COVID-19 FAQ

Since the first reports of the COVID-19 virus, Inspired Living has been working hard to ensure that we are prepared. Inspired Living’s number one priority is the health and safety of our residents, patients and associates.

As we navigate through this difficult time, we have been in regular communication with our residents and families, providing updates and bulletins about the steps we are taking to protect and safeguard our resident.  We understand there is concern, so we provide the following frequently asked questions to address how we are working to safeguard our treasured residents at Inspired Living.

These questions and answers will be amended and updated as we have new questions arise and new developments during the pandemic.

Inspired Living COVID-19 FAQ:

What is the primary method of communication from Inspired Living and how often will I receive updates?

During this time, we continue to use our call system to communicate with all residents and families of Inspired Living. This system allows us to deliver information quickly to all. In addition, please like our Facebook page (Inspired Living – _______) and watch for daily posts.  There you will see what is happening inside our community, such as resident activities, daily menus and current events.  

The phone numbers you provided when your loved one moved into an Inspired Living community is what is in our call system.  Additional phone numbers can be added upon request, see below:  

Currently, you can expect to receive updates every Tuesday and Friday afternoon about the status of the community and its residents. But know, additional calls will be made when needed.

How do I get on the list if I am not receiving updates?

Our call system is prepopulated with the phone numbers you provided when your loved one moved into an Inspired Living community. Additional phone numbers can been added upon request.

Please email your request with the needed information listed below.  We will add those phone numbers to our call system once confirming approval from your loved one and/or your loved one’s responsible party. 

When you request being added to the call system, please email the following information to marketing@validusseniorliving.com:

1. The Inspired Living community where your loved one resides
2. The full name of your loved one
3. Your full name and relationship to our community’s resident
4. Your phone number

What if I want to visit a resident in one of your communities?  Bring them something?

Currently, no visitors are allowed inside our Inspired Living communities.

If you do have something that you would like delivered to your loved one, we ask that you leave items for residents outside the community front door, under the porte-cochere.  You can also pull up and call us to allow us to retrieve the items from you.  This allows us to conserve protective wear and equipment.  We will ensure the items are sanitized properly prior to bringing them into the community.

Are our parents able to leave now and stay with us if they wish? Will there be a point when they legally will not be able to leave?

Depending on the state, you may/may not be able to take your loved one out of the community to home.  Please consider, if you do take your parent home, we cannot guarantee when you will be able to bring them back into the community.  Residents that do leave will need to remain out of the community until visitor restrictions are lifted or the State Department of Health and CDC provides further specific guidance on timeline for such. You will want to consider the potential of having to manage for your loved one’s care for several weeks if you decide to remove them from the community.

For residents/families in Dallas County, Texas:  Residents are required to test negative before leaving a community to go home with family.  This, as you can imagine has caused a lot of confusion because the testing situation is very limited in availability. 

Will we be notified if our loved one is showing signs of the virus?

As with any issue that might arise with your loved one during normal operations, we will notify you immediately if there are any issues – including if we identify symptoms and/or we transport your loved one to the hospital.

What is the difference between Quarantine and Shelter in Place? Are residents allowed to leave their rooms?

1. Quarantine in our vocabulary mean the residents are directed to stay in their apartments for their own health. They need to have permission to exit their apartment.
2. Shelter in Place – In our vocabulary, this means residents have the option of coming out of their room when they want to, but all meals will be served in room. (Communal dining has been identified as the primary exposure in resident-resident transmission).

Residents can leave their rooms unless we have communicated directly to you (via a phone call update) otherwise. 

If we have a presumptive positive case or a resident that is transported to the hospital with COVID-19 symptoms, we are asking residents to stay in their room until we get a cleared test. Any resident who exhibits any sign or symptoms or any real change in condition is being asked to isolate while we contact the physician and have the resident evaluated to go to the hospital.   Inspired Living is using telemedicine in our communities, virtually connecting the residents to their physicians where appropriate.

We recognize isolating residents is a painful and lonely situation and are doing everything in our power to avoid having to isolate residents.  This includes but not limited to having small groups at a time come out where they can socialize (6 feet apart) and getting exercise and fresh air as much as possible.

What is Inspired Living doing to manage and answer resident and associate questions and concerns?

Open communication is important; therefore, we are providing regular updates to all residents and their families at all our communities. Each Inspired Living community is updating families minimally twice a week.  

In addition, please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions, needs, concerns or ideas. Our local Inspired Living teams will provide answers to questions but know that their priority is to ensure the safety and comfort of our residents. As such we also ask that you send items to communications@validusseniorliving.com so that we can respond to your needs.

We have a full team working to provide updates to families when our local communities are working hard in our communities.

What is the status of testing residents for COVID-19?

Inspired Living’s team members are working in consultation each state’s Department of Health. In addition, we follow the continued guidance and updated from the CDC.

To date, all testing has been completed at the hospital and/or a doctor’s office. Following with all CDC and state guidelines, the testing process is handled on a case-by-case basis. CDC has guidance for who should be tested, but decisions about testing are at the discretion of state and local health departments and/or individual physicians and clinicians.

For additional information, please visit the CDC’s website at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/testing.html

To give you more insight, we would like to share the reasons why we believe the CDC guidance is as such.

1. The testing process is complex and uncomfortable, and some say is quite painful.
2. The test is not easily administered.  In order to ensure a confidence of a correctly administered test, the person giving the test must be a trained clinician and must have an order from a physician. 
3. The tests themselves and the materials needed are in short supply and should be reserved for those most in need. 
4. The person giving the test must have full protective wear on, must change between testing individuals and risks exposing themselves or others between testing.

What is the criterion or trigger for ordering Copvid-19 tests for the entire facility?

Inspired Living clinicians are working directly with each state’s Department of Health and following the guidance of the CDC.  We have heard of a very few specific situations in other states where every resident or staff was tested.  In those cases, testing was ordered and administered by the Department of Health. 

The CDC guidance is specific that clinicians should use their judgment to determine if a patient has signs and symptoms compatible with COVID-19 and whether the patient should be tested.

More information on the guidance the CDC has developed for clinicians regarding testing can be reviewed here: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/clinical-criteria.html

To date, all testing of Inspired Living residents has been completed at the hospital or a doctor’s office when the symptoms appear that provide the guidance to test. 

Inspired Living has contacted the Department of Health in each state where we operate to get additional information on the testing process.  The response from the Health Department:

Not everyone needs to be tested for COVID-19. Here is some information that might help in making decisions about seeking care or testing.

•              Most people have mild illness and can recover at home.

•              There is no treatment specifically approved for this virus.

There’s also the problem of interpreting testing everyone, which is simply a point prevalence/cross-sectional view of what’s happening at the time those swabs were collected. Point prevalence testing doesn’t inform the future, meaning it does not provide information on patients’ likelihood of acquiring the virus later. Here’s the definition of point prevalence from CDC: “Number of current cases (new and preexisting) at a specified point in time.”

What is a considered a coronavirus cluster?

Each state’s Department of Health is maintaining the most up-to-date data on the COVID-19 virus. One of the terms that has been used throughout is “cluster.” The state agencies have defined a cluster as two or more cases originating in one location. Therefore, any community with two or more presumed positive COVID-19 cases that originated from that location is deemed a cluster. The positive COVID-19 cases do not need to be in/at the community for such designation. Therefore, if two residents are transported to the hospital, remain at the hospital and test positive for COVID-19, the originating community will be deemed a cluster.

In the event of a resident(s) contracting Covid-19, are there plans to set up an isolation wing/unit? If so, where will that be?
Inspired Living Communities are licensed assisted living communities.  Many of our communities are purpose-built memory care units.  At this time, if a resident is symptomatic, they are being sent to the hospital and the hospitals have been willing and able to manage the case load.  

If not, does each room have a separate viral filtration system? Is there protection to prevent room-to-room airborne transmission? If not, what information guides this decision?

Inspired Living Communities are licensed assisted living communities. Each resident apartment has its own air-conditioning unit and filter system.  Common areas are heated and cooled from joint units that are usually on the roof of our communities.  This is one of the reasons isolating residents to their apartments, while inconvenient and difficult, is the best way to reduce transmission.

What is a presumed positive COVID-19 resident?

The CDC has three levels to classify a potential case of COVID-19:

Person Under Investigation (PUI): Any person who is under investigation for having the virus that causes COVID-19, or who was under investigation but tested negative for the virus.

Presumptive (Presumed) Positive case of COVID-19: Anyone who has tested positive for the virus, but testing was conducted at the local or state level. This means it is was not conducted by the CDC. Currently, presumptive positive cases must have sample undergo confirmatory testing at the CDC.

Note: In some instances, Inspired Living is considering a resident “presumed positive” who has not actually been tested. If a resident has been in the hospital or had potential exposure, we are asking residents to self-quarantine and “presume a positive test” for 14 days. 

Laboratory-confirmed case of COVID-19: Anyone who has tested positive for the virus at the CDC laboratory.

Coronavirus cases reported to the CDC include both CDC-confirmed cases and presumptive positive cases reported by the states.

Will staff caring for “presumptive” + cases also care for other residents? Or will that staff be dedicated to presumptive + residents?

In cases where there could have been exposure to a possible, presumed or confirmed positive COVID-19 resident,  Inspired Living will limit the staff who are in contact with the resident with the goal of having only licensed nurses interacting with them at the community. This step ensures a qualified and trained person is prepared with protective wear. 

If some residents are in hospitals, then there must be more with symptoms in the facility. Can you tell identify where symptomatic residents live or who they are?

For our residents and your loved one’s privacy/protection- we cannot disclose who is symptomatic or who has been tested or the results of those tests.

We are VIGILANTLY protecting all our residents. We have added several measures outlined below. If any resident shows mild symptoms, we are contacting their physician for guidance / transport to the hospital. 

The precautions and steps that we continue to perform throughout our Inspired Living communities to keep your loved one safe are:

1. All residents remain in their apartments. 
   1. If a community has been designated “in Quarantine,” residents are restricted to their apartments except for scheduled outings (where in an organized fashion we can maintain a safe distance and get fresh air and exercise). 
   2. If the community has been designated “Shelter in Place,” we are recommending residents stay in apartment and dining will commence in their apartment, but residents are free to exit and self-monitor social distancing.
2. Assisted Living Residents have discontinued community dining and serving meals to residents in their room utilizing disposable materials.
3. For our memory care community, we have implemented “wave dining” where less than 10 residents at a time are eating in the dining room. This provides normalcy in their dining habits but maintains social distancing methods.
4. We have implemented heighted awareness and monitoring of residents and staff for signs or symptoms of infection, including daily temperature checks of all.
5. All staff wear facemasks and we have additional protection equipment to be used as needed.
6. We developed strict protocols for the handling of food, supplies, equipment and medications.
7. The community is constantly monitored, cleaned, scrubbed and sanitized in accordance with CDC guidance ensuring the cleanest and safest possible environment for our residents and team.
8. We have trained team members for following CDC recommendations to prevent the spread of COVID-19, focusing on proper handwashing, housekeeping, and disinfecting.

Do you believe testing and EMT response will be easier from the facility, than if we take them home?

We cannot predict if/ when EMT response will be at your home as compared to our community. 

What preventative measures does Inspired Living have in place?

Our Inspired Living communities have taken numerous measures to protect our residents including heightened resident and staff monitoring and social distancing of all. The precautions and steps that we continue to perform throughout our Inspired Living communities to keep your loved one safe are:
 

1. All residents remain in their apartments. 
   1. If a community has been designated “in Quarantine,” residents are restricted to their apartments except for scheduled outings (where in an organized fashion, we can maintain a safe distance and get fresh air and exercise). 
   2. If the community has been designated “Shelter in Place,” we are recommending residents stay in apartment and dining will commence in their apartment, but residents are free to exit and self-monitor social distancing.
2. Assisted Living has discontinued community dining and serving meals to residents in their room utilizing disposable materials.
3. Memory Care communities have implemented “wave dining” where less than 10 residents at a time are eating in the dining room. This provides normalcy in their dining habits but maintains social distancing methods.
4. We have implemented heighted awareness and monitoring of residents and staff for signs or symptoms of infection, including daily temperature checks of all.
5. All staff wear facemasks in the community. And we have additional protection equipment to be used as needed.
6. We developed strict protocols for the handling of food, supplies, equipment and medications.
7. The community is constantly monitored, cleaned, scrubbed and sanitized in accordance with CDC guidance ensuring the cleanest and safest possible environment for our residents and team.
8. We have trained team members for following CDC recommendations to prevent the spread of COVID-19, focusing on proper handwashing, housekeeping, and disinfecting.

What is Inspired Living doing if a resident or team member is showing symptoms of COVID-19?

Any resident who exhibits any sign or symptoms or any real change in condition is being asked to isolate while we contact the physician and have the resident evaluated to go to the hospital.   Inspired Living is using telemedicine in our communities, virtually connecting the residents to their physicians where appropriate.

Any staff that exhibits any sign or symptoms, or informs us for symptoms, are removed from service in the community. Staff who are ill are not allowed to come to the community. If staff reports to the community exhibiting symptoms, the staff member is sent home immediately.

We also follow the CDC guideline for staff to return to the community, which can be reviewed here:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/healthcare-facilities/hcp-return-work.html

Is Inspired Living conducting tours? Accepting move-ins?

Inspired Living communities are offering virtual and skype tours at this time.  We have also created detailed presentations and videos to support educating families on our services and amenities without having to unnecessarily expose residents or staff to inquiries.

Our dedicated associates are also available to deliver a meal to prospective residents / families on a case by case basis by reservation and as availability permits.

We are VIGILENTLY protecting our staff and residents while balancing our call to serve. 

Communities who are sheltering in place have strict protocols for accepting move-ins.  These include passing all the screening measures recommended by CDC and additionally require a negative COVID -19 test or voluntary isolation for 14 days. We are also requiring residents to use our furnishings which have been disinfected with approved chemicals.  Any deviation from the guidelines must be approved by a senior leader in the company. Communities under quarantine or with any suspected or presumptive positive case have suspended move ins indefinitely.