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COVID-19 Update
3/12/21 UPDATE:
What we have been up to at LHCC:
Hello everyone! We hope your visits have been going well. If you have any suggestions or comments, please drop us a note.
Just a reminder that we have in room visits on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for those not on isolation. Visits are either at 10:30 am or 1:30 pm. Visits on the Unit C area are Tuesdays, Thursdays or Saturdays.
REMINDER: All visitors please continue to wear your masks during visits.
Please call the recreation dept. 262 741 3677 to arrange a visit time with your family member.
This week we continue to be honored with the treats from Green Grocer in Williams Bay. This week we had sweet treats provided and we had them for either a coffee clutch or for some of us we had a great treat for the breakfast meal.
We also continue to spend each week listening to wonderful live piano music and making a joyful noise when our favorite song is played.
We also celebrated National Popcorn Day with all the popcorn we could eat. Thank you to the housekeeping staff that was so willing to pick up all the kernels and old maids that made their way to the floor.
Stay well
3/7/21 UPDATE:
What we have been up to at LHCC:
It has been a busy week visiting with all our families and friends. Please remember to bring your mask with you and to wear it during ALL visits both in room and when visiting on unit C. It was so good to see and be with all of you.
For some of us, we had our second dose of the vaccine this past week and we had a wonderful sing along while we were waiting.
Our friends at Green Grocer in Williams Bay again supplied us with a wonderful Wednesday treat.
We also made some amazing brownie cookies and had a special treat of Girl Scout cookies dropped off for us. Who doesn’t like a Thin Mint!
We had a great mother and daughter volunteer team who walked around in the melting snow to fill up the bird feeders. Thank you to them and the staff that supplied the seed including squirrel seed!!!
Stay Well
3/1/21 UPDATE:
What we have been up to at LHCC:
We had a great week visiting with all our family and friends. We look forward to the indoor room visits this week and the good things to come.
Some reminders for your visits: please remember to always wear your mask and to keep 6 (six) feet distance during the visit. Also, when visiting on the C household area, be advised that we do not have housekeeping services for that area including the visit rooms. Since it is a closed unit, bathroom services are not available. We are sorry for that inconvenience.
We also did a little baking on Friday for our regular sweet treat.
Stay well.
2/22/21 UPDATE:
What we have been up to at LHCC:
Hello Everyone,
We are starting our plans for the indoor visiting for everyone. These visits are on Unit C. You will have to enter by driving around to the back of the building. Park in the employee lot or park on the side of the driveway. You will notice the C unit entrance by seeing the snow bank spray painted by the sidewalk you will be using. Visitors again will remain 6ft apart and all visitors and residents will have to wear a mask for a face covering. No longer is a gaiter or bandana being allowed by the Center of Medicare Services (CMS) as an acceptable face covering. Please wear your mask the whole time you are visiting.
Notice these visits are different than the room visits described in Tracey’s letter. Please call the recreation office (262-741-3677) for both visit programs starting on Monday for the next week. This week we are taking reservations for the Week of March 1 thru March 6th.
For fun we have been doing baking, celebrating Fat Tuesday, practicing our knitting and crocheting, exercising, listening to music and getting to know all the new friends that arrived this week to stay at LHCC.
Stay well.
2/16/21 UPDATE:
What we have been up to at LHCC:
Hello Everyone,
We had a LOVELY Valentine’s week. Kris in the recreation department played love songs all week in the residents’ living rooms. We had a Valentine’s beverage/social cart that went to each household spreading Valentines cheer. We had Valentine cards made by our friend Nic, delivered to everyone on Sunday and also Valentine gift bags from the 4-H club delivered also on Sunday.
Also this past week we had a successful bake sale for the resident’s fund. Families, staff and community provided treats for all of us to purchase and enjoy. Thank you to everyone who did their part; eating, baking, purchasing, setting up and selling, sending monetary donations. Great success because of all of you. THANK YOU!
This past week we were also treated to an amazing meal from Green Grocer in Williams Bay. Each week one family continues to support and care for all of us. It was a great birthday party! We appreciate them more than words can say.
Thank you to all of our family and friends for keeping us in their thoughts and caring for all of us during this past year!
We will be starting our family visits next week and will be sending an email out to families to call 262-741-3677 to arrange a time to visit. Visits will again be Tuesday, Wednesday (Spouse visits), Thursday and Saturday. Please leave a message with a call back number and we will return your call and schedule your visit.
Stay well
2/7/21 UPDATE:
What we have been up to at LHCC:
It was a wonderful week! We had our second vaccination for the virus and an oh so delicious lunch from our kind friend and Green Grocer. We are hopeful that these vaccinations help us move in the right direction to get back to visits and fun times.
With the cold weather we continue to do some delicious baking. Our friend Donna shared a secret place to get amazing cinnamon rolls that only need to rise and then bake and frost. We were her guests to these treats. Thank you! Also with February brings cherry treats. We are continuing to explore what you can do with a cake mix. This treat included cherry pie filling, cream cheese, pretzels and the yellow cake mix. The conversation was that it was a very interesting combination.
We continue to have good friends drop off cards, thank you Nic, and birthday wishes, thank you Lakeland School. It is so nice for everyone to get mail and it brightens our day.
Next week we are having some Valentine fun.
Stay well
2/2/21 UPDATE:
What we have been up to at LHCC:
Hello everyone, this past week we made use of some ripening bananas and tried a new online recipe that only had three ingredients, bananas, eggs and a cake mix. This brought about great discussion on how to make banana bread. We also had the opportunity to listen to Kris in the recreation department play piano music. We are starting to get our singing voices ready for when we are able to gather in a bigger group and have a wonderful sing along.
This week we also had a wonderful lunch treat from Green Grocer in Williams Bay. Our friends are amazing in keeping our spirits high.
Tracey and Carmen have been working with the crafters in decorating the households and rooms for Valentine’s Day.
We are also looking forward to a smaller version of a Big Game party. We all love snacks and Pizza even if our team is not playing.
Stay Well
1/25/21 UDPATE:
What we have been up to at LHCC:
Hello Everyone,
We have had a great week. We were celebrating everything winter and Frozen. We started out making snowflakes to decorate the households, we made two kinds of snowflake both of which involved breakfast cereal and chocolate. Wednesday we had a coffee klutch with treats from our friends at Green Grocer in Williams Bay. On Thursday we had a surprise visit from two of the characters from the movie Frozen. While Olaf and Anna were going room to room to share snacks, residents could tune in to our in house channel 2 to watch their movie, Frozen!
We are waiting and keeping our fingers crossed that this coming week’s testing results and the county’s percentages will allow us to start to plan for resuming our indoor visits. We will keep you posted.
Stay well
1/18/21 UPDATE:
What we have been up to at LHCC:
Have you heard that we made some awesome cookies this week? That is the word according to Tracey and her friend Donna.
We were also doing some painting projects from some of our Christmas presents that Pastor Jim’s Church gave us.
Lakeland School students provided us with a GREAT snowman outside our windows. It was so wonderful to see the students and teachers work together to make Frosty.
This weekend as we watched football, we had popcorn, cookies and hot chocolate to celebrate the win. We only need one more win to have a Super Sunday Party.
We continue to be nourished by the help of Green Grocer in Williams Bay and our dear friend. We appreciate all the work in giving us a special day to look forward to each week. Thank you!
Stay Well
1/12/21 UDPATE:
What we have been up to at LHCC:
The big news of the week is that on Wednesday we all had the opportunity to receive the vaccination with yummy treats from Green Grocer in Williams Bay!!! See the picture of the first vaccine given at LHCC to our Director of Nursing, Tracy Bernardo! We are hopeful to welcome 2021 with fun and family soon.
This week we were also celebrating winter, making snowflake cookies, played winter trivia and did snowman making. Some events were more successful than others and yet all were an opportunity to remember why we love Wisconsin. Watching the Packer game also brings smiles and conversation. Will this be the year of a Super Bowl Party?
This week we have finished taking the Holiday decorations down. If you need us to take down your family member’s decorations and bring it to the front for pick up, please let us know at 262-741-3677.
Stay well
1/3/21 UPDATE:
What we have been up to at LHCC:
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
We are all very excited for what 2021 will bring us. On the top of that list is visits from our family and friends this week as we are scheduled to receive our vaccinations. We are hopeful that visits from family and friends are soon on the horizon.
We celebrated the New Year with snacks and treats from our friends at Health and Human Services. They made snack baskets for the households and we enjoyed a variety of treats. New Year’s Eve would not be the same without some amazing cheese and crackers from our friends in Williams Bay. Most of us call it a Cheese board but we went super fancy this year and had Charcuterie thanks to our friends. Delicious!!
Stay Well
12/28/20 UPDATE:
What we have been up to at LHCC:
The Christmas Spirit is well at Lakeland Health Care Center.
It is obviously different during a pandemic, but thanks to the many family members, staff, community members, Walworth County Health and Human Services staff and friends and the faith community in the area we felt the love and support from everyone. We had a wonderful Holiday time.
For the joy spread this week, we would like to thank Gary & Penny and Suzanne & Bob for their support and warm food this week and throughout the whole year. Our friends at Stinebrink’s Lake Geneva Piggly Wiggly provided us with fresh fruit baskets for each household, so that residents and staff could enjoy the pleasure of amazing fresh fruit. We would like to thank our faith community and our special friends who joined together to spread happiness, give gifts or those who gave a monetary donation for gifts so that all residents could have a joyful Holiday. Thank you to: Delavan Christian Reformed Church, Luther Memorial Church, Sugar Creek Lutheran Church, First Congregational UCC - Lake Geneva, The River Church, St Andrew Catholic Church, First Congregational UCC- Elkhorn, Dr. Joel Sperling, the Hergott girls, Sheldon Rock and Connie, Donna, Nic, Kelly Wilson, Lake Como Beach Women’s Club, Women’s Fellowship at First Congregational UCC Genoa City, Darien United Methodist Women, Stateline Grange, Eye Physicians and Surgeons Elkhorn, Mary’s family & Kate at Haase-Lockwood Funeral Home, Lakeland School, Aurora Health Care Clinic - Walworth, Aptiv and Jim Zientek.
Thank you to everyone who helped make our week extra special. Your kindness is much appreciated by all of us. We are looking forward to the New Year and all that it will offer to us.
Stay well.
What we have been up to at LHCC:
All of us at Lakeland Health Care Center would like to wish all of you a wonderful and joyous Christmas and Happy Holidays.
We know that this has been challenging year and look forward to the New Year with great hopes that we will be seeing all our family members in person real soon.
This week we were decorating cookies in our rooms. The students from Lakeland School walked over and waved to us through the courtyards. At the end of the week, Santa made an early appearance and was trying to get into the building but instead had to wave and leave the gifts at the front door like all of you have been doing. Challenging times for Santa as well!
We would also like to thank all our family and friends who have been sharing treats and meals for the residents and staff. We feel the love that all of you are sending us. We appreciate all of the gifts you have been sending.
Stay well and Happy Holidays
12/12/20 UPDATE:
What we have been up to at LHCC:
Hello everyone. We want to thank all our family members for working with us to stay in touch with your family. We have already had some requests for the upcoming holidays, so if you have special plans or a request for phone/FaceTime/Zoom visits, please call the recreation department at 741 3677 and leave a message with your name and phone number and what your needs are for a virtual visit so we can make a plan with you.
We also want to thank our family members who continue to reach out and support both the staff and all the residents. We had a great treat this week and want to thank the family on Household A for such great kindness.
This week the folks on Household B had the opportunity to have their hair done and have their picture taken at our indoor display. Can’t wait for you all to see the picture of your family.
Stay well
12/5/20 UPDATE:
What we have been up to at LHCC:
Hello everyone. We have been finishing up Decking the Halls.
It will certainly be a different Holiday Season but our hope is to keep the spirit Merry and Bright for all of us!!
We have been setting up the holiday decorations that you have dropped off. We also have some residents here that have recieved an early present of an Amazon Echo Show or Facebook Portal, or Google Nest Hub. These devices have let family members “drop in and visit.” One special moment from this week is when one lady was singing Christmas songs along with her Amazon Show just like karaoke. This was such a great moment to view since many of us are staying in our rooms.
If you need more information on how these devices would work for you at LHCC please contact one of the social workers or the recreation staff. LHCC’s main number is 262 741 3600.
To help keep the spirit Merry and Bright we have had a wonderful treat provided this week from a family on A household. We all appreciated the great treat! Residents and Staff thank all of you that keep us in your thoughts and support us daily. As another example we had a staff member/furry animal that stopped in to spread the message that Covid Stinks!! (see photo pictured)
Have a good week and Stay well.
11/27/20 UPDATE:
What we have been up to at LHCC:
We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
We had the traditional meal of turkey, stuffing, cranberries, vegetables and of course pumpkin pie. We also had a wonderful turkey decoration for our meal trays thanks to Nic. This year we had wonderful piano music during our noon meal thanks to the talents of Kris.
We all understand that this year is different for all our family celebrations. We will try to help you keep connected with your loved one via the phone, virtually or through window visits while we wait for family visits to restart. Please call 262 741 3677 for any assistance.
This week we were baking a fabulous recipe for pumpkin cookies. Speaking of cookies, if you have a family Holiday/Christmas cookie that you think we should bake, please send us an email or drop the recipe in the mail or at the front doors and we will make all the cookies this Holiday.
Thank you to the family members that have dropped off decorations to help us with decking the halls. We will start the transformation this week. If you usually bring in decorations for the Holidays, we will be your elves and set them up in your family member’s room. Please leave them at the front door and please make sure every item has the name and room number on it.
Thank you this week to Don, Doug and Gary and their family members for supporting the staff with some amazing sweet treats. It truly helps lift the spirits.
Stay well
11/22/20 UPDATE:
What we have been up to at LHCC:
Did you know that Lakeland Health Care Center has made US News and World Report list for High Performing Long Term Care Facility for 2021? This recognition is based on criteria that includes data of our ratings on prevention of falls, reported COVID-19 cases, pneumonia and flu vaccinations, infection control violations, nursing staffing, prevention of pressure ulcers and other criteria. See the complete listing from US News and World Report online. We are honored and proud to be among many in our state also on the list.
This week, we have been preparing our taste buds for the Thanksgiving meal. Several households have made in season cookies including pumpkin cookies with frosting. We also had a special breakfast this weekend on one of the households of biscuits and gravy. Some of the participants stated they have not had such a breakfast in years.
We also have some place setting Thanksgiving decorations thanks to Nic and his family.
We think we may have had our last rides for the biking season. We are so thankful for our volunteer pilot who has provided rides this season and helped us to get our plan and procedure in place. We look forward to the warm weather and more rides to take.
The Christmas Holiday season is approaching and staff have taken extra time to start the process of making the courtyards festive while the weather is mild. We will be decorating the indoors after Thanksgiving.
If you have Holiday decorations to donate to the facility or if you want to drop off decorations for your family members room please bring them to the front entrance and make sure you have name and room number on the package. Due to life safety codes, we cannot have miniature live green trees or wreaths or any decorations that include live greens. We also cannot daisy chain any Holiday lighting in rooms. If you have any questions related to bringing in decorations, please contact the Recreation Department at 741-3677.
We would like to extend our gratitude to Ruth’s family for providing the staff with an amazing luncheon. We have wonderful family members who continue to keep our staff in their thoughts and help to keep spirits high. Thank you everyone, we realize we are loved and we give love in return.
Even though we are challenged this year in how we will be celebrating the holiday, we wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Stay well
11/16/20 UPDATE:
What we have been up to at LHCC:
As many of you have heard, the percentages of COVID cases have increased in Walworth County. As a result, we have been directed to move our family visits back outdoors. We understand that this may cause some families to make the difficult decision to postpone the visiting until we return to indoor visiting. We would like to remind families that there is the opportunity to visit virtually. We can set up Facetime, Zoom, Duo and WhatsApp calls. You can also visit at the front door between the two sets of opening doors in the foyer area (you would be in the foyer on one side of the door, us on the other side.) This type of visit is warm for you and warm for us, but a glass door is separating the visit. Please call the recreation department 262-741-3677 to help set up your visit.
This week, we honored and recognized our Veterans who have served in the Armed Forces. This small tribute gave many the opportunity to share their experiences, as well as for us to honor their commitment to preserving all our freedoms. Thank you, Veterans!
Friday Fun Day was the theme this week. What fun it was to get tattooed! Tattooed, you say? Why yes! Next time you call or visit, ask your family member what temporary tattoo they picked out and where they placed it. We had live piano music playing, beverages and snacks to help us all enjoy a great socially distant afternoon. Thank you to all the staff who made the afternoon so much FUN!
As a reminder, several staff members are planning for the upcoming holiday season by decorating the courtyards. If you have any outdoor holiday decorations that don’t suit your needs anymore, we will gladly accept your donation and put them to good use.
Stay Well.
LATEST UPDATE MONDAY 11/9/20:
WALWORTH COUNTY IS ABOVE 10% ALL VISITS NEXT WEEK WILL BE OUTDOORS – Any county with a higher than 10% positivity week shall have outdoor visits as well as NO positive cases in the last 14 days. – Please call or email Tracy Bernardo with any questions. tbernardo@co.walworth.wi.us 262-741-3629
This week has been a warm and wonderful week. We spent the later half of the week out on our TriShaw bikes. Thank to Suzanne our first volunteer pilot and social service team we were able to get some great rides in before the weather goes south. If anybody is interested in being a bike pilot please register with Colleen at volunteer services 262-741-4223 to be ready for the spring riding season.
We had our first week of indoor visits this past week and although the weather outdoors was warm and windy unfortunately this has come to an end for now. We will hope for better county outcomes as well as no positive cases. We know the weather is not going to improve and will look at our options with the state to keep all of you and the residents safe.
Please as a reminder either indoors or outdoors we need all visitors to where their masks and stay 6ft socially distant.
As this pandemic continues to alter many special events and occasions. We had two events that we shared the joy of family and friends coming together in a different way.
We helped to celebrate a wonderful milestone birthday with Ruth and her special friends and family. The drive by celebration marked an amazing way to celebrate a special day.
Also this past Saturday we shared the joy of Mary’s grandson wedding. Mary’s family sought the approval to bring this special day to Mary. The courtyard was transformed by her family for the outdoor event. We all looked on were able to witness the exchange of their wedding vows and wish them years of happiness and love.
Stay Well
11/2/20 UPDATE:
What we have been up to at LHCC:
Thanking our families is the focus of this week.
We continue to be thought of and supported by the generosity of our family and friends.
This week, our staff enjoyed a hosted lunch from Penny and Gary. The staff sends immense gratitude to this family for continuing to support their efforts during this challenging time.
On Friday, we had a special afternoon for residents and staff on behalf of Mary and Amy. The treats were amazing and the time we took to share stories was just as special. Thank you for the time shared.
These past weeks, we have continued to receive Memorial Donations in honor of Dorothy. Her family and friends continue to share their memorials with Lakeland Health Care Center. We are honored to receive such generosity.
Thank you to all of our family and friends for the continued kindness and support. We truly appreciate it all more than these words express.
REMINDER: Indoor visits start this week, November 3rd, 4th, 5th & 7th. Continue to call the recreation department at 262-741-3677 to schedule an appointment. Please remember that for the safety and wellbeing of all, masks and social distancing will continue to be required during visits.
Several new faces have joined the team. We would like to welcome Brittney, Leonel, Makayla and Maria in the Nursing department and Michael in the Food and Nutrition Services department .
Our staff at LHCC are planning for the Holidays and would like your help. We have an amazing staff that donate their time, talents and supplies to make the courtyards special for the residents to look out at. They are in need of any outdoor decorations. If you are thinking of downsizing or replacing your current holiday decorations, please consider donating them to this special project. Trees, lighting, outdoor figures or displays will be greatly appreciated.
Stay well.
10/26/20 UPDATE:
What we have been up to at LHCC:
Hello everyone!
As some of you already are aware our heaters for the outdoor visits have been up and warming this past week. They have provided some relief as this weather is changing. That being said many of you have questioned during the visits when the indoor visits will be allowed.
Happy to say the week starting with the visit on Tuesday November 3rd will be our first indoor visit. If the numbers in the County continue the downward pattern and LHCC facility remains COVID free we will have indoor visits that week. We all have to be aware that the indoor visits can and will turn back to outdoor visits if anything changes with the virus on the county end and at LHCC. Distancing will continue to be observed as well as everybody will continue to wear masks during indoor visits.
Indoor visits will be on our C wing that has been vacant. Families will enter from the back employee parking lot, directly into the C wing. We will have one room for each household visit. One room will be marked for A one for B and one for D visits. Please when you call 262-741-3677 for a visit please make sure to let the staff know what area your family member is on. The times have changed by 15 minutes, depending on your household to allow for staff to clean the room, transport your family and also for the safety of family to minimize groups of people waiting together to enter.
This week we finished voting and our ballots have been turned in to the City of Elkhorn clerk.
This week we learned from Lucille how to harvest and cook the seeds from the pumpkins to make the most delicious seeds. So good in fact that there was little to share after the cooks enjoyed.
Looking forward to INDOOR VISITS !!!
10/19/20 UPDATE:
What we have been up to at LHCC:
Hello Everyone,
We know that this past week, visits have been cancelled and shortened due to the cold temperatures. We are happy to report that our patio heaters are in and will be assembled and set up in the patio areas for this upcoming week’s visits. We hope that this will provide some relief amidst the dropping fall temperatures. Reminder: if you have a warm cozy blanket, coat or hat at home that your family could use for their visits, please drop them at the front entry way with their name and room number on the package.
We would also like to remind all visitors to please adhere to the rules of social distancing and wearing a mask properly during your family visit. We want to be able to continue our family visits without incident.
This past week, we began administering the flu vaccine to staff and residents. Our goal is to remain as healthy as possible as we enter into this year’s flu season.
The donations of pumpkins that we received have been put to great use! The B household has carved and displayed a pumpkin man. Our next project includes seeds and pumpkin bars and maybe even a pie or two!
Stay well.
10/9/20 UPDATE:
What we have been up to at LHCC:
Fall is a wonderful time of the year, particularly when it is above seasonal temperatures and we are able to have outdoor visits.
This past week of family visits was an example of a wonderful fall week. Let’s hope and plan for more of these days for our visits.
Just a reminder to call 741-3677 on Mondays to schedule an outdoor family visit.
Shoo the flu! This past week, we have started receiving our flu shots for both staff and residents. We are all doing our part to keep ourselves, family and our community healthy this flu season!
We had a Great donation of pumpkins from the Stopple farm this past week. Our plan is to decorate, carve and partake in some pumpkin treats as we go through the weeks leading up to Halloween. Thank you very much to Peggy for the donation.
Our trishaw bike went out on its maiden ride. What a great way to experience fall. We are getting all the bugs and technical aspects worked out so we can ride the trails come the spring and summer 2021. If you want to be a “Pilot”, please sign up with Colleen Lesniak to be a volunteer. You can reach her at 262-741-4223.
Get out the vote!!!
With the guidance of the City Clerk’s office of Elkhorn, we have begun filling out our official absentee ballots. Our voting days will continue during the next week.
Stay Well.
10/4/20 UPDATE:
What we have been up to at LHCC:
It sure felt like fall this past week for your family visits. Just a reminder to bring some hats, jackets, blankets for your family member for our visits. On that chilly note we have placed an order some patio heaters that will help to take a little of the chill away. Cross our fingers that they arrive soon.
Our plans for indoor visits have begun. Our availability for indoor visits will be impacted by Walworth County’s percentages of positive COVID-19 cases. Also the facility will not be allowed to have visits if a positive case resident or staff in the past 14 days. We are hopeful that the percentages will go down enough to allow us to have the indoor visits. Please stay tuned for more developments.
As we mentioned before, LHCC staff moved to the second week of testing for all staff members. All staff will be tested for Covid-19 twice a week, per the guidelines from the federal government.
This past week we finished up on our fall festival. The Happy Cone ice cream cart traveled around and shared a wonderful treat and we had the opportunity to make and of course sample a Carmel apple cider float. We think this was a first for everyone. We will have to add this to our fall drink specials for the future.
The B courtyard has been transformed into a fall festival wonderland. Unit staff have made this and amazing visual to witness. So wonderful to hear the comments of the residents on how spectacular the decorations have made their patio so festive. Thank you staff!
Lastly we will be having our in-house clinic providing flu shots to the resident and staff in the coming days. We certainly want to do our part to SHOO the FLU!
Stay well.
9/27/20 UPDATE:
What we have been up to at LHCC:
This week was a great first week of fall. The weather cooperated wonderfully with our outdoor visits. We know what is around the corner weather wise and we are still waiting for guidance for indoor visiting. We will keep you informed when we have direction.
This week for recreation programming, we continued to celebrate fall with the celebration of the apple. Carmel apple sundaes, apple kringle, apple cider, apple strudel.
THANK YOU! This past week, we also finished up our fundraising efforts for the Walk to End Alzheimer’s. We want to thank all our staff and families that have helped to raise $1,317.87 for the Alzheimer’s association.
WELCOME! We would like to announce the addition of staff members to Lakeland. Kris has joined the recreation staff, Alyssa and Leonel have joined the CNA pool. We want to welcome them and share how excited we are that they will be a part of our health care team.
We have begun our COVID-19 point of care testing for staff this past week. This testing is mandated by the Center for Medicare Services. The frequency of our testing is generated by Walworth County’s positivity rate. We are currently testing staff twice a week.
9/18/20 UPDATE:
What we have been up to at LHCC:
Hello everyone,
Family visits continue to be going well and all your family members express joy in seeing you all. Reminder that the next week’s schedule for visits includes September 29th, October 1st and October 3rd and spouse’s day September 30th will be posted for you to call and reserve starting on Monday September 28th. Please call therapeutic recreation at 262-741-3677 to set up a visit. Until we get guidance for indoor visits, we will continue to hope for nice warm fall weather for our outdoor visits. If you usually bring in fall sweaters, jackets, blankets or decorations at the change in the season, now is the time to bring those to the front lobby with a note including room number and name.
This past week, we celebrated fall with our own version of Fall Fest. We baked a decadent apple spice cake to celebrate.
We also had takeout from Culvers this past week for those that were interested.
The Family Council meeting was well attended this past week. Reminder from the meeting: please return the consents for the flu vaccine and Health Drive. Stay connected and join the zoom meeting or connect by phone. Contact Mel or Andrea in Social Services for more information.
Stay well.
9/8/20 UPDATE:
What we have been up to at LHCC:
This past week was our second successful week of family visits. Thank you to everyone for making yourself available and arranging your schedules to visit. These visits appear to have a wonderful way of brightening our day and lifting our spirits.
We have the schedule available for week 4. Tuesday September 15th, Thursday September 17th, Saturday September 19th and spouse's day Wednesday September 16th. Reminder to please call the recreation office 262-741-3677 to make an appointment. Please leave a message with your phone number and we will get back to you to make arrangements.
This week, the B household was remembering that we would have made a trip to the Walworth County Fair had we not been experiencing a pandemic. One of the favorite memories was going thru the 4-H building. This week, they created their own 4-H building along with their special projects. Staff also created the animal barn with a cow, rooster, chicken, horse etc. Blue ribbons for everybody!!! From the garden, this Spring, Kay and the residents planted the Grand Champion Sweet potato and Kohlrabi, the garden fresh tomatoes were eaten before the judging which resulted in a delicious disqualification!
In the upcoming weeks we will share stories, spelling challenges and mental math opportunities as we recall going back to school.
As we head into the ending of summer we would like to get our bikes out for a ride around the county complex.
Colleen Lesniak will help any interested “Pilots” sign up as a volunteer to pedal our tri shaw bikes. Please call her at 262-741-4223 to request and complete a volunteer application.
This upcoming week at the County Board Meeting we will be recognizing two of our amazing volunteers for their decades of volunteering at Lakeland Health Care Center. We will share the stories of Audrey Wuttke and Arlene Torrenga and the positive impact they have made for LHCC next week.
Stay well
8/29/20 UPDATE:
What we have been up to at LHCC:
It has been so wonderful to see all of you during your family visits. We had one hundred and two family members participate in the first week of visits. Reminder: we put up the new schedule on Mondays. Please call the recreation department (741-3677) every Monday to arrange a family visit.
This week when you call, you will have a few options: Tuesday, September 8th, Thursday, September 10th, or Saturday, September 12th. We will be offering spouses another visit day on Wednesday, September 9th, 2020.
Other LHCC news:
We have a new Medical Nurse Manager starting with us at LHCC on Monday, August 31st. Her name is Cheryl and she comes to us with years of long term care experience. We hope you will be able to meet her in person real soon.
Also, on Monday, August 31st, 2020, our front driveway parking lot should be completed. You will be able to resume dropping off your packages in the front entryway. Please remember to put the name and room number on all items. Do not drop off packages at Health & Human Services after Friday August 28th, 2020.
Upcoming plans have begun for the annual Walk to End Alzheimer’s Disease. We have started our fundraising plans for Team LHCC. This week, we began our unit specific penny wars, we have a bake sale planned, staff will be purchasing a special lunch and we even are planning for a week to pay to wear blue jeans!
We will be doing our own walk on Monday September 21st, 2020. More details to follow.
Stay Well.
8/21/20 UPDATE:
What we have been up to at LHCC:
OUTDOOR FAMILY VISITS!!!
This week as been wonderful, seeing all our families again.
On our end the visits have been going well. We have received some feedback that the families would like a little longer visits.
For our next visit schedule we have increased the time to thirty minute visits. Please again call the recreation office at 741-3677 to schedule an outdoor family visit.
Another reminder: for your safety we encourage you to park in the back (during the front driveway construction) and use the sidewalk to the conference room patios. We realize it is a longer walk but walking across the grass and uneven ground may be difficulty and unsafe. You never know where those gophers dig their holes.
Speaking of driveway construction. The project is moving along and not yet completed. As of today they have poured the sidewalks and curbs and are bring in fill to level of the area.
We can expect the project to wrap up soon and look forward to the additional parking spaces this will provide for you.
Another reminder if you have not given your email address to us, we would like to have it on file to be able to share news and updates in a quick manner. Please call Patti, in the Business Office at 741-3618.
Stay well.
8/17/2020 UPDATE:
What we have been up to at LHCC:
This has been a fun week at LHCC. The ice cream truck made it around through the building passing out ice cream treats. Thanks to Carmen and Jared who made this project happen!
We also put the finishing touches on our A court yard. We had wonderful donations this week to add a water feature to top the project off. Thank you Terri, Patty and Brian for your support. We could not have done this without you. We are grateful!!!
What a perfect end to the week in the courtyard was a socially distant indoor/outdoor picnic sponsored by Blenda. Thank you Blenda for a perfect afternoon.
Amazing people doing amazing things for Lakeland Health Care Center.
Just a reminder… We are scheduling outdoor family visits for the week starting August 19 thru August 26 2020. Please schedule your visit with the Recreation Department 741-3677.
Visit guidelines are everybody wearing a mask, temperatures will be taken, 6 feet apart, length of visit is twenty minutes, and all visits are outdoors in conference room patio area. (Will be sanitized between each visit.)
Stay well and we can’t wait to see you all again.
8/10/20 UPDATE:
What we have been up to at LHCC:
This week we were celebrating what would have been the start of the state fair season. The recreation department served up a selection of State Fair treats during the week, Cream Puffs, Chocolate Dipped Bananas, Pretzel bites and funnel cakes. Great conversations occurred of residents time spent at Fairs.
We continue to experience some phone outages. TDS is aware and attempting to resolve this issue. Please let us know if you are having difficulty reaching us.
****BIG NEWS****
Outdoor visits will begin on Wednesday August 19, 2020.
We will be offering outdoor visits from 9:30am-11:30am and then 1:30pm-3:00pm. Monday - Fridays and Saturday 1:30pm-3:00pm. Each visit will be 20 minutes and one visit per resident for the first week (8/19-8/26) to allow for all families to visit. Please call the recreation department at 262-741-3677 to arrange a time.
Visits will be outdoors in the patio in front of the conference rooms where the care conferences are held.
All visitors will be required to wear a mask, 6 feet social distance which will be separated by our clear screen divider.
Stay well, and we look forward to seeing you soon!
8/5/20 COVID-19 UPDATE:
As you may know we had residents on our B unit test positive for COVID19. All residents are doing well and now out of strict isolation however this unit remains under full isolation until August 18th per our local health department. Every skilled nursing facility is required to report positive COVID-19 cases to the state. The state then completes an infection control survey any time the facility has two or more cases. The state completed our survey today, making sure we are following all of our policies and procedures to make sure we are doing everything we can to keep our residents safe. This is our second infection control survey that we have passed deficiency free.
Thank you!
Denise Johnson, NHA
8/3/20 UPDATE:
What we have been up to at LHCC:
This past week we learned that Lakeland Health Care Center has been chosen to participate in the federal program Point of Contact related to testing for the COVID-19. More information will follow as we learn more about this program and the role it will have for our facility.
Also this week there has been two outdoor projects.
First, the front entrance driveway is in full remodel mode, closing off access to the front entrance for families, deliveries and visits. Please remember if you need to drop anything off for your family or friends, use Health and Human Services building next door, between 7am and 7pm Monday - Friday. Staff will go over during the day to pick up items and deliver them to your loved one. On Saturday and Sunday we have a cart out back and you can drop off items there. Please let the recreation dept. know that you are dropping off so items don’t stay outside. Please call 741-3677. You also can continue your window visits on each specific household, contact the recreation office to organize any assistance you need.
The second transformation has been with the Unit A courtyard. Staff members have donated time and resources to “brighten” up the courtyard. It is such a beautiful place to sit outside and enjoy the fresh air and the beautiful colors.
Next week we are looking forward to Celebrating the State Fair in Wisconsin, we will be trying our hand at making Cream Puffs and Funnel Cakes.
Stay strong and well
7/24/20 UPDATE:
What we have been up to at LHCC:
This week you may or may not have noticed that the front circle driveway has not fully impaired our ability to use it. We are told that the project will continue as planned. Please continue to use the HHS building right next to LHCC for any items you would like to drop off for family/friends during the week. On weekends, please contact the recreation department at 741-3677 to arrange a time for dropping off any items.
We are continuing COVID testing for both residents and staff this week. If you have any questions or concerns please reach out to Denise Johnson Administrator, or Tracy Bernardo Director of Nursing.
We have been excited this week to see the results of our spring planting paying off. The flowers that Paul the Master Gardener and the recreation department have planted are doing well and providing much color in the court yards. We are also seeing that some of our vegetables are starting to provide a glimmer of a sandwich staple in the near future.
We would like to thank Paul our Master Gardener who has been moving some of the plantings in the front circle driveway to their new locations. It has been a hot couple of weeks and Paul continues to water and take care of the flowers giving us a nice view out our windows.
Stay well.
7/20/20 UPDATE:
What we have been up to at LHCC:
Thank you all for reading the updates, please continue to reach out to the staff with any questions or concerns you may have.
Contact the Business Office at 262-741-3618 with any billing, Medicare, or Medicaid questions.
For resident issues you can contact Andrea at 262-741-3686 or Mel at 262-741-3671 in Social Services.
If you are wanting to visit your family member, need to talk to your family member or drop off items, contact the Recreation Department at 262-741-3677.
This past week, we celebrated a 94th birthday. We celebrated with a wonderful cake that her family shared for the celebration.
Bob shared a special lunch with all his neighbors. Thank you to Scott for arranging the delicious meal from Pizza Ranch.
Reminder…beginning this week, the circle driveway will be under construction for the next month. Please plan to drop off your family member’s items at Health & Human Services. We will be arranging times to bring the items back to LHCC throughout the day. If you have any questions, please contact the recreation department at 26-741-3677.
Also, on Friday, July 24th at 11am we will be having a family council meeting. Please contact Mel or Andrea if you need help with the Zoom invitation or if you will be connecting on your phone.
As always, please stay well.
7/13/20 UPDATE:
What we have been up to at LHCC:
We have had some fun news this week. With the help of Jared from DPW and Mel, the Memory Care Social Worker, we have figured out the workings of our in-house TV station. We plan on using this information to show various fun and educational programs on YouTube, as well as movies that are not on regular TV programming. We know so many people are posting many educational and entertainment type programs and we will be sharing the option for everybody to tune into Channel 2. If you know of a great program we may be interested in, please share it with the recreation department at 262-741-3677.
On Friday, 7/10/20, we began contacting all family members to share updates. If you have not received a call, please call one of our Social Workers: Andrea at 262-741-3686 or Mel at 262-741-3671 to update the contact information we have on file.
On Friday 7/10 and Monday 7/13 we conducted staff COVID-19 testing. At this time, the Health Department does not recommend testing residents unless it has been ordered by their physician.
The driveway project is beginning very soon. We apologize in advance for the inconvenience this will have on you dropping off items and visiting. The project is expected to be completed by August 20th, 2020. We have a letter going out to all of the resident’s families that details the move of drop offs next door to Health and Human Services. The letter will also give details about our outdoor visiting program. Please share the information with your family.
As always, if you would like to visit virtually with your family, please contact the Recreation Department at 262-741-3677.
Stay well.
7/6/2020 UPDATE:
What we have been up to at LHCC:
We hope all of you had a safe and pleasant Fourth of July Holiday. We celebrated with an indoor picnic meal of a brat on a bun, slaw salad and an ice cream sandwich for dessert. Our friend John said we need a good German potato salad recipe to go with the picnic meal. We will work on that for the next picnic lunch. After lunch, we had and indoor treat of s’mores. Nothing says “messy” like trying to eat a s’more.
Thank you to everyone that continues to send packages, cards and treats. As a reminder, when dropping off your package, please label it with the resident room number and name and please put a big note or sign if there is something in the package that will need refrigeration. We do not look in the package, and with our disinfecting process we may not get the item to a refrigerator right after receiving it if we do not know it is perishable.
Communication is key, so as a note, if you would like to talk to or get an update from a nurse, Social Worker or other staff about your family member, please call 262-741-3600. Someone is available from 7am – 8pm Monday- Friday and from 8am-4:30pm Saturday and Sunday. On the weekends, there is a receptionist answering your call and they can direct your call to the appropriate staff. At times throughout this past week, we have been having difficulty with our phone system. Our phone carrier TDS is aware and is helping to address the issues.
Last week, we mentioned that we will be having outdoor visits. We are getting closer to finalizing our process and will be reaching out to all of you to set up visit times and days.
We are also working on plans to get our bikes out of the garage to bew able to take an individual on a bike ride or a car ride. More information will follow.
Until next week - please stay well.
6/26/20 UPDATE:
What we have been up to at LHCC:
We have continued to celebrate Certified Nursing Assistant Week.
We have sixty-six amazing, caring and talented CNA’s who are angels that wear scrubs.
Thank you to Penny and Gary W. for recognizing these special staff members with a great meal on the last day of their special week. We appreciate the kindness!
UPDATE……
We have two important pieces of information to share with you.
First - We are in the planning stages of providing outdoor visits with your loved ones. We are working with our public works department to have a moveable Plexiglas section that we will set up in the outdoor area in front of the conference rooms (where we have our care conference.) You would be able to park on the side driveways and take the sidewalk to the outdoor visiting area. This area has shade if needed on a hot sunny day. We would like to plan visits for a couple of hours before and after lunch. You will be able to schedule a time with our Recreation Department (741-3677) Front door visits, face time and Zoom will still be available and please call the Recreation department for a visit.
Second - We are having our front parking lot fixed and repaved. This work is scheduled to start on July 20th, 2020 and will be done no later than August 30th 2020. During this time there will be no admittance through the front entrance and will be rerouting using our back employee entrance.
We will have more information about resident gift /package drop offs as it gets closer. Please watch for updates or call 262-741-3677. Stay well and healthy as always!
6/22/20 UPDATE:
What we have been up to at LHCC:
This week is the start of a very special week. We are celebrating Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) week. As you are all aware, the CNA position has a vital role in the wellbeing of your family member. Their work is endless during the course of the day. We at LHCC are grateful for the work and dedication these staff members provide on a daily basis. It is said that there are not many people that can do what the CNA can do!!! Thank you to all our CNA’s for providing the care and compassion to all of our residents. We appreciate each and every one of these amazing staff members!
St. Croix Hospice provided S’mores to the staff in recognition of the work of CNAs at LHCC. We were also treated to walking tacos this week! Thank you for the treats!!! Stay tuned next week for updates about the rest of CNA week.
We reported last week that we were hoping for some updates for family visiting. We are sorry to share that the Wisconsin Department of Health Services has not provided any changes to the original statement limiting family visits to closed door and window visits. We know this continues to be difficult for us all. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services may be able to answer any concerns or questions you may have.
As always, please reach out to the Recreation Department at 262-741-3677 to set up any visit requests whether it be at the doors, via FaceTime, via WhatsApp or even Zoom.
Stay well.
6/15/20 UPDATE:
What we have been up to at LHCC:
This week we had baked a lot of cookies finding which flavor we preferred. White chocolate chip, Monster or Molasses? Which one do you think was the favorite?
The end of last week we received a huge donation for a pedal assist tri-shaw bike. Thank you so much to the family that gifted such an amazing bike for us. We will definitely be taking residents for rides outside, when we are allowed by state officials to open the doors. We have it on display in the lobby. Here is a picture. Nothing says summer like a ride on a bike. We will see you outside soon!
Many of you have been asking…When we will be able to visit in person? We continue to follow the guidelines from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. As of this week we have not been able to allow visits. We anticipate more information regarding a visit program in the upcoming week. We will be in touch as soon as we get the approval for visits and the guidelines that we will need to be followed.
Somebody once said, Tough times never last…but tough people do!!!!!
Stay strong and be well!
6/8/2020 UPDATE:
What we have been up to at LHCC:
This week has brought with it some wonderful weather! We all know a family or friend who enjoys a warm day. With these warm, sunny days we have been spending time outdoors on our patios. Sometimes, a few of us like to enjoy a meal or two outside also. Our master gardener, Paul, has planted flowers in the front and on the patios which add an extra special touch of color. Thank you to Paul for continuing to care for the flowers while we are indoors. We had started some tomato plants from seeds and they are growing nicely in the planter boxes the eagle scouts made for us last year. Now all we need is a little pig in the patio and we will be set for BLT sandwiches this summer.
In our last update, we talked about those that had retired from LHCC. In this update, we would like to mention the new staff that have joined LHCC in the past couple of weeks. In the Recreation department, we have two new faces. Tracey has transferred in to the department from Scheduling and Maddy is new to LHCC. In the Business Office, Patty is our new Business Office Manager. Heather is our new Staffing Coordinator in the Scheduling department. Tracy is our Director of Nursing. Jamie is our new Ancillary Supply Coordinator. Madeline, Madison, Katie, Elaine and Danielle have joined the Nursing department as CNA staff.
We would like to welcome all these wonderful people and we can’t wait for you all to meet them in person.
5/31/2020 UPDATE:
What we have been up to at LHCC:
We started off Memorial Day with a picnic meal at lunch. We had bratwurst, potato salad and brownies. Then in the afternoon, we had a variety of ice cream treats to sample.
Staying socially distant during the Memorial Day Holiday gave us many opportunities to be aware of the sacrifices of others and freedoms afforded us by the brave men and women who gave their life to defend and protect us all.
This week, our beauty shop services have resumed to the delight of many of us! If you would like your family member to receive a haircut or style, please call 262-741-3677 to schedule an appointment.
This week, we prepare to say thank you and farewell to three staff members who, collectively, have worked for Lakeland Health Care Center for more than 100 years. Each of these women have shared compassion, kindness and service to others for many years and they are the reason we smile as stories and memories are shared of our time together. A new beginning for Kathy, Kay and Terri. They are closing the LHCC book to begin a new chapter. Enjoy this treasured time in your life!
5/23/2020 UPDATE:
What we have been up to at LHCC:
This was a wonderful week to sit out on our patios. The weather was warmer and the sun felt amazing! It was great to see Kay working to plant flowers in the patio area along with our amazing master gardener, Paul, who was planting in the front of the building. This gives promise that sunny skies will prevail!
We want to thank our volunteers for reaching out, keeping in contact and continuing to hope for the day that we are once again able to have music, clinic, the gift shop and beauty shop open. We miss you all and hope you all are staying well.
We have had another generous week of well wishes and want to thank Judy’s family and Allen for their support. We are so thankful for all of the support from our family and friends.
On this Memorial Day:
“Honor to the soldier and sailor everywhere, who bravely bears his country’s cause. Honor, also, to the citizen who cares for his brother in the field and serves, as he best can, the same cause.” -Abraham Lincoln
5/18/2020 UPDATE:
What we have been up to at LHCC:
This week, we continued to celebrate National Nurses Week. On Mother’s Day, we started to Celebrate Long Term Care Week. We loved the many visitors for Mother’s Day! Whether it was by phone, FaceTime or at the front door, it was so nice. Also, all the flowers that arrived were so beautiful and truly brightened up the day! During the week, we had many family/friends help us celebrate the special week by providing us with lunch and snacks. We greatly appreciate the support and nourishment you provide us. We would like to thank: Robin, Tracey and Howie, Kyle and St Croix, Penny and Gary, Jan and Dave, Suzanne and Bob, Becky, Stacey, Tracey and Seasons. Thank you, sincerely! We had a birthday party this week, we celebrated Florence Nightengale’s 200th Birthday. That is a LOT of candles! During our celebrations, we took the opportunity to help one of our staff. Last week, there was a fire in East Troy that our friend in the therapy department was involved in. Her and her dog survived, but they lost everything. Our staff pitched in and in one day we raised over $500.00 to help her. Someone writes: “Give your Best and the Best will come back to you. We see, by the examples of giving this week, that we are a part of a great and caring community. Thank you for your kindness and support.
-Liz Aldred
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 12, 2020
CONTACT: Carlo Nevicosi, Deputy Director 262-741-3223 nevicosi@co.walworth.wi.us
Walworth County Facility Confirms First COVID-19 Case
Lakeland Healthcare Center, a county-operated senior care facility, announced today that a staff member has tested positive for COVID-19. No residents have shown signs or symptoms of COVID-19 and all residents and their families have been notified.
“Our elderly are among the most vulnerable and we have taken swift action to control the spread of this disease”, stated Elizabeth Aldred, Superintendent of County Institutions. “Our top priority is to protect our residents and quickly resolve this situation”.
The facility is implementing a number of strategies to contain disease spread. These include enhanced employee and resident screening practices, adjusted staff schedules, and a requirement for approved visitors to wear full PPE. Additionally, facility leadership is coordinating with the State Laboratory of Hygiene to procure supplies to test all residents and employees.
The facility has been preparing for the possibility of positive cases for some time. “We have worked closely with our Public Health Department to strengthen our infection control strategies”. Aldred further indicated that the nursing home is large enough to isolate any residents that may test positive. A vacant wing has been modified to offer a negative pressure space.
(END)
What we have been up to at LHCC:
Our community is so wonderful! We have been shown an outpouring of support again this week.
Thank you to Bob’s friends Judy and Suzanne, Season’s Hospice, Blenda, and all of the family members and friends that have been sending well wishes and Mother’s Day greetings.
We continue to connect via our new iPad and through all of your cards, letters and so many flowers this week. Thank you!
This week is a special week, it is National Nursing Home week and the end of Nurses week. This year’s theme is Sharing Our Wisdom. We will be seeking out words of wisdom from our residents and will include them all in next week’s communication. We will be celebrating Florence Nightingale’s 200th birthday with a cake and root beer floats to close out the week.
Stay well.
-Liz Aldred
5/4/2020 UPDATE:
Another installment of what’s been going on:
We would like to start out by continuing to express our gratitude to those that have been making our days better during this time that we can’t be with others. Thank you for reaching out to set up a FaceTime call, a phone call or even meeting us at the front doors to talk. Our days are brightened by your cards and letters that come in.
We would also like to say thank you to our community members and family friends that provide services to the staff and residents. This week we would like to thank the following people: Tiffany’s friend Kelly, The Wilson Family, Duane’s friend Lynn, Shirley’s friend Roxann, Cheri and Agnes’ friends Matt and Chrisy, Mel’s friend Duane and Cardinal Cares for their kindness of providing special treats, meals, iPads, masks and flowers. Words cannot adequately express the gratitude we have for everyone that is thinking of and remembering us as we stay socially distant.
Abraham Lincoln said: “The better part of one’s life consists of his friendships.” Thank you for your friendship.
We have included pictures of some wacky staff who have been transformed (below). Can you guess which staff member is beneath each costume?
Stay healthy and well!
Another installment of what has been going on in the facility:
We continue to be humbled by the outpouring of support for our staff and residents. We are a part of a compassionate community and we are humbled to experience such acts of caring.
Such examples include a beautiful bouquet of handmade tissue flowers. We have displayed them in our newly expanded staff breakroom for all of us to enjoy. Every day we walk into work and are greeted with positive affirmations and well wishes that encourages all of us to give our best to your loved ones. We thank you for the support. We have also had families, county employees and friends make us what we call “ear savers”. As staff, we are all wearing masks and these little homemade helpers provide relief for our ears. We have also appreciated the time and talents of those who have made us masks. As stated above, we are truly grateful.
This week has been wonderful for looking out the window. Early in the week, we looked out our windows and saw a “caped” miniature horse named Dexter. He was helping his friend Kyle, from St. Croix, walk around the building. They found us all looking out our windows. This was such an enjoyable time. Later in the week, we again were poised at the window looking at Bitsy, the most talented black labradoodle, that came to wish all the residents a "pawsome" day! Bitsy demonstrated how much she just loves to catch her red Frisbee and catch her Frisbee and catch her Frisbee. You can view the slideshow of Bitsy's visit below. These moments are an example of the kindness and support or our community. These acts of kindness and support truly are appreciated and help us during this time of separation. Thank you!!!
Thank you also to St. Croix for providing a wonderful lunch this past week.
In other news…As of this coming week we will not be having beautician services. The officials at DHS have determined such service is not essential and therefore LHCC will comply, for the safety of everyone, by suspending the service until further notice.
Thank you again for staying in touch.
-Liz Aldred
4/17/2020 UPDATE:
What we have been doing……
We would like to start out and send a THANK YOU out to our families and friends that have shared kindness, support, snacks and meals for the residents and staff. Since our “Stay At Home” order was initiated, we have seen the kindness of others shine through and fill us with joy and food. Thank you to all that participated in sending pizza for the staff. We have had delicious chicken, potatoes and dessert pizza for the residents and also Italian beef sandwiches for the staff. All of this kindness helps to bring a lot of smiles, joy and happiness to all of us. Thank you.
We have also been trying to keep in contact with our families and friends: sharing birthday wishes, daily contacts and just checking in moments. We do this with the Whatsapp app or using FaceTime, or when you send your cards, letters, posters and pictures. We deliver your best wishes as often as you send or drop them off at the front door. Just so you know, these connections bring a lot of smiles and happiness, so continue to drop off candy, snacks, cards and any treats that your family enjoys.
This coming up week we will enjoy playing bingo from our rooms, eating freshly popped corn and watching our newly made pinecone/peanut butter bird feeders.
Thank you again for your kindness through all of this change. Lakeland Health Care Center appreciates it more than you know.
-Liz Aldred
Pictured below is a banner that was made for LHCC's employees. It reads "Never was so much owed by so many to so few" -Winston Churchill. It is accompanied by the hashtags #healthcareheros #onthefrontline #healthcareemergencyresponders and it pictures the Walworth County logo in Superman's light. It is hung in the back hallway where all employees enter the building everyday.
4/2/2020 UPDATE:
Lakeland Health Care Center is continuing to offer exceptional quality care to our residents amidst this pandemic. As such, we have limited the number of admissions being made to our facility for the duration of the "Safer at Home" order. It is important that, as a Health Care Center, we provide appropriate screening for all potential residents to make sure that we reduce the level of exposure to our current residents. Increased screening helps our community by freeing up hospital beds for those directly impacted by the Coronavirus.
In order to ensure the health and well-being of our residents, we have implemented a variety of new protocols that include restricting admissions to exclude people with respiratory illnesses, unless they have tested negative for COVID-19. To reduce the risk to our other residents, all new residents will remain under isolation protocols for 7 days following admission or going out to an appointment. In addition to taking care of the physical health of our residents, we continue to provide programming to meet their spiritual and social needs. This week, our staff are hosting a spirit week to bring some Spring into the air. Make sure to ask about our fun dress code and our activities including a Grill Out for "Opening Day - Not at the Ball Park". Also, LHCC is participating in HAPPY HEART HUNTING. Please drop off hearts to be displayed for your loved ones & our residents. Check out Happy Heart Hunt on Facebook for more information.
Thank you,
Liz Aldred - Walworth County Superintendent
3/30/2020 UPDATE:
Walworth County currently has 6 laboratory confirmed cases of the disease as of 3/29/2020.
Number of Laboratory Confirmed Cases
Travel Associated (Domestic): 2
Close Contact of Confirmed Case: 1
Community Transmission: 3
View the most current information at: https://www.co.walworth.wi.us/856/COVID-19
Find Wisconsin information here: https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/covid-19/index.htm
Key Updates:
Elections
· The Wisconsin Elections Committee has release guidance for municipal clerks on providing a safe and healthy environment for voting.
o View the guidance here: https://elections.wi.gov/node/6787
o The WEC is also designing a webinar for clerks to use to train poll workers, working on hosting a live Q&A session for clerks to ask questions, and developing videos for Election Day process for training purposes
Testing
· Testing resources continue to be limited in Wisconsin. To try and conserve resources many hospitals have limited who may be tested to those requiring hospitalization, residents of long term care facilities, and health care workers. As more tests are approved this criteria may expand.
· Messaging: You don’t need a test to know what to do and testing does not change treatment. If you are symptomatic stay home until at least 7 days have passed since symptoms started, you have been fever free for at least 72 hours without the use of medication, and your other symptoms have improved. If your symptoms do not improve or worsen call your health care provider.
Personal Protective Equipment
· Strategic national stockpile resources continue to be distributed to identified entities. DHS is currently evaluating the last request that was processed and identifying allocations.
· DHS is working on procuring and shipping out PPE for law enforcement entities in coordination with Wisconsin Emergency Management.
· Non-essential workers should not expect to receive additional PPE at this time.
· Strategies need to continue to focus around conserving PPE as it is unknown when additional PPE will be released.
2-1-1 Here to Help
· Please continue to direct individuals with questions about COVID-19 and the Safer at Home or other executive orders to call 2-1-1. This is a service operated by the United Way for all of Wisconsin. They can help answer general questions and triage calls. This will in turn keep our public health and dispatch lines free.
o https://www.impactinc.org/impact-2-1-1/covid-19-coronavirus/
Volunteer Registry
· Individuals wishing to help public health in the future by being a volunteer can register through the Wisconsin Emergency Volunteer Registry. Individuals who register through this link receive a background check and have the option to then be called on to assist with any number of emergencies across Wisconsin.
3/24/2020 UPDATE:
Walworth County currently has three laboratory confirmed cases of the disease as of 3/22/2020. One case is associated with domestic travel. Two of the cases are associated with community spread of the illness.
Avoiding unnecessary time in public locations is the best thing you can do to protect the most vulnerable in our county. We need to maintain a very slow and controlled spread of disease in order to not overwhelm our health care system. The best thing you can do is to stay home whenever possible. Continue to stay home when sick, wash your hands regularly, and avoid touching your face to help limit transmission.
Most up to date information on the status in Walworth County: https://www.co.walworth.wi.us/856/COVID-19
Key Points:
· Messaging is beginning to shift away from a focus on being tested to “Stay Home. Save Lives.” It will take the whole community limiting public interactions in order to keep the most vulnerable in our population safe.
· Rapid result testing has been tiered to prioritize testing for the most vulnerable and health care workers. Individuals who do not fall into a high priority group will not receive test results within 48 hours. Some labs are reporting a delay in test results of up to 16 days. Public Health does not have any control over how quickly results are reported.
· Governor Evers is expected to issue a “Safer at Home” order closing non-essential businesses effective tomorrow. More details are expected later today.
· Do it yourself masks for health care workers have surfaced on social media. Attached please find a very well written briefing from our partners in Washington Ozaukee Public Health on the risks associated with homemade masks.
· Data is beginning to suggest that individuals who have COVID-19 and develop symptoms may be able to transmit the virus a few days prior to the onset of symptoms. However, the most virus spreads while an individual is symptomatic. For this reason it is important to stay home when you are sick and wash your hands frequently. Even mild symptoms can spread the virus.
o Info on how the virus spreads from CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/how-covid-spreads.html
· Many additional states have been identified with community transmission. Find the list at: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
Stay Up to Date:
· Situation Briefs
o Global: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/situation-reports
o U.S.: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-in-us.html
o WI: https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/outbreaks/index.htm
Additional guidance on a variety of topics is available at: https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/covid-19/index.htm
CDC has updated information sections available at: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/index.html
3/23/2020 UPDATE:
As you are aware, Lakeland Health Care Center is following the direction of the Department of Health Services and the CDC and has drastically reduced the access for non-essential medical personnel into the facility over the past few weeks. We know that this separation has been difficult on both our families and our residents. We appreciate the support that we have received from our families and the community and are striving to make the best of this situation.
Our therapeutic recreation (TR) department has created a variety of opportunities for our residents to continue to be able to socialize while maintaining necessary social distancing. Our therapeutic recreation staff have updated our traditional bingo game to "hallway bingo". By inviting residents to sit in their doorways, which maintains the recommended six feet between each person, we are able to enjoy at least one of our favorite activities. Staff are actively creating adaptations for other activities as well.
In order to help our families stay connected, our therapeutic recreation staff are also making FaceTime video chats available to assist families in connecting to their loved ones. Please feel free to contact us to arrange a video chat on your apple device.
Thank you,
Liz Aldred - Walworth County Superintendent
3/12/2020 UPDATE:
Walworth County Public Health is actively monitoring disease status 24/7 and is in frequent contact with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. We routinely control the spread of communicable disease and have all procedures in place necessary to respond to this disease. Walworth County currently individuals being tested for the disease but has zero confirmed cases of the disease at the time of this update.
With the expanded availability of testing it is likely that we will continue to see an increase in the number of cases identified throughout the US. The most important key to stopping the spread of disease remains staying home when you are sick. Continue to wash your hands frequently, cover your coughs and sneezes, and avoid touching your face. Individuals over age 60 and with coexisting conditions currently appear to be the most severely impacted by the disease. Symptoms of illness are fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Call your medical provider if you develop symptoms. If you are symptomatic and seek care, please notify your provider, urgent care, or emergency department before arrival so they can prepare in advance and reduce the risk of transmission to patients and staff. Find out more about COVID-19 at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/symptoms.html
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services has issued travel guidelines for domestic travel. Find more information about travel guidelines here:
https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/dph/memos/communicable-diseases/2020-04.pdf PDF PDF PDF PDF
We urge citizens to use their best judgement and avoid unnecessary travel to areas with high rates of the disease. The CDC has published a map and resource page on the number of cases across the US. Areas that have sustained community transmission represent a higher likelihood for citizens of coming into contact with the disease. It is recommended that people traveling to these areas self-quarantine at home for 14 days and monitor for symptoms. View the map: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-in-us.html
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services has issued guidance for the hosting of mass gatherings and events. Current guidelines look at event size, who will be attending the event, and the event venue. This document also contains guidance for schools. Please find the guidance here: https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/dph/memos/communicable-diseases/2020-05.pdf PDF PDF PDF PDF
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services has a large variety of resources available directly from CDC. Visit their page to find more information: https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/disease/covid-19.htm
We will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as they become available. Remember this is a rapidly evolving situation and things change quickly.
Key Points for Officials:
· It is likely that COVID-19 will move into our jurisdiction at some time. It is important that we remain prepared, not panicked. Continue to focus on continuity of operations and general preparedness. Steps you would take to control the spread of flu are effective at preventing the spread of COVID-19. Remind friends, family, and employees to stay home if sick.
· With no confirmed cases of disease in Walworth County, we are not currently closing public gatherings or events. Event organizers may use their discretion and the guidance provided by DHS to help inform their decision to cancel or reschedule events. Please distribute the message above the resources contained in it widely to your stakeholders.
· Adults over age 60 and with coexisting conditions are at the highest risk of complications from the illness. Organizations that work with these populations may want to take extra precautions to limit the spread of illness.
o DHS hosted a webinar for Long Term Care facilities. View the webinar here: https://livestream.com/accounts/14059632/events/9034343/videos/202751527
Stay Up to Date:
· Situation Briefs
o Global: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/situation-reports
o U.S.: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-in-us.html
· WI: https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/outbreaks/index.htm
3/10/2020 UPDATE:
Walworth County Public Health is actively monitoring disease status 24/7 and is in frequent contact with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. We routinely control the spread of communicable disease and have all procedures in place necessary to respond to this disease. Risk status for COVID-19 in Walworth County is currently LOW. We have no confirmed cases of the disease as of 3/8/2020.
Two laboratories in Wisconsin are now able to test for the disease, increasing the number of people being tested throughout the state that meet testing criteria. This does not necessarily mean that there is more disease in the state but that people who previously would not have been able to be tested now qualify for testing. At this time we are not advising extra precaution be taken. To protect yourself continue to practice good hand washing, cover your coughs and sneezes, and stay home when you are sick. Flu and other respiratory diseases continue to circulate in our area.
Key Points:
· The situation continues to evolve rapidly.
· Many different respiratory viruses continue to circulate in our area.
· Walworth County Public Health is working to make sure we are speaking with “one voice” alongside other public health authorities by echoing the information distributed by CDC and DHS. In doing so we are mindful to not incite any undue panic while still providing useful information.
o WalCo HHS Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WalCoDHHS/
o Subscribe to HHS News Alerts: https://www.co.walworth.wi.us/civicalerts.aspx?CID=10&searchTerms=
· Risk of disease exposure continues to be travel outside of the US to a location with the disease circulating and/or confirmed close contact with an individual diagnosed with the disease.
· Preparedness measures now are the best way to mitigate the impact of COVID-19.
· The best way to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the flu (Wisconsin is still seeing high levels of flu activity at this time), and other common respiratory illnesses is through the practice of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs).
o https://www.cdc.gov/nonpharmaceutical-interventions/index.html
Information for Businesses/Employers
· Scam Alert
There have been numerous reports of scams and phishing attempts related to COVID-19. Please make yourselves and your organization aware of these types of fraudulent activities. https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/3/5/21164745/coronavirus-phishing-email-scams
· Focus your preparedness efforts on general continuity of operations planning. How will your business continue to operate if a significant portion of your employees call in sick? How will you operate if the vendors you depend on to provide resources or support call in sick?
o Pandemic Planning Guides for Businesses, Law Enforcement, Correctional Facilities, and General How to Protect yourself information: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/archived/business-planning.html
· Guidance on Mass Gatherings (Hyperlink): The CDC has released guidance on hosting gatherings and community events.
Information for Healthcare:
· DHS announced on Friday 3/6/2020 that due to the rapidly expanding availability of testing they will no longer continue to report the number of people being tested for the disease and will instead only report the number of positive and negative test results.
· CDC updated their definition for patients under investigation last week and DHS anticipates they will likely update that definition again this week.
· CDC Updated Testing Guidance: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/clinical-criteria.html
· Privacy Reminders: Please remind staff that communicable diseases are confidential and staff should take extra precautions when discussing. Especially in a time when the community is at heightened alert maintaining patient privacy is a key part of preventing undue panic.
· COVID-19 is a disease that must be reported to Public Health. If a provider suspects the disease in a patient Public Health should be notified immediately.