Angels Senior Living is pleased to announce that we’re open to family members and loved ones looking to visit a resident in one of our communities. This has been a hard journey, and we’re ready for you to return. But, state of Florida guidelines require us to take a few steps to ensure our community is safe and you understand your obligations. Our staff has been working around the clock to bring you an easy-to-use system that emphasizes the safety of our residents, staff, and visitors. Please read the following carefully!
Understanding the state of Florida’s guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in assisted living facilities
The guidelines provided to us by the state of Florida are challenging, but we believe we’ve found a way to maximize your ability to visit your loved ones AND keep our community safe. First, it’s important to understand the three different types of visitors the state’s guidelines mention:
- Essential Caregivers, who provide health care services or assistance with activities of daily living and are included in a resident’s plan of care
- Compassionate Care Visitors, who are intended to provide emotional support to help a resident face a hard situation, such as the passing of a loved one or in our interpretation, COVID-19
- General Visitors, which are allowed to visit at the discretion of the community
We plan to use the General Visitor category at this time while providing you the appropriate training mandated by the state of Florida to ensure you can visit as a Compassionate Caregiver in the event of a general facility closure. This gives you the opportunity to visit our communities without requiring us to update resident plans of care, which is what the Essential Caregiver designation requires. It also allows us to provide you as much access to your loved one as possible, and let you focus on providing them with the emotional support they’ve sorely missed during this worldwide pandemic.
There are tradeoffs – sticking to general visitation means we can close our communities in the event of an outbreak for 14 days. But, by pursuing the Compassionate Caregiver designation, you will be able to visit your family member even in the event of an isolated outbreak so long as you meet our staff’s infection control and PPE requirements.
Other important state of Florida visiting guidelines to consider
There are a few other important notes to cover before you can start scheduling your visits.
- State of Florida guidelines also require us to limit the number of visitors in our communities to what our staff can handle
- We must perform symptom checks upon your arrival and conduct general supervision to ensure you adhere to PPE guidelines
- You must inform us if you have contracted COVID-19 or any signs or symptoms of COVID-19 throughout your visits
These requirements are tough but necessary to protect our communities. Let’s jump into how to schedule your visit.
How to get started and schedule your visit to see your loved one during COVID-19
To facilitate this process and let our staff focus on you, we’re rolling out an online booking portal that will allow you to select times to visit your loved ones. As part of the state of Florida’s guidelines, we are also requiring you to prepare for your visit with a short course on COVID-19, infection control, and PPE protocols. It’s a similar training to the ones we give our staff, who receive in-services every week to protect your loved ones. This training will also enable you to visit as either a General Visitor or Compassionate Caregiver, in the event we must close our facility due to an isolated case of COVID-19.
To book your visit and get started with your training, simply:
- Visit https://angelsseniorliving.com/visit-a-resident/
- After you choose your community, employee, and fill out the form, you will be emailed a link to our training portal, where you will log in, reset your password, and get started on your automatically enrolled course
- This course consists of education on infection control policies, state of Florida and Angels Senior Living guidelines, social distancing, PPE, and more
- The appointment you make will be automatically approved, but if you do not complete the course, you may be denied admission
- Special considerations are available on a case-by-case basis for visitors with no computer access or experience
- Please do not book too many appointments close together, or too far in advance, in consideration of other families – limiting yourself to three (3) is a good rule of thumb
Once you finish the course, you’ll be given a short, very easy quiz on the subject matter to confirm you understand your obligations to protect our community. Once you pass that quiz, you’ll receive a certificate that will also act as your consent form, which is also required by the state of Florida. Please bring this certificate with you on your first visit. Once you complete your course and quiz and get a certificate, your visits will be fully approved and you’ll be able to join us in our community.
Through this portal, you’ll be able to seamlessly book your visits in advance, reschedule your bookings, and learn more about what we’ll need from you to protect our residents, staff, and each other. We’ll communicate with you every step of the way so that you know when you’re ready to visit your loved one.
Please send any feedback or issues you run into with this booking system to (877) 480-2244 or [email protected]. This is designed to limit our visitors at any given time to what our staff can manage, and give you the information you need to help us protect our residents, your loved ones. It also enrolls you as a Compassionate Caregiver in the event of a facility closure. Updates about our COVID-19 response are available at AngelsSeniorLiving.com, including a detailed explanation of this system.