CMS Announces Visitation Updates

Dear residents and families,

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently updated their nursing home guidance and visitation guidelines. We are excited to about the new changes and know this is welcome news for our residents and families. As you know we are working diligently toward an opening plan that creates a safer environment for everyone. Based on the CMS guidelines we can now implement the following:

PVN will allow responsible indoor visitation at all times and for all residents, regardless of vaccination status of the resident, or visitor, unless certain scenarios arise that would limit visitation:

If Dallas County positivity rate is greater than 10 % AND less than 70% of the skilled nursing residents are vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus indoor visitation will be restricted to essential caregivers for unvaccinated residents

The new guidance also states that:        

  • Unvaccinated residents that are admitted to skilled nursing will be required to quarantine and visitation will be restricted to essential caregivers until the resident has met criteria for release from quarantine
  • Visitors may go to a resident’s room or a designated visiting area for visitations only
  • Residents can have close contact with family members, such as hugging, hand holding, etc. as long as both parties are wearing a mask and hand hygiene is performed afterward
  • If a new case of COVID-19 is identified among residents or staff, the nursing facility will immediately begin outbreak testing and suspend all visitation until at least one round of community-wide testing is completed
  • Visits for compassionate care, such as an end-of-life situation or a residents in decline or distress should be allowed at all times for any resident (vaccinated or unvaccinated), regardless of the above scenarios
  • Outdoor visitation is still the safest and preferred method of visitation.
  • A vaccinated resident refers to a resident who is 14 days past their second vaccination.

As always, we will continue our measured approach to infection control. As such, during visitations we will continue to follow mask and social distancing requirements. PVN will continually monitor the number of visitors per resident at one time as well as the total number of visitors in the community to maintain optimal infection prevention and control. We appreciate your patience and cooperation as we develop the processes and procedures to implement these new guidelines. For questions, please email me at jwatson@forefrontliving.org.

Sincerely,

Joni Watson
Director of Healthcare Operations