Dear Family and Friends,

As of today, we have no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in our care center. Our care center continues to test staff weekly. We will continue to test staff and residents weekly until we have 2 weeks of all negatives.  We are following recommendations from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

This week’s results:

Please be patient about changes in safety protocols as vaccinations roll out across Minnesota. Even though the vaccine is here, the virus is still being transmitted throughout our state and we need to continue to be cautious to protect the health and well-being of residents and staff.

Until we receive updated guidance from the State, we ask that everyone, even those not connected directly with our care center, continue infection prevention and control practices. Please wear a mask, wash your hands, don’t touch your face when you’re out and stay home if you’re feeling sick.  These measures will help keep the positivity rate low and allow our care center to host safe and socially distanced visitation for residents.

Looking for ways to help? We have a variety of positions available with flexible scheduling and on the job training. For more information or to apply, visit www.jobswithus.org.

Please follow our Facebook page (@Browns Valley Health Center) or our website (www.sfhs.org) for all COVID updates and information on what is happening inside our care center. Please do not hesitate to reach out to Autumn Herzog, Administrator, at 320-695-2165 or by email at aherzog@bvhc.sfhs.org if you have any questions or concerns.

Dear Family and Friends,

As of today, we have no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in our care center. Our care center continues to test staff weekly. We will continue to test staff and residents weekly until we have 2 weeks of all negatives.  We are following recommendations from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

This week’s results:

We are bringing in the New Year with new hope and excitement. We will administer our first doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in our care center. Our next vaccine clinic will be on 01/12/2021. Carol Ziemer, NAR/TMA/ET,  who has been eagerly awaiting the COVID-19 vaccine says, “I am excited to get the vaccine as then I will protect my family and myself while also protecting the vulnerable population I care for every day. I am also looking forward to seeing the residents I care for able to reunite with their families.”

We have prepared a Frequently Asked Questions to help you understand why the vaccine is so important in defeating COVID-19. You can find this along with the Moderna Fact Sheet, on our website at sfhs.org/resources/covid-19/. If you have any other concerns or questions, please contact Autumn Herzog, Administrator.

We will continue following our infection prevention and control practices along with the latest guidance from MDH and CDC regarding safe visiting for our residents. As of today, our care center plans to open for indoor visits on 1/21/2021. We will continue regular communication with our residents, friends and family on our COVID response, visitation guidelines and testing results.

Looking for ways to help? We have a variety of positions available with flexible scheduling and on the job training. For more information or to apply, visit www.jobswithus.org.

Please follow our Facebook page (@Browns Valley Health Center) or our website (www.sfhs.org) for all COVID updates and information on what is happening inside our care center. Please do not hesitate to reach out to Autumn Herzog, Administrator, at 320-695-2165 or by email at aherzog@bvhc.sfhs.org if you have any questions or concerns.

Dear Community Members,

Although not unexpected, today 12/31/20 we have been notified of 1 positive staff member of Coronavirus (COVID-19) that got tested outside of our routine testing. This employee has not worked in the last several days and is currently self-quarantining at home. Due to the active cases of COVID in our community we continue to limit visits to closed window and virtual visits. We will continue entire site testing until we have 2 weeks of negatives, we will complete point prevalence testing (staff and residents) on 01/05/2020.

We are taking aggressive infection control measures which we believe will help us manage this situation as effectively as possible. We are working with the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) to ensure we are taking all appropriate steps. In addition, we are following recommended COVID-19 guidance from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service (CMS) and the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) to protect our residents and staff from this virus and will continue to take every action possible to prevent it from spreading in our setting.

We will continue to update you on any news, emerging issues, or additional changes in our operations via Bright Arrow, email, website, and our Facebook page. We appreciate all the support, prayers, and offers of help that we’ve received.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions or concerns. Autumn Herzog, LNHAAdministrator320-695-2165aherzog@bvhc.sfhs.org

Dear Family and Friends,

As of today, we have no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in our care center. Our care center continues to test staff weekly. We will continue to test staff and residents weekly until we have 2 weeks of all negatives.  We are following recommendations from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

This week’s results:

We are excited to announce that our care center is scheduled to receive the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine and will host 3 clinics for vaccinating our residents and staff! Our first clinic is the week of January 4^th-8^th.   The second dose of the vaccine will be administered 4 weeks after the first round and the third will be administered 4 weeks after the second. Protection from vaccine is not immediate; vaccine is a 2-dose series and will take 1 to 2 weeks following the second dose to be considered fully vaccinated. Vaccine efficacy is 94-95%. This data was assessed with two doses being administered. It is very important to get both doses to ensure good protection.

When someone receives the vaccine they may experience side effects up to three days after vaccination. These side effects include injection site pain, tenderness and swelling of the lymph nodes in the same arm as the injection, swelling (hardness), and redness. General side effects include fatigue, headache, muscle pain, joint pain, chills, nausea, and low grade fever.

Getting vaccinated against COVID-19 is one of the best ways to protect yourself and everyone around you, particularly those who are at increased risk for severe illness. Wearing masks and social distancing help reduce your chance of being exposed to the virus or spreading it to others, but these measures are not enough.  Getting the vaccination will not only protect you from being infected; it will help us reduce visitation restrictions in the future.    

While the vaccine is a significant factor in our fight against the virus, it is just the beginning to reopening our care centers. We continue to use the county positivity rate to measure the spread of the virus in our local communities and follow the recommendations from MDH and CDC on reopening.

Looking for ways to help? We have a variety of positions available with flexible scheduling and on the job training. For more information or to apply, visit www.jobswithus.org.

Please follow our Facebook page (@Browns Valley Health Center) or our website (www.sfhs.org) for all COVID updates and information on what is happening inside our care center. Please do not hesitate to reach out to Autumn Herzog, Administrator, at 320-695-2165 or by email at aherzog@bvhc.sfhs.org if you have any questions or concerns.

Dear Family and Friends,

This week’s results:

Our care center continues to test staff twice weekly our next test date will be 12/11/20. We are following recommendations from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines pending approval by the FDA. We anticipate this will occur before the end of December.  We appreciate and support the decision made by the federal government to prioritize long-term care residents and staff in the distributions of the COVID-19 vaccine. Our vaccination process for staff and residents will be based on guidance from MDH as well as official CDC recommendations that have yet to be released and we will share this with you very soon! 

The beginning of December brought a surge of cases throughout Minnesota.  Please help us protect our staff and residents by wearing a mask and social distancing.  We again ask that you refrain from taking your loved one home over the Christmas holiday and schedule video visits with Deb Heck, Activity Director at 320-695-2165 ext. 30 or email at dheck@bvhc.sfhs.org

Looking for ways to help? We have a variety of positions available with flexible scheduling and on the job training. For more information or to apply, visit www.jobswithus.org.

Please follow our Facebook page (@Browns Valley Health Center) or our website (www.sfhs.org) for all COVID updates and information on what is happening inside our care center. Please do not hesitate to reach out to Autumn Herzog, Administrator, at 320-695-2165 or by email at aherzog@bvhc.sfhs.org if you have any questions or concerns.

12/03/2020

Dear Community Members,

This week’s results: Today we have been notified of 1 positive staff member of Coronavirus (COVID-19) that tested positive from our routine 12/1/20 test date. This staff member is currently self-quarantining at home and has not worked in the last 4 days or had direct contact with any residents. All Residents tested negative. Our care center continues to test staff twice weekly, we will conduct staff testing on 12/04/2020 and entire-site testing on 12/08/2020.

We are taking aggressive infection control measures which we believe will help us manage this situation as effectively as possible. We are working with the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) to ensure we are taking all appropriate steps. We are following recommendations from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to protect our residents and staff from this virus and will continue to take every action possible to prevent it from spreading in our setting.

The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) held an emergency meeting this week to review allocation recommendations for vaccines in phase 1 distribution. The advisory committee voted to include residents of long-term care communities in Phase 1A of vaccination. We anticipate a vaccine being available in the coming weeks and will keep you informed.

We will continue to update you on any news, emerging issues, or additional changes in our operations via Bright Arrow, email, website, and our Facebook page. Please follow our Facebook page (@Browns Valley Health Center) or our website (www.sfhs.org) for all COVID updates and information on what is happening inside our care center.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to Autumn Herzog, Administrator, at 320-695-2165 or by email at aherzog@bvhc.sfhs.org if you have any questions or concerns. We appreciate all the support, prayers, and offers of help that we’ve received.

Autumn Herzog, LNHA

Administrator

11/25/2020

Dear Family/Community Members,

Although not unexpected, yesterday late night (11/24/20) we have been notified of 2 positive staff members of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in our building through our routine testing on 11/23/20. These two staff members are currently self-quarantining at home. This event triggers a planned process of isolation to individualize rooms to aggressively minimize transmission to others. Our top priority is to keep everyone safe and healthy. We are collaborating with our Medical Director and the Minnesota Department of Health and are following all recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to ensure we are taking all appropriate steps at this time.

Browns Valley Health Center is committed to the health and safety of all the people that live and work in our community. With the confirmed case of CoVid-19 in our care center, BVHC will be performing entire site testing and will continue entire site testing until we have 2 weeks of no positives. We believe this is the best way to protect our residents, staff, and our community and track the path of the virus. Results will be shared as they come in. Our staff is equipped with specific training and personal protective equipment (PPE) to continue to provide safe, quality care, services and support to the residents of our community.

As we’ve shared several times, in early March, we initiated proactive infection control practices, screening procedures and visitor restrictions that will help us manage this situation as effectively as possible and protect the safety and health of all who live and work here.

We will continue to update you on any news, emerging issues, or additional changes in our operations via Bright Arrow, email, website, and our Facebook page.

We know that this news may concern you or that you may have questions about what we are doing to keep everyone safe and healthy. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me at 320-695-2165 or aherzog@bvhc.sfhs.org.

Sincerely,

Autumn Herzog, LNHA

Administrator

Dear Family and Friends,

We recently learned that the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and the federal Medicare agency (CMS) are advising against residents leaving their care center for holiday visits. As we continue to fight against COVID-19, we ask that you not take your loved ones out this Thanksgiving.

By not taking your loved one out for a holiday visit, you will help us in protecting the health of everyone who lives and works here. One of the best things that you can do for your family this holiday season is to not gather in groups and keep everyone safe by wearing a facemask when you do.

We know just how special the holiday season can be and spending time with family is what adds meaning to our celebrations.  However, we need your help to protect our residents, our staff, and yourself during this pandemic’s risky time by limiting our contact with the broader community.  As Governor Walz told us the other night, the COVID-19 surge is at a dangerous level in Minnesota.

This past year has been a challenge like no other and we deeply appreciate the sacrifices that you and your family have already made during these past months. The hope of a COVID-19 vaccine is promising, but until that time we all need to use extra caution to slow the spread of this highly contagious disease.

If a resident does choose to go to a holiday gathering outside of our care center, the resident will need to quarantine in his or her room for 14-days after returning as a necessary precaution. Even when being very careful and following all of the guidelines, the risk of being infected when being out in the general public is high.

Our staff is committed to keeping you connected during the holiday seasons. We have a variety of activities planned that will engage our residents and are doing all we can to facilitate alternative means of communication between you and your loved one. If you have any gifts or cards you would like to give to your loved one or wish to schedule a virtual visit, please contact Deb Heck at 320-695-2165 ext. 30 or email at dheck@bvhc.sfhs.org.

We know that this news may cause concern or that you may have questions about what we are doing to keep everyone safe and healthy. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me. 

Sincerely,

Autumn Herzog

Administrator

320-695-2165

aherzog@bvhc.sfhs.org