PRESS RELEASE – Beacon Hill at Eastgate takes precautionary measures to protect residents from the Coronavirus (Covid-19)

Preventive Actions Differ Among Independent Living Residents and  those in Assisted Living, Memory Care and Skilled Nursing

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – March 14, 2020 . . .

Prompted by the discovery of five individuals with coronavirus (COVID-19) in Kent County and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s declaration of emergency to prevent the spread of the virus in our state, Jeff Huegli, President and CEO of Beacon Hill at Eastgate (Beacon Hill) has established a series of protocols to protect all 420 residents and the 225 employees at its facilities in Grand Rapids.

Due to their increased vulnerability to the virus, stricter precautions will be implemented for residents living in the assisted living, memory care and skilled nursing residences. Those actions for residents who have symptoms of the virus include:

• Requiring residents to stay in their own apartments
• Monitoring them and checking their symptoms daily
• Delivering meals to their apartments in disposable dishes
• Suspending their housekeeping services
• Requiring all persons who came in contact with the resident within the previous 14 days to be contacted and interviewed

For all residents in assisted living, memory care, or skilled nursing, regardless of exhibiting any symptoms of the virus, the following precautions will be taken:

• No one will be allowed to visit residents who live in the 1845 residence, which includes individuals in assisted living, memory care, and skilled nursing.
• Canceling all external events

For those Beacon Hill residents who are in independent living the following precautions have been taken:

• External events have been cancelled or postponed
• Communal events will be cancelled
• Internal events will be limited to gatherings of ten people or less
• If residents do not exhibit any symptoms of the virus, they will not be restricted from leaving Beacon Hill.
• If a resident does have symptoms, then Beacon Hill is asking the following:
  • Requesting that residents remain in their apartment
  • Allowing only essential staff into their apartment
  • Providing services to residents in their apartment

For the families or those responsible for Beacon Hill residents, Beacon Hill requests the following:

• Restricting visits to residents for only healthy visitors
• Agreeing to undergo COVID-19 screening
• Abiding by visiting hours – Monday through Friday, 9am to 8pm and arranging for visits outside these hours with the Infection Preventionist with a call during regular business hours.

Beacon Hill also asks that any visitor who experiences symptoms to contact Beacon Hill to report this. Beacon Hill will then interview the individual to learn with whom they had contact, when they visited, when the symptoms began and did they have a potential exposure to COVID-19.

Concern for Beacon Hill employees also drove the organization to issue the following:

• Beacon Hill is not restricting its employees from domestic travel, but is discouraging international travel.

• If an employee travels to any of the countries listed by the Center for Disease Control as high risk, they must not return to work until after 14 days upon return to the United States.
• All employees returning from vacation or an extended leave from work will be required to pass the COVID-19 screening. This will be conducted by phone with the department manager. Managers are trained to complete the screenings. If a concern is identified, the employees will contact their physician to review further.
• Employees may return to work 14 days after exposure to the virus.

The Kent County Health Department is recommending people utilize telehealth monitoring for individuals who may feel that they have contracted the virus and advise that they go to this Spectrum Health website for more detailed information: https://www.spectrumhealth.org/covid19

For updated information on how Beacon Hill is preparing for the COVID-19, visit http://www.beaconhillgr.org/covid-19.

Beacon Hill at Eastgate is home, family, and security, dedicated to engaging seniors in an active and fulfilling retirement. Its state-of-the-art campus is a continuing care retirement community offering expanded services with an emphasis on rehabilitation and serving residents suffering from dementia. Beacon Hill integrates a more highly defined service model characterized by best practices in the areas of social and clinical services with excellence in hospitality. 

For more information about Beacon Hill at Eastgate or the precautionary measures it is establishing to protect its residents from the coronavirus (COVID-19) please contact our dedicated hotline at (616) 734-9544.

Press contact is Mary McLoughlin at (616) 698-0748 or mary.t.mcloughlin2015@gmail.com.

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