Dear Residents, Families and Staff,
As you know, last week we were alerted that a Madrona House resident tested positive for COVID. On Friday, 1/22, we completed the testing of 136 Madrona House staff and residents. The results were that we had eight additional assisted living residents and seven staff members at Madrona House test positive for COVID.
Of the ten COVID positive residents, three are currently asymptomatic, three have mild “cold-like” symptoms and four have increased weakness and lack of appetite but are currently stable and seem to be improving day by day.
Of our seven COVID positive staff, five are currently asymptomatic and two have almost fully recovered after having cold and flu-like symptoms. The loss of taste/smell is still mildly persisting in one of our staff.
Today we retested all Madrona House residents and staff. In addition, we tested all Wyatt House staff. On Wednesday, we will test Wyatt House residents and all Madison House staff and residents.
We will send results of today’s testing out by end of day tomorrow. The University of Washington lab is reliably fast, to which we are incredibly thankful. Per the Kitsap Department of Health’s recommendation, The Madrona House will continue to test residents and staff every 3-5 days until we have 14 days of negative results.
The Madrona House staff has truly risen to the challenge. We are able to fully staff with everyone pitching in and having a great attitude despite the obvious stress and challenges in front of them. In the case we need additional support as the week continues, we have partnered with agency staffing and have them on standby.
All COVID positive residents received the vaccine on 1/9/2021. As of 1/16/2021 all residents of Madrona have received their first dose of the vaccine.
We received a lot of questions about vaccination of staff after the email I sent out on Saturday and I apologize for the confusion. Please be aware that we currently have 70% of our eligible staff vaccinated with at least one dose, and 50% of our staff has now received the second dose. Bainbridge Senior Living chose to make vaccination a choice, instead of a mandate, in the hopes that staff would rise to the occasion. While we have over a dozen staff now lined up for vaccines, we are waiting for more appointments to open up. We are optimistic that we can get 90% staff participation before the end of February.
We are keeping Wyatt House and Madison House on our active COVID protocol. Saturday Wyatt House confirmed that a staff member who worked Monday, Tuesday and Friday of last week has tested positive for COVID. This staff member did not have any direct contact with Wyatt House residents but worked closely with our nursing and administration team. The three staff members this person worked with tested negative Friday and they were retested again today.
Madison House is the lowest risk of our three houses but we have chosen to stay in our active protocol out of an abundance of caution. Thank you for your understanding and support.
With Gratitude,
