Last Updated: March 25, 2020, 9:00am

To Our Valued Individuals, Employees, and Family and Community Members:

The health, safety, and wellness of the individuals we are privileged to serve, as well as our dedicated employees who are devoted to providing the highest quality of care, is of the utmost importance to Passavant Memorial Homes Family of Services (PMHFOS).  Due to increasing precautions for COVID-19, and per the recommendations of federal and state regulatory entities, PMHFOS is taking preventative measures to proactively protect the PMHFOS Community.

To date, actions by PMHFOS have included the following:

  • PMHFOS has ensured all applicable policies are reflective of federal and state regulatory guidelines in relation to COVID-19.
  • In addition to employees’ regularly-scheduled trainings, all PMHFOS employees received additional training in February via the electronic learning management system utilized by PMHFOS, regarding COVID-19 information issued by the White House Coronavirus Task Force, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services Office of Developmental Programs, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
  • In March, all PMHFOS employees received an internal memorandum further educating staff on infection control procedures, as well as training regarding applicable PMHFOS policies and best practices for infection control and prevention.
  • An internal PMHFOS cross-departmental committee has been formed to develop and implement a comprehensive preparedness plan and provide relevant communications.
  • A PMHFOS COVID-19 Preparedness Line (1-888-764-6467 ext. 699 or 412-820-1010 ext. 699) has been established to answer any questions and streamline communications.
  • PMHFOS is utilizing our secure internal employee notification system, Omnilert, as an additional communication channel for employee notifications related to COVID-19.
  • Effective end of day on Thursday, March 12, 2020, all PMHFOS Vocational and Employment Center (VEC) Programs and Senior Center Programs have been closed until further notice, and affected employees are following established procedures for continued job responsibilities.
  • The Passavant Memorial Homes Foundation Benefit Bash, which was scheduled for April, was cancelled on Thursday, March 12, 2020.
  • Effective 8:00am on Friday, March 13, 2020, all Passavant Memorial Homes (PMH) residential service locations and programs have been grounded. A corresponding alert through the PMHFOS internal notification system, Omnilert, was subsequently issued to employees, and local news stations were contacted to provide this information to the community.
  • COVID-19 Preparedness Kits have been provided to all PMH residential service locations.
  • Additional supplies have been secured by PMHFOS for ongoing replenishment of preparedness resources.
  • Printed educational materials, including the informational poster called “Protect Yourself and Others from COVID-19” which is shown below, have been delivered and posted to at all PMH residential service locations.
  • Unnecessary outings for all individuals, including, and especially, those who may be at high-risk have been limited.
  • Effective Friday, March 13, 2020, community-based services and activities within PMH’s Home and Community Services Program have been ceased until further notice.
  • Visitation to all individuals served by PMH has been limited to necessary visitation only.
  • All family members of individuals served by PMH have been contacted regarding the status of PMHFOS’s preparedness for COVID-19.
  • Control and response protocols have been refined, utilizing current guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
  • PMHFOS has provided the option for all employment applicants to schedule and complete phone and video interviews.
  • All appointments for Accessible Dental Services have been cancelled until further notice.
  • Effective Friday, March 13, 2020, all Life Enrichment Trust staff have been instructed to continue working remotely.
  • All non-essential internal employee meetings have been limited and replaced with the use of conference calls and virtual meetings.
  • Enhanced COVID-19 Preparedness Kits have been assembled and distributed to provide personal protective equipment and temporal thermometers to all residential service locations.
  • A communication has been provided to employees that includes guidance and safety protocols related to the use of the Enhanced COVID-19 Preparedness Kits. A poster titled “Follow the F.A.C.T.S. to Protect Our Individuals” was created to provide a concise infographic discussing the updated precautions related to COVID-19. A training video was also created to highlight the vital role our employees play in ensuring the health, safety, and wellness of the individuals we serve and stressing the need for adherence to the updated protocols.
  • PMH implemented protocols limiting employees wearing shoes within the residential service locations. Employees must either remove their shoes prior to entering the residential service location or change into another clean pair of shoes and use shoe covers. These protocols limit the exposure from items tracked into the residential service location on shoes.
  • Effective March 16, 2020, communication protocols related to COVID-19 have been implemented onto our CareTracker platform. These protocols ensure that employees are reporting daily to management on any concerns related to COVID-19. A communication has been provided to employees regarding the implementation of this communication protocol, as well as a training on our electronic learning management system.
  • All PMH grocery purchases (food, drink, cleaning products, hygiene products, pet supplies, etc.) have been centralized in order to limit the amount of employee exposure and to implement a comprehensive and consistent grocery distribution process.
  • PMHFOS has and will continue to monitor updates from federal and state entities relating to COVID-19 to confirm ongoing adherence.

Additional resources regarding COVID-19 can be found on the CDC website (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html) and on the Pennsylvania Department of Health website (https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/disease/Pages/Coronavirus.aspx).

PMHFOS will be providing additional information regarding other precautions and safety measures on this webpage.  For any questions related to PMHFOS and COVID-19 preparedness, please contact the PMHFOS COVID-19 Preparedness Line at 1-888-764-6467 ext. 699 or 412-820-1010 ext. 699.

 

PMHFOS COVID-19 Precation Poster

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