Dear Clients and Families,
As of yesterday, Friday, March 20th, Governor Cuomo has issued an executive order that effectively shuts all but essential businesses. Exempted are grocery stores, pharmacies, and other vital operations. The lockdown also requires all non-essential government and private-sector employees to work from home. The MTA will continue to run city subways, buses, Metro-North and Long Island Railroad trains.
We are an essential operation and are open and conducting business as close to normal as possible. We are making every effort to protect the well-being of all concerned and maintain our ability to provide exceptional client service while preserving the health and safety of our clients and our staff.
As VCP’s top priority is the health and safety of our clients, we wanted to connect with you on the coronavirus (COVID-19) and share with you protocols VCP is following. We recognize that our team serves a vulnerable population, and we take that privilege very seriously. Please note that none of our staff uses mass transit. To date, we have no known exposures to COVID-19 among our staff, clients, or client families.
As part of our standard operating procedures, VCP has emergency procedures in place for threats such as the one we currently face. In addition to these plans, we continue to actively monitor the recommendations and guidelines provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization, and our state and local departments of health.
We will stay in communication with you as any other pertinent information becomes available. We thank you for your assistance and the opportunity to serve you and your loved ones. If you should have any further questions, please feel free to reach out to our office at any time.
Please scroll down for other important topics:
Conducting Business and Serving Our Clients
Hygiene Precautions
Important Health Screening Questions
Planning Ahead – Especially for Aides
Link to CDC Website
Additional Reading - Isolation and Undiagnosed People
Conducting Business and Serving Our Clients:
Caring for you is our top priority. Our RN Advocates will continue to attend essential doctors’ appointments and most client hospitalizations.
We will be pausing non-essential client visits on a case-by-case basis for both clients living at home and in senior communities. This policy will be evaluated regularly, and non-essential home visits will resume once it has been deemed safe.
For clients that are concerned about their prescription medications being refilled, please contact RoseAnn Simeone, the VCP Client Coordinator at roseann.simeone@vitalcarepartners.com or directly at (718) 747-4715. She will work with your RN Advocate to develop a plan.
We are in contact with other service providers, including home care agencies and senior communities, to discuss their plans to address potential caregiver shortages. Currently, we are not seeing such shortages impact our clients and will be monitoring this subject on an ongoing basis.
Even as this situation forces us to cut back on in-person client contacts, all of us at VCP remain deeply committed to the health of each and every one of our clients and families. Should you have anything you would like to discuss or need extra help or reassurance, please contact VCP’s Client Coordinator, RoseAnn Simeone at roseann.simeone@vitalcarepartners.com or directly at (718) 747-4715.
Hygiene Precautions
Everyone must follow proper hygiene practices to prevent the spread of germs: *If you are sick, or if you know that you have been exposed to COVID-19, please self-isolate.
1. Handwashing for 30 seconds, especially after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing or having been in a public place. Using hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol content if soap and water are not available.
2. Avoiding crowds, especially poorly ventilated spaces, because the risk of exposure to respiratory viruses like COVID-19 may increase in crowded, closed-in settings with little air circulation if there are people in the crowd who are sick.
3. Avoid travel to areas with known cases of coronavirus, if at all possible. Otherwise, take the necessary basic precautions like wearing masks and gloves and practice handwashing as often as possible.
4. Avoid touching elevator buttons, door handles, handrails, handshaking with people in public places. Use a tissue, your sleeves or gloves to cover your finger or hand if you must touch something.
5. Wash your hands after touching surfaces in public places.
6. Wash your hands before touching your loved ones.
Important Health Screening Questions
In an abundance of caution, we have listed four brief questions below to aid us in the COVID-19 screening of all clients and caregivers. At your earliest convenience, please take a few minutes to complete the following:
Here is a simple screening questionnaire:
1. Have you returned from any of the following countries within the last 14 days (China, S. Korea, Japan, Italy, or Iran)?
2. Have you been in close contact with someone under investigation for, or a confirmed case of COVID-19 (Novel Coronavirus)?
3. Do you currently have a fever?
4. Do you currently have symptoms of lower respiratory illness (cough or shortness of breath)?
If YES to 1 or 2, you should self-isolate. The suggested time period is 14 days. If YES to 3 or 4, you should call your primary physician. See the testing facilities below.
Please note that, according to NYC DOHMH Advisory # 8, the State does not have enough tests, testing facilities, and healthcare workers and has been limiting those tested. We have heard anecdotally that most people with fevers under 100 degrees are not being tested and are being instructed to stay home.
Planning Ahead – Especially for Non-Family Caregivers/Aides
In the event of a curfew or other tactic whose purpose is to restrict travel to those individuals involved in the health field or are otherwise vital to the community, we suggest you always carry some form of the following documentation:
Government-issued photo ID (drivers’ license or passport),
Copy or photo of your home care license or other certification
Verification letter from your employer or client emphasizing your medical/healthcare-related need to be able to travel to/for your client. Please contact us if you would like assistance with this.
For family caregivers, please make sure to carry a government-issued photo ID.
Testing & Testing Facilities in the New York Area
If you wish to be tested, call the State of New York Coronavirus Hotline 24/7 at 1-888-364-3065 to make an appointment.
➢ Drive through testing sites are located at Jones Beach and on the grounds at Stony Brook University. New drive-through facilities were just opened in Jericho and Queens by ProHealth (Patients can call 516-874-0411 and speak with a medical professional for an evaluation. If they meet the criteria, they are scheduled through a digital booking system that connects directly with the clinicians on site.)
➢ Another testing site was just opened in the Brooklyn Hospital Center in the Fort Green section.
➢ NYC has just opened its first drive-through facility in Staten Island.
Link to CDC website
This situation is unprecedented and evolving quickly. Please seek information only from the most reliable sources such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html
Additional Reading - Isolation and Undiagnosed People
Isolation appears to be the best current method to limit the spread of the disease. Unfortunately, as referenced in the Science article below and referred to by the MedCram video, the primary cause of spreading the disease appears to come from those persons undiagnosed and not tested; those with often mild, limited, or no symptoms at all. Although less contagious, they unwittingly infected far more people. Hence the emphasis on isolation.
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2020/03/13/science.abb3221