Updated December 31, 2020

Dear Sholom residents, tenants, staff and families,

The vaccine is nearly here!  We’re excited to announce that CVS Health is gearing up to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine very soon. We expect to start residents and staff vaccinations at both the St. Paul location and our St. Louis Park locations the first week in January.  As soon as we have additional information about vaccinations coming to other specific buildings at Sholom from CVS Health, our pharmacy partner, we will communicate that information to you.

Sholom is advocating for all our residents, tenants and staff to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.  At this time, we are waiting for final approval from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Minnesota Department of Health and as soon as we have final confirmation, we will communicate what we have learned.

Here are the details of our Resident Vaccination Plan:

• There will be no cost to you for the vaccine. There is an administration fee for the injection that will be billed to your insurance or the state of Minnesota.
• You’ll need two shots with 21-28 days in between for it to be effective.
• If you’ve had COVID-19, you should still receive the vaccination.
• Some people have had a sore arm, mild aches and fever after getting the injection, but you cannot be infected by COVID-19 through the vaccination. These types of side-effects are more common with the second injection but not as common with the first injection. It’s important you receive both injections.

Residents, tenants and families may want to know if visitation policies or mask requirements will change for those who get vaccinated. It is important to explain that all facility residents and staff will need to continue following CDC guidance to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in healthcare settings.  We will also receive direction from our federal and state officials on this topic and will keep you posted.

Our Chief Operating Officer and Corporate Clinical Director recently hosted informational sessions about the COVID-19 vaccine and answered your questions live. In case you missed the live event, webinar replays are available.  December 28th  REPLAY or December 29th  REPLAY and Webinar presentation materials.

We have prepared a Frequently Asked Questions document to help you understand more about why the vaccine is so important in defeating COVID-19. Please visit our website and click on the COVID-19 information at the top of the page.

Please continue to stop the spread of COVID-19 with your vigilant adherence to mask wearing, physical distancing, handwashing and remaining at home as much as possible during this recent surge in cases of coronavirus around the holiday season.  We understand many people are weary of the COVID-19 restrictions,  however, it is even more important than ever to continue with these restrictions as the cases in Minnesota have dramatically increased in recent weeks.  Remember, our lives are in each other’s hands.

Because our surrounding counties’ COVID-19 positivity rates are over 10%, Sholom continues with visitation restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19.  We continue the required twice weekly COVID-19 testing for residents and staff in our skilled care centers and weekly outbreak based testing in our housing locations until area COVID positivity rates drop below 10% and we have two consecutive weeks with no additional COVID-19 positive results.

At this time, the St. Louis Park Ackerberg Campus, which includes Sholom Home West, Roitenberg Family Assisted Living, Hodroff Pavilion for Memory Care, Knollwood Place Apartments, Menorah West and Menorah Plaza along with Chapman Sholom Home East in St. Paul remain under visitation restrictions.  Essential caregivers and compassionate care visits are only allowed on a case by case basis at these Sholom locations at this time. If you are an essential caregiver or compassionate caregiver, our interdisciplinary team will be reviewing the services you provide to determine if internal staff can perform services temporarily in order to further protect our seniors at Sholom. Window and outdoor visits are allowed at Bentson Family Assisted Living, Phillips Center for Memory Care and Weinberg Apartments at our St. Paul location.

At our St. Louis Park location, Sholom Home West has three staff members with active, positive COVID-19.  Roitenberg Family Assisted Living has one  staff member with COVID-19.  Knollwood Place Apartments has one staff member with COVID-19. Hodroff Pavilion for Memory Care, Menorah Plaza and Menorah West have no active COVID-19 resident or staff cases.

Our Shaller Family Sholom East Campus in St. Paul has two residents and three staff members with confirmed cases of COVID-19 at Shirley Chapman Sholom Home East. Bentson Family Assisted Living, Phillips Center for Memory Care and Weinberg Apartments has no active cases of COVID-19 in staff or residents. Our homecare and hospice team has one client with active, positive COVID-19.

For the most up to date information, please refer to www.sholom.com and click on the COVID link at the top of the page.

Our priority is to keep everyone safe and healthy. The news of a vaccine gives us hope for a new chapter to our fight against this virus. I am so appreciative of the support and cooperation you all have given us during these past nine tough months. Thank you for your commitment to our community. Together, we’re moving toward a COVID-free future.

Barbara Klick, RN, MBA, Sholom CEO