COVINGTON, Ky. — Rosedale Green, a senior living facility in Covington, is teaming up with St. Elizabeth and the NKY Health Department after 33 of their residents tested positive for COVID-19.
The positive cases have come over the course of five weeks, but out of an abundance of caution for the at-risk residents living in the home, St. Elizabeth Healthcare will be admitting all positive Rosedale Green patients needing hospitalization to its Ft. Thomas facility, where it has an Infectious Disease Response Team dedicated to treating COVID-19 positive patients.
This is in accordance with a plan formed in early March by the NKY Health Department and St. Elizabeth Healthcare.
"Our three teams have implemented a plan that was developed in early March to provide treatment for COVID19 positive patients and to mitigate the chances of further spread inside the building," said Gary Blank, executive vice president and chief operating officer of St. Elizabeth Healthcare, in a press release. "Our St. Elizabeth and Rosedale Green teams are currently taking precautions as if all residents are COVID-19 positive until we know differently, and we are providing care inside the Rosedale Green building using the same personal protective equipment (PPE) and infection control protocols that we use at our hospitals."
St. Elizabeth will also help Rosedale Green with disinfection and sterilization resources to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 within the senior living community, which has a capacity of 176 beds.
Other steps taking place to assist Rosedale Green include the following:
- Separating residents based on exposure and symptoms.
- Testing residents and employees, as needed.
- Providing additional clinical staffing support as needed.
“We put into place countless proactive measures, some prior to local and state requirements, in order to prevent the spread of this virus and monitor all of our residents and staff,” shared Londa Knollman, executive director of Rosedale Green, said in a press release. “More than five weeks ago we implemented visitor restrictions, isolation protocols, temperature screening for residents and staff, and mandatory requirements of personal protective equipment use.”
Rosedale Green said, given the number of positive COVID-19 cases within the residence, it expects there will be more positive cases in the future. In anticipation of this, the senior living facility will continue to work with the NKY Health Department and St. Elizabeth to treat positive cases, quarantine those showing symptoms and work to prevent further spread as much as possible.
