For months, families have regretted seeing loved ones living in California skilled nursing facilities, which have been closed to outside visitors to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
California health authorities recently released a guide to resume visits, but few are happening as infection rates increase in many communities. The facilities are being cautious after many suffered severe outbreaks early in the pandemic.
“I am desperate right now,” said Sue Mathis, who has not seen her 94-year-old mother in San Francisco in four months. “My mother calls me crying, sometimes several times a day, begging me that she wants to see me, and when she will see me and will be able to see me before she dies. It’s crazy. “
“I have not heard from anyone since the new policy went into effect on June 26 and said, ‘Hello, I can now visit my loved one in a nursing home, at least outdoors,'” he said.
DeAnn Walters, director of clinical affairs at the California Association. of health facilities said that outdoor visits should be monitored and require staff time, and facilities may be reluctant to do that while dealing with cases of coronavirus.
“Having some kind of safe visit is really important,” Walters said, but “just because one entity says, ‘Hi, this is fine,’ we still have to respond to our other guiding agencies.”
The National Center for Assisted Living does not track each state’s rules or procedures, but says more are allowing visits or will be soon. Long-term isolation and lack of activities for residents, who are largely confined to their rooms, many relatives say have contributed to the decline in the mental and physical health of loved ones.
Chaparral House, a skilled nursing facility in Berkeley, created special procedures for outdoor visits for residents who are unable to join video chats due to their health conditions or if they are dying, said KJ Page, the center’s administrator. . Visitors must make appointments, wear masks, and be tested for the virus.
Signs with information on COVID-19 symptoms, social distancing rules, and visiting policies are posted at the front door of the Chaparral House in Berkeley.
(Jeff Chiu / Associated Press)
Larry Yabroff, 78, has been able to visit his wife, Mary, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, under these conditions. She was unable to understand video chats and was agitated during window visits, she said. Therefore, he wears a mask, regularly tests for COVID-19, and largely stays home, except for walking, and the few times he has been to see his wife.
On Friday, they took his temperature at the facility’s main entrance before being escorted around the building to a garden in the back. They pulled his wife out in a wheelchair, and they sat on a bench and talked.
“I go into her reality, whatever it is, and that’s reassuring to her,” he said. “She is definitely happy to see me, which is a blessing.”
Page said the facility wants to offer outdoor visits to more residents, but will not do so without approval from city health officials.
“God forbid we reopen and everyone BETTER,” he said.
Tim Carlson, a compliance officer at the Los Angeles Jewish Home, said the facility plans to conduct outdoor visits once approved by county health officials. He’s also looking for ways to deal with the stifling Southern California heat, possibly creating a small module with two compartments to allow for cooler, more separate air.
Before state guidelines were issued, some nursing homes devised creative ways to provide outdoor visits. At the Vienna Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Lodi, residents were taken to an outdoor courtyard enclosed by a wrought-iron fence, and family members could make an appointment to see them from a spot on the nearby public sidewalk, even if it was traffic noise.
Mia Hanna said she had seen her 91-year-old mother only on Skype calls until last month, when she received a visit at Monte Vista Grove Homes in Pasadena, which had installed a Plexiglas cabin. Her mother wanted to reach out and hug her, she said, but the visit, at least, was something.
He hoped to continue visits to the booth, but said the facilities canceled them after a worker tested positive for the coronavirus.
“There has to be a better way,” Hanna said, adding that her mother will probably need surgery this summer. “These are the last few months on Earth, and I spend them on Skype with her. I try to be grateful for that, but it’s not the same. “
