McCandless, Pa. — The Vincentian Home, a retirement community in McCandless, is working to keep its residents and staff safe amid the coronavirus pandemic. It is also working to help those who have tested positive to get back on their feet.
The facility has dedicated an entire wing to care for patients who have contracted the coronavirus. The re-purposed space is called the COVID-19 Isolation Unit.
It’s physically separate from the rest of the campus, with a set of infection control risk assessment isolation doors.
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There are even negative pressure air machines that filter the air inside the private 14 private-room unit, so it’s not recirculated into the rest of the facility.
And there are specific nurses and staff who only tend to that space as the pandemic plays out.
No residents in their system have the virus, but they are currently caring for two positive COVID-19 patients who came from area hospitals outside of the Vincentian facility.
Those patients required extended post-recovery care, so they took them into the COVID-19 Isolation Unit.
“It’s the mission of Vincentian to care for this population and we know that they’re very vulnerable, and we wanna make sure we’re good partners to our acute care hospitals also,” said Patty Embree, chief operating officer and vice president of innovation of Vincentian Home said.
The nurses and nurses aides who work in the COVID-19 isolation unit follow strict guidelines and sanitizing practices before and after their shifts.
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