Despite our efforts the virus entered our community in early November.

Providence Mount St. Vincent is a residential community serving nearly 400 elders with an average age of 94. It is challenging to help them follow all precautions, such as mask wearing, social distancing and

staying in their rooms most of the time. Many have some level of dementia which exacerbates this challenge.

As we face this second outbreak, we are co-horting every resident who has tested positive either in a private room or in a dedicated unit on our 5th floor. This includes any person who may have been exposed as we presume that they are positive while awaiting test results.

In anticipation of the continued surge in our region over the Thanksgiving holiday, we are increasing our caregiver testing to twice per week.

We are encouraging residents to stay in their rooms, but we must also balance the physical and emotional impact of complete social isolation. Their spirit, heart, cognition and physical well-being must also be supported as we navigate this pandemic.

As a higher number of positive cases occur in the region, it becomes more challenging to prevent it from entering the Mount. Additionally, as people rush to get tested so that they may justify travelling, they have caused a higher volume of testing and thus a slower turnaround of test results for vulnerable elders in communities such as ours.

We believe there is hope on the horizon, but we must shut down the virus at the broader community level first. This requires hard work and a lot of difficult decisions.

The direct caregivers who are working the front lines must be honored for the sacrifices that they are making. Many are facing losses of loved ones as well as detrimental financial impacts in their own families and yet show up to serve every day. The public at large perhaps doesn’t see in full view the tremendous sacrifices and loving care that is taking place.

“Let’s not forget that we all depend on each other”, said Dr. David Roesel, MD and provider at Providence Mount St. Vincent. “Every action will affect another person. The elders in our care built the very society that we enjoy. They deserve our very best efforts to keep them safe. Each human life is more important than the economy. We can figure out the finances later, but once a life is gone, it’s gone. Be careful. Wear a mask. Stay at home. These are real human souls among our elders who are bearing the brunt of this pandemic. When you see the finish line, is not the time to stop running.”

 

 

UPDATE Nov. 24

According to Providence Mt. St. Vincent a fourth person has died due to complications from COVID-19. The most recent infection was diagnosed on Nov.21. No further information was offered.

Original Post

COVID-19 which is seeing a major resurgence here and across the nation has come back to Providence Mt. St. Vincent in West Seattle infecting 14 residents and 11 staff members. Three residents have now died according to the facility hotline.

The first detected case was found November 8 with one resident.

Providence is a "living care" community for older adults and has more than 400 residents.

In Washington State, where the first cases were detected last Spring, the number of total nursing home cases has risen to 2534. 556 residents have died according to Data.cms.gov as of Nov. 8. That number has gone up since then.

Back in April 15 residents and 10 staff members were diagnosed. At that time the facility deployed rapid testing to try and curb the spread, which saw success. They also instituted more stringent measures. They said then that they were doing, "daily monitoring of all residents, patients and caregivers for any signs of illness, especially a fever or cough. We are closed to visitors with the exception of end-of-life visits which are accommodated on a person-by-person basis, and we screen everyone that enters the building. In addition to our heightened disinfecting and cleaning procedures, we are wiping down high touch areas several times throughout the day."

This story will be updated.