Live Update to Residents – January 14, 2021
Today’s Live Update on our in-house TV970 covered the latest news at Westminster Canterbury Richmond. It featured Anita Adkins, Development Officer – Strategic Gifts & Special Projects; Windley Gravatt, Vice President Workforce Services; Whitney Woodruff, Manager Life Enrichment; and David Curtis, Chaplain. The next Live Update will be Tuesday, January 19.
The following updates were shared.
Anita Adkins
The Westminster Canterbury team, especially John Burns, Will Blackwell and Sloan Verlander, has been exploring every avenue to get vaccination for residents and employees as soon as possible. It has been a complicated, difficult process. The federal and state governments are taking steps to speed up the distribution of the vaccine. Our team members were on calls on Wednesday discussing the coming changes to the process, and we are all hopeful.
We have some good news to share with you today! Our partner for vaccination is CVS Health. They store the vaccine, schedule the dates and bring everything needed on vaccination days. For each person receiving the vaccine, there are two doses administered three weeks apart. Our first vaccination clinic was on January 4 and 5, with 461 vaccinations given. Our dates for the second dose are January 25-26. Some people will receive their first dose on January 25-26, so there will be a third vaccination clinic on February 15-16. CVS has confirmed that on February 15-16, we will also begin vaccinating Assisted and Independent Living.
Each resident will receive more specific instructions on how vaccination will work, such as what information and forms are needed, what time to come and more. The Resident Services team is working through those details for Independent Living now. We hope to share more information early next week. Assisted Living residents are also receiving more detailed information from Sloan Verlander. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we make those plans.
Our team continues to actively explore other ways to speed up the vaccination process for Westminster Canterbury Richmond so that residents could possibly be vaccinated prior to these confirmed February dates. We will share updates as soon as we can, but we hope you will share our excitement to have these dates confirmed.
Thank you to John Burns, Will Blackwell, Sloan Verlander and everyone else who is working so hard on our residents’ behalf.
COVID-19 Cases
We have no new cases to report since Monday! We continue testing Parsons Health Center employees twice weekly. Parsons Health Center residents are tested weekly.
One of the Parsons Health Center residents who was being cared for in the COVID-19 positive unit has recovered and returned to their apartment. There are currently four residents being cared for in the COVID-19 positive unit. One is from Independent Living, one from The Gables and two from Parsons Health Center.
A total of 15 employees have tested positive and are recovering in quarantine or are asymptomatic.
Communication
Watching the Live Updates each week and reading the memos that come out at least weekly are the best ways to stay up to date on our latest news. We remain committed to transparency about our efforts behind the scenes. We share new information as soon as we have it. Our Coronavirus Incident Command Team that has been working since March to navigate all the policy and protocol changes meets twice weekly, plus more as needed. They communicate with one another seven days a week to ensure we are meeting our community’s needs. The information we share comes directly from the work of this team and many others.
If residents, friends, neighbors or family members have questions or concerns, a Live Update is the best way to receive information straight from the source. Tune in live on TV970 or watch the recordings on Facebook, on the blog at wcrichmond.org, or rebroadcast on TV971 and the digital signs around campus three times daily. Written summaries are on the blog or via the Touchtown app.
Saturday Night Movie
We apologize that we are having continued challenges with the technology that runs our Saturday Night Movies. We are working with the vendor who makes this possible, and they are running a full diagnostic in hopes of explaining and fixing these problems that are beyond our control. We hope to have things up and running soon. The movie for this Saturday night has been cancelled. Thank you for your understanding and patience as our team works to find a solution.
Thank you so much for all you do to support our community through this time. Please continue wearing your mask, maintaining your social distance of six feet from others, avoiding gatherings and monitoring yourself for any COVID-19 symptoms. Reach out to your physician or the Clinic if you do not feel well.
Windley Gravatt
Workforce Services
I am here today to make a plea on behalf of all employees here at Westminster Canterbury. First, I want to acknowledge that nothing about this past year has been pleasant for you as residents. While we have tried our best to provide for you and make sure you have some joy, it has been a terribly rough year.
I also want to remind everyone that all of us are experiencing these difficult times. This pandemic has disrupted nearly everything. Like some of you, our employees have suffered terrible losses – of family members, of spouses’ employment, of financial stability and of co-workers. Yet, they come back and do their best for you each and every day.
Unfortunately, I frequently hear of residents and family members treating our employees poorly. This may be via email, a phone call or comments in the hallway. Many staff members have shed tears about this. We are all hurting and frustrated, but please consider how your comments may affect others. Please remember that our staff are part of the Westminster Canterbury family, just as our residents are.
If you are dissatisfied with a situation, please share your concerns in a courteous, appropriate manner with our Management Team. We ask that you make your requests with kindness and compassion in your hearts. Above all, treating one another with respect, according to The Westminster Canterbury Way, goes much further in keeping us all going during these challenging times.
We have been so grateful for the support and encouragement of so many of you throughout these difficult months. Your cards, notes, phone calls and gifts to the Employee Christmas Fund and Westminster Canterbury Foundation’s W·E·A·V·E Program have lifted us up when we needed it most. I ask that you stick with us and stay optimistic – we will get through this together!
Whitney Woodruff
You may recall many months ago, we asked residents to send us special recipes so we could compile a cookbook for Westminster Canterbury. Many of you responded. We are excited to let you know that the cookbooks have been published, and we have them available for purchase! The cost for a copy of Westminster Canterbury is Cooking! is $12, with all proceeds going to support Westminster Canterbury Foundation’s Annual Fellowship Fund.
Forms to purchase the cookbook are available at the Tower and Center Desks. Please return your completed form to one of the desks. We will begin distributing the cookbooks next week. The book contains both traditional and unique recipes, many accompanied by interesting stories of why the recipe is special to the contributor.
David Curtis
Evening Prayer takes place Monday through Friday, at 4:45 p.m. on TV970.
A Sermon for Every Sunday will air on Sunday, January 17, at 4 p.m. on TV970. It will feature Rev. Jim Somerville, Pastor at Richmond’s First Baptist Church. The Scripture text is FirstSamuel 3:1-10, portions of Psalm 139 and John 1:43-51. Rev. Somerville will discuss his own call story and how God calls us to respond to the Good News.
If you happen to miss the sermons, or would like to re-watch a sermon, you can do so online at www.asermonforeverysunday.com, or by searching under “Sermon for Every Sunday.”
We invite you to pray for the peaceful transition from one administration to another. Please consider praying at 9 a.m. or at 4 p.m., or both, when others are gathered in prayer on campus, using the Daily Prayer Booklets.
Psalm 121
I lift up my eyes to the hills—
from where will my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
He who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
The Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time on and for evermore.
Prayer
O God of peace, who taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and confidence shall be our strength: By the might of your Holy Spirit lift us, we pray, to your holy and life-giving presence, where we may be still and know that you are God. Amen.
“For Quiet Confidence,” Book of Common Prayer, page 832.