hands frequently with hot soapy water for 20 seconds.
• Avoid leaving the campus to minimize the contact with someone who may be ill and perhaps not showing symptoms.
• Use your SVTV to watch Shabbat services, to participate in morning exercise programs, and other activities.
• We have begun scheduling virtual visits for residents to connect with their family and friends via skype, face time and/or zoom. Please contact Wendy Vurik to schedule a time. She can be reached at wvurik@seacrestvillage.org.
• Check the Center for Disease Control (cdc.org) and/or World Health Organization (who.int) websites for additional information.

Please call should you want to talk.

Sincerely,

Pam Ferris
President and CEO
The Mel Garb Foundation Presidential Chair

March 12, 2020

Dear Seacrest Family and Friends,

We hope this letter finds you well. We continue to evaluate and monitor the protocols instituted due to the coronavirus to keep our residents, families and staff safe. Thank you to the many families who responded so kindly to our last communication. Please know that we DO NOT have coronavirus in the Seacrest community. Everything we are doing is preventative.

Effective March 12, 2020, based upon the latest information from the CDC we have made the important decision to not allow families, friends and visitors into our community. The only exception to this new protocol will be home care and health care providers, Hospice staff, physicians, lab and x-ray technicians, therapists and clergy.

In addition, please know that all outside persons entering Seacrest, including our staff will be monitored, screened and have their temperatures taken.

In our effort to modify, yet continue our life enrichment programs for residents, some of the entertainers will stream their programs so that residents can watch them on our in-house station (SVTV), either in their own rooms/apartments or as a small group in their respective buildings.

Please know we have also suspended all outside social activities that require transportation.

Though we are discouraging residents from leaving Seacrest, we understand that it may occur. In such a case, should you be the one coming for your family member, we ask that you call in advance so they can meet you or be brought to the appropriate entrance.

We encourage Facetime, talking on the phone, and other social media so that we all remain connected during this challenging time. It goes without saying that we hope these measures will be temporary.

As we said in our first correspondence, we recognize that we cannot control all situations. Our greatest priority is to keep our residents and staff healthy.

Thank you in advance for supporting our leadership as we implement these important measures. We will continue to be in touch with you. Please feel free to call if you want to talk.

Most Sincerely,

Pam Ferris
President and CEO
The Melvin Garb Foundation
Presidential Chair

March 9, 2020

We continue to evaluate and monitor the protocols instituted to keep our residents and staff safe. Thank you to the many families who responded to our last communication. We are pleased it was received positively from both families and residents. At this point, we are still strongly discouraging visits from family members and are not allowing families who do visit, into our dining rooms. Please do not visit if you have been sick with the cold or the flu, have fever or have been traveling, either internationally or in a place where the virus has been identified.

We are doing our best to minimize visits from outside the community as well as to keep our residents close. Volunteers are not coming to our campus now, and the Brandeis group that meets here, is now holding its classes off site. We encourage Facetime, talks on the phone, etc. and hope these measures are only temporary. That said, our biggest priority is keeping our residents and staff safe from illness so in this case, less is more. Thank you in advance for supporting these measures. Again, we hope they are only temporary, though need to be prepared for the worst.

All my best,

Pam Ferris
President and CEO
The Melvin Garb Foundation Presidential Chair
Seacrest Village Retirement Communities

March 3, 2020

To those closest to our Seacrest Community,

We are writing this letter to let you know of the precautions that Seacrest Village is taking to keep our residents safe and healthy as we learn more about the Coronavirus and how it could potentially effect Seacrest. Please know that we do NOT have Coronavirus in the Seacrest community, these are precautionary measures only. We understand that some of the precautions that we are presenting might be an inconvenience to you. We trust you know that our intentions are to provide the most safe and secure environment for each of our residents, staff and visitors. We are in touch with the other Jewish homes around the country, the local health department and local hospitals and are monitoring and establishing protocols as necessary.

Please be advised:

As of today, we will be limiting access to Seacrest Village. We ask that visitors use best judgment when visiting the campus. If you have any symptoms of a cold or any illness, we suggest that for the safety of your loved one and all others you refrain from visiting. The healthier we can keep the Seacrest environment the better this will be for everyone. Children under the age of sixteen will not be permitted on the campus as they are exposed to potential illness through large person to person contact at school and other activities.

The only point of entry to Seacrest Village for everyone other than employees and residents will be the main entrance of the Lipinsky Administration Building on Saxony Lane. Access badges will not work at other entrances for anyone other than residents and employees. At this entrance, universal precautions will be taken before one is permitted to enter the building. You will be asked if you have traveled out of the country or have been near anyone who has. In addition, you will be asked if you have been ill within the past fourteen days. We will be asking people to leave if we have reasonable concerns. Staff will be following these important protocols in caring for residents and working alongside each other.

Based upon the CDC recommendations as well as other recommendations we are being proactive about group gatherings where these viruses can quickly spread. At this moment we have decided to have only Seacrest residents at our Passover Seders. We recognize that your family members may go to your home and we thank you for bSeacrest Village Retirement Communitieseing understanding. We will still have both Seders at Seacrest Village for residents to enjoy together.

We are not having volunteers in the building until further notice. This is one way that we can control a large amount of people from entering the community.

We recognize that we cannot control all situations though we are committed to keeping your loved ones as healthy as possible. It is our greatest hope that we will be able to resume typical operations very soon. We intend to stay in close contact with all of you and welcome your calls and of course your support as we go through this together. We will be making an automated phone call Wednesday this week to alert everyone to this notice. If you do not hear from us please call our front desk 760-632-0081 to ensure that we have your most current and accessible telephone number for all future important communications. If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to call Carl Measer, Chief Operating Officer, at 760-632-0081 ex. 1104.

Thank you in advance for your understanding and support.

Best regards,

Pam Ferris
President and CEO
The Mel Garb Foundation Presidential Chair

For a printable version of this message, click here.