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Surrounded by COVID, Hartford assisted living facility has managed to keep virus out

"We did a lot of work to make sure that we were ahead of the curve."

HARTFORD, Conn. —  The COVID-19 pandemic has had tragic consequences for the vulnerable and frail nursing home population. But what about those in assisted living facilities? The quick and early action of the staff at The Retreat in Hartford may have saved lives. "We did a lot of work to make sure that we were ahead of the curve," said Heidi Lubetkin. She's the Vice President for Clinical & Support Services for the Community Renewal Team.

The six floor 100 resident facility at The Retreat provides supplemental housing to the low-income elderly in need of medical support. They sub-contract with Utopia Homecare and have five nurses and 30 certified nursing assistants. "So bathing, dressing, medication," explained Lubetkin.

At The Retreat, safety starts at the front door where packages get sterilized. "So if someone has a delivery we spray it with disinfectant. We let it dry for 15 minutes and then we deliver it to our residents," she said. Instead of mail getting delivered individually, "We have them drop the mail here and we sort all the mail."

Upon entering the lobby you are met with a hand sanitizing station and everyone gets a health screening. "A screening for residents and visitors. We take their temperature and ask them the screening questions that have been advised through the CDC." March 10th is when Heidi Lubetkin and her team started aggressive virus mitigation, and it’s been working. "As of right this moment, we have no positives in our building," she said. No one is even suspected of being positive.

They are doing more, with less. Assisted living facilities are not regulated in the same way as nursing homes and they don’t access to the same sourcing of personal protective equipment. "Examples of that is the federal stockpile for PPE. We’re not traditionally able to apply for PPE support. The support for skilled nursing facilities for rapid testing services...we are not as easily able to get testing," explained Lubetkin.

They’ve closed the facility store, blocked off the Internet cafe with caution tape and have switched to virtual visitation and tele-health. Heidi knows their work isn’t over yet. "This is not a sprint. This is a marathon. We need to take care of the folks who we are in charge to take care of. We need to appreciate those who are caring for others to make sure we are caring for ourselves and to know that this will be over," she told FOX61.

The Retreat in Hartford is one of only four subsided living facilities in the state. It’s owned and operated by the Community Renewal Team, which also operates meals on wheels.

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