Thompson House: Rehabilitation and Nursing Center - Residential Care in Brattleboro Vermont

A letter to family and friends of Thompson House from our administrator (July 3, 2020)

Dear Friends,

As you know, we’ve recently begun strictly-regulated outdoor resident visits at Thompson House. While we absolutely cheer this opportunity to reunite family and friends, our solitary focus – before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic — is the safety of our residents.

For this reason, and under the direction of state and federal guidelines, we have enacted a number of policies that, while neither optimal nor convenient for many, will safeguard the health and welfare of all.

**FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS**

  1. Why can I only visit during specific times? Guidance from both the Centers for Disease Control and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid requires us to visually monitor all visits. A designated member of the caregiving team needs to first greet visitors outdoors, instruct them in proper procedure, and then physically monitor the visits for as long as 30 minutes to ensure that infection control practices are maintained. These strict visit times allow us to provide early morning and afternoon care to our nursing residents with a full complement of caregivers.
  2. Why can I only make appointments the day before, and during specific times? Again, our primary objective is resident safety and comfort. As such, appointments are only taken at certain times, and visits are scheduled during prescribed hours, so we may staff accordingly and not draw caregivers away from their duties with residents.
  3. Why are the hours different for Residential Care? While located in the same building as the 43-bed nursing facility, the 12-room Thompson Residential Home is a wholly distinct entity governed by different state and federal regulations and with its own, separate staff. The visitation requirements are the same, however, which means that additional staff must be scheduled to facilitate visits; double-staffing five days a week is simply not feasible.

None of us foresaw the novel coronavirus pandemic that we find ourselves facing, yet here we are. And while much has been learned in the nearly four months since we reluctantly closed our doors to family and friends, much is still unknown. What we do know, however, is that our residents — your husbands and wives, moms and dads, aunts and uncles – are most likely to catch the virus if exposed to it and most likely to perish if sickened by it.

Please understand that we are keenly aware that you desperately miss seeing your loved ones and that we are doing our best to make that happen safely. Please review the COVID-19 Visitation Protocols prior to making your appointment and check back regularly for updates.

Sincerely,

Dane A. Rank, Administrator