Dear Sholom residents, tenants, staff and families,
In keeping with our commitment to transparency, I wanted to provide an update regarding Sholom’s position in the fight against COVID-19.
As of today, our Shaller Family Sholom East Campus in St. Paul has eight resident and five staff confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 at Chapman Sholom Home East. Weinberg Apartments, Bentson Assisted Living and Phillips Center for Memory Care have no cases at this time.
At the Ackerberg Family Sholom West Campus in St. Louis Park, at Sholom Home West, there have been eight resident and four staff positive cases with five deaths due to COVID-19. Menorah Plaza has had one resident positive case and that resident has passed away. At Roitenberg Family Assisted Living, there are three resident and two staff positives with two deaths. At Roitenberg’s Hodroff Memory Care we have experienced 13 resident and three staff positives with four resident deaths and one staff death. Many of these positive cases at Roitenberg will be completing their required quarantine period very soon. Knollwood Place Apartments and Menorah West have no cases at this time.
For the most up to date information, please refer to www.sholom.com and click on the link: Sholom’s COVID-19 numbers.
The new Stay Safe directive from Governor Walz takes initial steps to re-open Minnesota, but the spread of the COVID-19 virus is only anticipated to grow in the weeks ahead. Our mission to protect our residents and staff remains our priority. We value the health and safety of our residents and staff and remain committed to taking all precautionary measures to protect them from this virus. Because our residents are at high-risk for COVID-19 infection, federal and state guidelines restrict us from relaxing rules for visiting and other group activities at this time.
For our Adult Day program participants and Vitality Center Members, we are seeking clarification and guidance from the Minnesota Department of Human Services on how this new directive from Governor Tim Walz affects our ability to re-open our adult day centers and the vitality center. Until that is received, our adult day centers and the vitality center will remain temporarily closed.
Accompanying the Stay Safe directive, Governor Walz has amplified the statewide testing strategy with a focus on nursing homes and assisted livings. The state’s goal is to conduct 10,000 tests each day starting next week and to test all residents and staff in nursing homes and assisted living environments over the next few weeks. We welcome the statewide testing strategy focused on senior care. We are working in collaboration with Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) in implementing this strategy at Sholom’s locations and we will have more information about specifics for Sholom from MDH in the very near future.
As senior care settings continue to be a “hot spot” for outbreaks of COVID-19, we must take all appropriate steps to ensure that our residents and staff are safe from the transmission of this virus. Again, until we receive further clarification from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), visitor restrictions remain in place.
We, like you, are anxious for a return to normalcy where visitors are warmly welcomed in our settings and our personal touch of warm smiles and human touch are not masked or guarded. Please understand this is a difficult time for all concerned. We are actively working on our plans to re-open our locations and will keep you posted on that progress in the week ahead.
If you have specific questions about the coronavirus related to your loved one, please contact your campus administrator. We are dedicated to being responsive with transparency.
With warmest regard for your health, safety and well-being,
Barbara Klick, RN, MBA
Sholom CEO
