Dear Family and Friends,

Pennington Health Services continues to test staff bi-weekly because the Pennington County infection rate continues to be over 10%. We also test when an employee or resident show signs or symptoms of COVID-19. As of today, we have no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in our care center. 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).

Window Visits: As the weather warms up, some of you have asked us how to go about doing window visits. Call activities to schedule an appointment ahead of time so we can help residents use the phone. Resident windows may not be opened for visits. 

Inside Visits: Last week, CMS released new recommendations regarding indoor visitation. We meet the criteria to accommodate indoor visitations and have indoor visitation available at two stations set up at the front entrance.  Please call Activities at 683-8106 to schedule an appointment for inside visitation.  We will take appointments for two visits at a time. All visitors are required to be screened prior to the visit.  We ask that you limit visitors to 3 at a time, and children under age 12 must be controlled by an adult. We are asking that all visitors and residents continue to use appropriate hand hygiene, masks and social distancing, however residents who have had their vaccinations can decide if they would like to share physical contact with their visitors and can choose do so.  Inside visits appointment times may vary based on demand, we may set limitations so all residents have access to the stations.

Outside visits: We can do outside visits anytime that weather is appropriate, but we are asking they be scheduled ahead of time. Please call activities to coordinate. While we can accommodate  inside and outside visits, outdoor visits are preferred when the weather is appropriate because of the ventilation and reduced risk of spreading infectious diseases.