I want you to know I am extremely proud of the commitment our staff demonstrates every day. We don’t just care for our patients and residents; we also care about them. This is an awful virus and the fight against it is difficult.

We deeply appreciate that patients, residents, and their family members want to be able to visit in person. These have been truly heartbreaking circumstances. But for the safety of all of those in our care, we need to remain vigilant right now by remaining closed to visitors for the time being.

Throughout the course of the pandemic, we have followed guidelines from federal, state, and local authorities, in order to minimize the risk of COVID-19 for all of our residents, patients, and employees. Steps we are taking include:

• Throughout our building, we are following stringent safety, social distancing, and cleaning protocols, and all of our staff have been trained on strategies for mitigating the spread of the disease.
• We have daily clinical team meetings to evaluate each of our patients.
• We are managing our staffing levels effectively, constantly monitoring employees for symptoms.
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Because we know that every life in our care is precious, we are proceeding with an abundance of caution. While we are aware that Tennessee is relaxing some of the state-level guidelines on nursing home visitation starting on June 15th, 2020, we continue to follow the strictest of guidance and will keep you apprised as we work through the prerequisites outlined by the state’s Unified Command Group. With that said, we have determined that the safest course for our residents is to remain closed to visitors for now.

Although this slow transition back to normal is difficult, please understand that this cautious approach is best practice and will help us keep our seniors protected from this insidious virus. We are in daily contact with health department officials – and the moment federal guidelines tell us it is safe to allow visitation inside our building, we will be in touch with families directly.

We are always thinking creatively about ways for families to be in contact with patients and residents while ensuring their safety and that of fellow residents. From using technology to aid communication to arranging outdoor visits through windows, we are committed to helping families maintain contact. We invite families to reach out to us so we can work on a solution.

I speak for our entire staff when I say we all look forward to the moment when we can open our doors and welcome back visitors with open arms.

Sincerely,

Larry Sherwood
Administrator, Reelfoot Health and Rehab