Pictured Back Row Left - Philip Frazier - Health Commission Board Member, Lee Frame - District 1 Board of Supervisors, Jim White - District 2 Board of Supervisors and Sam Kessler - Health Commission Board Member. Pictured Front Left- Deanne Marshall - Health Commission Board Member, Pam Doshier - Executive Director of Dogwood Village and Patty Talley - Director of Customer & Community Relations at Dogwood Village.
Dogwood Village has accomplished an amazing task since March of 2020 as residents have remained COVID-19 free throughout the pandemic. As you can imagine, this was not an easy task while the county positivity rate climbed higher and higher and healthcare facilities were reporting new cases daily near the facility. As we were facing many challenges with obtaining PPE, hand sanitizer and cleaning products we knew that we could not fall victim to this horrible disease. We quickly found ways to get what we needed and educated staff on protecting themselves and the residents. Screening, testing and travel restrictions were initiated, and staff worked diligently to keep the residents safe.
As the information was shared about COVID-19 restrictions in long term care and assisted living facilities, the community began offering support to both residents and staff. We were blessed with many generous contributions of food, face masks, cards, letters and hand sanitizer. Family members, residents and staff were made aware of CMS, CDC and VDH recommendations as everyone worked together to keep the facility COVID-19 free. Residents were reassured as they were able to communicate with family and friends with window visits, facetime as well as visitation booths despite the restrictions.
Throughout the pandemic, staff and residents were provided education on appropriate infection control practices to include social distancing, appropriate PPE and hand sanitizing as well as the importance of daily screening. Testing for COVID-19 was instrumental in identifying any individual who could have possibly been exposed to the virus. Weekly meetings were held to collaborate on matters as changes were made in protocol for healthcare facilities. All departments worked together to assure that residents were not only safe, but that their physical and emotional needs were a priority. Compassionate care visits were offered for those residents who were nearing end of life as well as those who were struggling with emotional distress related to the lack of family support and recent losses.
The teamwork has been truly amazing as well as the dedication by staff to stay well in order to care for the residents. We are blessed to have leadership who went the extra mile to obtain needed resources needed to combat this disease. Thankfully, visitation has been reinstated allowing family and friends to visit residents both indoors and outside. The vaccine has also given us hope for normalcy once again. We all pray that our residents and staff stay well as we remain diligent with our efforts to keep our residents COVID-19 free.
Dogwood Village Health and Rehabilitation was selected as one of America’s best nursing homes for 2021 by Newsweek and global data research firm Statista. The rankings identified the top 400 facilities across 20 states. Dogwood was ranked in the top 10 facilities for Virginia and is one of the 7 percent of the facilities in the state where residents remain COVID-19 free.
Learn More Visit the Website, https://www.dogwoodvillageocva.org/