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Loved ones thrilled with easing of nursing home visitation rules

Free Press - 10/19/2020

Oct. 18--While Grace Sperle lives near her husband in different wings at Oak Terrace in North Mankato, seeing him has been difficult during the pandemic.

"For a long time I couldn't see Jerry, and then later I could only see him through the window. Finally when we got the visitations outside that was nice. But that was only certain days and you still have to stay 6 feet apart and wear a mask even outside."

Beginning this weekend, she and other family members who have loved ones in long-term care facilities will have more opportunities to visit as the state eases some restrictions on nursing home visits.

The Sperles were living in the independent living wing at Oak Terrace, where Grace still lives, but Jerry went to assisted living early this year as he suffers from dementia. Grace believes her husband's dementia likely has worsened more rapidly than under normal conditions because she and their children haven't been able to socialize with him much during the pandemic.

"It's been very difficult," she said.

The couple is from South Dakota but has family in this area. Jerry also was a pilot who flew for Hubbard Milling for 17 years in the 1970 and '80s.

While recent months have been tough, Grace is bullish on the staff, administration and residents at Oak Terrace.

"Everyone would rather stay in their own homes, of course, but if you have to go to a facility, I'd certainly recommend this one."

She said that in independent living there is still plenty for residents to do. "We started bingo again, with masks and 6 feet apart. We have a theater, but you have to keep your mask on, so we can't eat popcorn while we're watching movies," she said with a laugh.

"They're very accommodating here. Someone has a sign up here that says 'Be nice to your children because they choose your nursing home.' That's true."

Plenty of rules

The easing of visitations still comes with many rules, and facilities have been scrambling to understand the regulations and get information to residents and their loved ones.

"It's definitely a challenge, but our staff is excited for it and the families are excited," said Marc Halpert, chief operating officer of Monarch Healthcare Management, which operates 40 facilities around the state, including several in the Mankato area.

"We're excited to allow this, particularly with the cold weather coming and the outdoor visits winding down. We need to get our families back to see their loved ones. It's important for the families and residents."

He said their facilities have been gearing up for expanded visits for the last couple of months, including stocking up on extra PPE and extra hand sanitizer.

Halpert said one major factor that will affect how visits are conducted -- or even if they will be allowed at some facilities -- is the COVID test rate in each county. For facilities in counties with a positive test rate of 5% or less, there are very few restrictions on visits other than the normal mask wearing and distancing. For counties with a 5-10% positivity test rate, there are more restrictions on visits. Facilities in counties with rates above 10% can allow almost no visitors.

And if staff or residents at a facility test positive, the facility can't have visitors for a certain amount of time. That is the case at St. John Lutheran Home in Springfield, which won't be able to allow visits until sometime this week.

"We had a positive test with a part-time employee about 10 days ago. It's too bad -- we had been COVID free for nine months before and were doing terrific," said Administrator Tom Goeritz.

He said they're geared up for opening to more visits, hopefully this week, but said they've already helped loved ones visit as often as possible. "We've had over 500 outside visits since we were allowed to do that. We've brought in musicians, had car parades, had window visits. For a town of 2,500, it's been great."

Drew Hood, administrator of Oak Terrace Senior Living in upper North Mankato, said that while everyone is thrilled with more visits, there are also worries about keeping everyone safe. But he said family members always have shown caution when at facilities.

"I really respect the families and that they respect the coronavirus. They understand we want to protect people, and and they don't want to get their family members sick," Hood said.

"We're already seeing requests for visits, and I'm expecting a lot of them. Our goal is for residents and loved ones to have in-person visits. If it's nice, we'll do that outside, otherwise inside."

Many facilities are setting up visits in controlled areas inside their facilities with most trying to steer clear of having a lot of visits inside residents' rooms, but allowing so for those who can't easily leave their rooms.

Hood said that while they've been able to accommodate plenty of visits outdoors this fall, it will be trickier scheduling all the indoor visits he's expecting will be requested.

"We have people seeing their loved ones three times a week outside. I'm not sure they'll be able to do that inside that often."

Still, he said that anything that allows people to see loved ones is a positive.

"I'm excited about it. We'll make sure we can do this in a safe manner. This doesn't mean the pandemic is over."

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