July 8, 2020

Dear Residents and Families,

The purpose of this letter is to communicate updates regarding our covid-19 reporting and the actions we continue to take to combat and protect our community.  

We completed our fourth round of testing on Tuesday, July 7^th. As in previous weeks, we do not expect to receive test results until the weekend of July 11^th and 12^th.

Late last week Governor Tom Wolf requested that any resident of the Commonwealth who travels to any of the 15 states, listed below, self-quarantine for 14 days upon return to the Commonwealth. These 15 states are currently experiencing a surge in Covid.

These states are:

Alabama                                        North & South Carolina

Arkansas                                       Tennessee

Arizona                                          Texas

California                                      Utah

Florida                                           Georgia

Idaho                                              Louisiana

Mississippi                                     Nevada

As of 7/8, since the start of this pandemic, we have had a total of 30 residents test positive with Covid-19. This is an increase of 0 since our last update.

We also have 8 employees who have tested positive since this pandemic started. Four have returned to work. The 4 remaining employees remain at home under quarantine.

Of the 30 residents:

·         20 Residents have recovered. This is an increase of 1 since our last update.

·         0 Residents currently in-house with positive Covid results. This is a decrease of 1 since our last update.

·         10 Residents expired and who had tested positive for Covid.

We have and will continue to test our residents, who show any signs/symptoms. We believe this is in the best interest of our community. While the vast majority of our test results have come back negative, we are still very vigilant in our focus to protect and ultimately mitigate this infection.   

The facility has been receiving calls regarding York County moving to a GREEN Zone and how this will affect visitation at the facility. All nursing homes are currently mandated by the Department of Health and the Commonwealth to maintain the current visitation restrictions.

We have received guidance from the Department of Health in regard to easing existing restrictions which includes visitation. The Department of Health has outlined a 3-Step process outlining prerequisites that must be met before easing of current restrictions can be considered. In summary, our facility must first show 14 consecutive days without a new Covid case before we can proceed through the 3-Step process. Once this has been achieved, the facility will have a plan in place to address the prerequisites dictated in the 3-step process. Visitation will be limited and restrictive compared to what we enjoyed prior to the pandemic. However, I believe any opportunity is a welcomed relief.

With that said, our facility will continue to test weekly until we have 14 consecutive days of no new on-set of Covid. Once this is achieved, we will then test every other week for precautionary purposes until at such time it is no longer deemed necessary.

As soon as we have a written plan to address the prerequisites, what current restrictions will be adjusted, and how those adjustments will be managed/orchestrated, we will share that with you.

In early April, we decided to implement isolation precautions on most all new on-set symptoms. We believe we are in a time when we cannot be too overly cautious in protecting our community. Resident and staff safety are our top priority.

We continue to exceed our staff levels throughout the facility to meet the needs of our community.

You can be proud of the staff at Hanover Hall and be assured that all our staff continue to report to work and perform with excellence. 

I know this continues to be a difficult time for everyone. We will continue to update you, as quickly as possible, with any updates and/or changes to our current situation.

Please know we continue to strictly adhere to all directives from the local and state health departments as well as the CDC.

We appreciate your continued prayers and trust in the care and services we provide and for your understanding and support of any necessary adjustments as this situation evolves.

Please feel free to contact me at 717-633-4520 with any questions or concerns. 

May God bless us all.

Respectfully,

Daniel Pyle, NHA

Administrator, Hanover Hall