Live Update to Residents-January 19, 2021
Today’s Live Update on our in-house TV970 covered the latest news at Westminster Canterbury Richmond. It featured Sloan Verlander, Administrator Assisted Living; Debra Jacobsen, Administrator Residential Living; Tom Henning, Director Construction Management; and Lynn McClintock, Director Pastoral Care. The next Live Update will be Thursday, January 21.
The following updates were shared.
Sloan Verlander
COVID-19 Update
We have good news to report on our employee cases of COVID-19. Last week, we reported that a total of 15 employees had tested positive and were recovering. As of today, many have recovered and returned to work. Yesterday, we learned that a Security employee has tested positive for COVID-19. Currently, six employees are recovering off campus in quarantine. Many of our employees have begun their vaccination process. We encourage all employees who did not get their first dose already to join the vaccination clinic coming up next week.
On Friday, we shared that two additional Mary Morton Parsons Health Center Third Floor residents tested positive for COVID-19 and moved to the COVID-19 positive unit. We are very happy to report that two residents who were being cared for in the COVID-19 positive unit returned home yesterday and over the weekend. Only three residents remain in the COVID-19 positive unit.
Sadly, one of our Parsons Health Center residents who tested positive for COVID-19 has passed away. Please keep the family in your thoughts and prayers.
Vaccination
I am working directly with the region captain for CVS Health to confirm Westminster Canterbury’s next steps in vaccination.
Our next vaccination clinics are Monday and Tuesday, January 25-26. Over these two days, the Parsons Health Center residents and employees who received their first dose on January 4-5 will receive their second doses. There will also be an opportunity for employees who did not receive a first dose previously to begin their vaccination.
In a change, Assisted Living residents will be vaccinated on Tuesday, January 26. CVS Health is following the guidance provided to the Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program, which activated vaccination for skilled nursing facilities on December 28 and for Assisted Living on January 11. We are still planning for Independent Living residents to begin vaccination on February 15 and 16. We continue to seek ways for our Independent Living residents to be vaccinated sooner if possible, but we are making sure we will be ready for the February dates. Assisted Living residents will receive instructions and the necessary forms to complete for their vaccination.
Thank you so much for all your patience and understanding as we continue to work through these next steps.
Debra Jacobsen
Independent Living Vaccination
We are grateful for Sloan’s dedication and hard work ensuring that our vaccination processes go smoothly.
Some residents have asked questions about getting vaccinated somewhere else. If a resident pursues vaccination outside of Westminster Canterbury, they will need to commit to completing their two-dose series with that provider. Vaccination is being traced through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), so it is important to obtain both doses from the same provider. Residents will not be able to receive a second dose at the February 15-16 vaccination clinics if they have opted to get an earlier first dose outside of Westminster Canterbury.
The Resident Services office is working on all the details for the Independent Living vaccination. Residents will need to fill out a vaccination consent form, which will be put in mailboxes closer to the vaccination dates. If assistance is needed in completing the forms, we will have some scheduled times available for residents to receive help from a staff member. We will publicize those dates soon.
On the vaccination clinic days, each area of Independent Living will have a scheduled time to help manage the number of residents in the area at any one time and to maintain social distancing. There will be some flexibility for those residents who may already have other appointments scheduled on those days. There will be an area to wait for registration. Vaccination will take place in the Commons. Each person will need to stay in the Commons for 15 minutes after their vaccination.
We promise to provide more information as we receive it and appreciate all your support and understanding.
WHO KNEW!
Our next WHO KNEW! Series will air Wednesday, January 20, on TV970 at 3 p.m. In this series, a resident is interviewed with the chance for residents to phone in questions, live, at the end of the interview. Bob Clewell will interview Dr. Sam Fuller, a plastic surgeon who for 31 years participated in Operation Smile, traveling to more than twenty countries. Call ext. 6319 with your questions for Sam at the end of the interview. This line will only be available during the program.
Cookbook
The cookbook compiled from your recipes is 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. There is also a copy of the book at each desk for you to preview. Please return your completed form to one of the desks. The book contains both traditional and unique recipes, many accompanied by interesting stories of why the recipe is special to the contributor.
Tom Henning
Tower Lounges and Hallways
We will begin the demolition work of the Tower lounge bathrooms on Monday, January 25, 2021, on the Second, Third, Fourth and Seventh Floors. This will be the start of the lounge renovations on the remaining floors of the Tower. We will begin the lounge renovations on the Seventh Floor and work downward. Along with this renovation, we will also begin the new corridor finishes starting on the Seventh Floor and continuing down to the Sixth, Fourth andThird Floors. The First Floor will have a hallway renovation. The new lighting installation is ongoing now for the corridors, and we should be completed with this work later this week.
Contractor Safety Processes
We will continue to have the contractor escort process in place to ensure contractors are properly spaced from residents while delivering materials to the project and moving trash to the dumpsters. The escorts are also responsible for contractors’ compliance with our rules about mask wearing and required screening. Contractors are screened when they arrive here at the beginning of each day and each time they return to campus after leaving during the day. Contractors will receive a colored wrist band every time they are screened throughout each day.
Tower Hot Water Shutoff
There will be a brief hot water shutoff affecting the entire Tower. This is essential to complete some important repairs. The shutoff will take place on Tuesday, January 26, beginning at 10 p.m. We anticipate hot water to be restored by 5 a.m. We appreciate your patience as we make this improvement.
Tower Laundry Room Renovations
We are planning for the laundry rooms on Tower Floors 8, 6, 4 and 2 to close temporarily for complete remodeling. The remaining laundry rooms on Floors 7, 5, 3 and 1 will remain operational until the renovations are complete. Next week, we will share further information about the schedule for this work.
Avalon
Avalon Fourth Floor upgrades to the Quiet Room and Theater Room will begin on Monday, January 25, 2021. We anticipate this project will be completed in April.
Avalon Second Floor dining upgrades have been completed. We have also refreshed the office space across the hall from the Avalon dining rooms, including new paint and carpet.
Apartment Renovations
We have ongoing apartment renovations in the Tower, Courtyard and Homes on the Green. The demolition work will only be during the hours of 9 a.m. – noon and 2 to 4 p.m., Monday – Friday. Noise should be minimal at other times. Please contact Tom at ext. 6033 immediately if there is any noise issue outside of these times.
We have begun to have project kickoff meetings via Zoom and Microsoft Teams video conferencing programs, to avoid large group gatherings for project tours and kickoff events.
Please contact Tom at any time with any questions or concerns.
Lynn McClintock
Isaiah 40:1-9
Comfort, O comfort my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that she has served her term,
that her penalty is paid,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.
A voice cries out:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
A voice says, “Cry out!”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
All people are grass,
their constancy is like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower fades,
when the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
surely the people are grass.
The grass withers, the flower fades;
but the word of our God will stand forever.
Get you up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good tidings;
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings,
lift it up, do not fear;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
Prayer
Gracious and reconciling God, we come before you in a spirit of humility. We know we have much for which to repent—and as your beloved children we know we have great reason to hope in your abundant mercy. We pray that you will help us work towards a society where everyone can live in abundance—free from discrimination, racism, hatred, bias, division and rejection of your love. Help us to work for a world where faith, hope and love do not bring eye rolls on the part of the cynical, but where faith, hope and love become the pervasive forces that guide us in our corporate and individual lives.
We pray for peace and protection to cover the inauguration tomorrow. May violence be absent. While we are sad of the degree of military presence required, we pray that you will keep our military, our lawmakers and their families safe. May the peaceful transfer of power, which is a hallmark of our national identity and political process, be achieved. We pray for President Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice-President Elect Kamala Harris—may tomorrow be a day where they turn to you in thanks for the opportunities they have been given to serve our country.
We need your guidance and prayers now more than ever as we go forward. We need your wisdom and encouragement. We need your peace and vision. Help us to listen to people who have different views than ours. Help us to step back before we pass judgment and to consider how others might be experiencing life. Help us to rely on you when we feel threatened or paralyzed by fear—that you are indeed with us.
You lift us up. You make straight our crooked paths and you even out the road before us. You have shown us the way of peace, challenging as it is, and you have promised to be with us as we work to bring about your kingdom here on earth. Bring us up to that high mountain, where we can see the world as you would have it—remove our blinders that trick us into thinking that what we will see is only what we want to see—restricted by our opinions, peppered with self-righteousness and limited by our blindness. Open our eyes, free our imagination, harness our fear, unleash our strength—so that we can turn to those around us and not say, “Here is the world that I want…” but rather, “Here is our God! And here…is God’s world.” We praise you, ever-living and all-loving God, that you have invited us to be co-creators of that world with you—one that we may have trouble imagining, one that we certainly do not deserve, but one that is promised to us, nonetheless, not because of who we are, but because of who you are. Amen.