COVID-19 UPDATE | MAY 15, 2020

May 15, 2020

Friends and Family of Santa Marta,

We wanted to start off by saying thank you to the countless number of individuals who have donated their time by sewing much-needed masks and gowns, as well as all those who have donated much-needed PPE during these challenging times.

Currently, Santa Marta has no positive COVID-19 cases among residents. Our previously reported positive staff member remains on home quarantine until a negative test result can be obtained. As a reminder, this staff member last worked in the facility on 4/21, was contact traced, and everyone having found to come in contact with this staff member tested negative.

As we continue to work on keeping everyone at Santa Marta safe and healthy, we’re still restricting all visitors. We continue to screen all essential care providers each time they enter the facility, and everyone is required to wear a mask at all times.

The independent living salon will reopen Monday, May 18, for only independent living residents. This doesn’t include any independent living residents who are in our rehab area in our health center.  An appointment is required and can be made by phone only. The salon will operate with the policies that were in place before they closed in March.

As Kansas begins its reopening plan, many people have asked if this means Santa Marta will be able to allow visitors again. The unfortunate answer is that we just don’t know at this point. Kansas includes nursing homes in its third phase, which at the earliest is to begin June 15. Please keep in mind that as a community, Santa Marta may decide to go beyond this as we continue to evaluate what’s best for our residents and staff. We’re also awaiting recommendations from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help establish the best procedures when it comes to reopening. Rest assured that as soon as we have a time frame for this to happen, we’ll share this with all of you.

Santa Marta continues to be dedicated to allowing families to communicate with their loved ones as much as possible. If you need assistance in communicating with your family member or loved one, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’re assisting residents with phone calls, FaceTime and video conferencing.

As always, please don’t hesitate to contact the Santa Marta Management Team with any questions.

Sincerely,

The Santa Marta Team