Reopening! It’s a year into a global pandemic that changed nearly every aspect of how we serve seniors and we’re pleased to see a bright light at the end of the tunnel.
This winter and spring, many of our communities and Pathways PACE® centers across Nebraska and Iowa have reopened once closed amenities like wellness services, life enrichment and our beloved dining rooms and onsite restaurants. Many of those restaurants celebrated the reopening this Valentine’s Day by rolling out real red carpets and serving elegant surf and turf (lobster and steak) dinners with festive live music.
It was a celebration for residents and employees alike who have spent the last year reimagining life and taking extra safety precautions to protect their neighbors most vulnerable to the virus.
Dining experiences in particular, have been greatly missed by residents. Our onsite restaurants, cafes, bistros and dining experiences have become the setting for catching up with friends, card games, deep conversations and family get-togethers. And while our culinary team extraordinarily stepped up for packed, to-go meals, snacks and special treats door-to-door throughout the pandemic, social connection is central to dining at Immanuel.
While services continue to open, they do so safely as we remain adamantly committed to safe infection prevention practices throughout our 14 senior living and retirement living communities across Nebraska and Iowa. Our protocols, led by Dr. Fox, medical director, our onsite infection control and prevention specialists, and reviewed by state experts and governing health bodies, have been successfully keeping the COVID-19 virus from spreading and in some cases, have kept the virus out completely.
We’re proud to be leading the way to protect the seniors we serve since first learning of this pandemic over a year ago. Beyond effective protocols, our seniors were among the first senior living residents to receive the COVID-19 vaccine through onsite clinics. And residents and staff at Immanuel Fontenelle received vaccines the day the 100 millionth vaccine was distributed, an historic event for the pandemic.
A benefit of living at Immanuel, this early access to the vaccines and great support from residents and employees in receiving them, mean restaurants and other services can safely reopen that much faster. Although reopening services continues to be highly regulated by greater community positivity rates and regulations from Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the incredible work from our teams and support from residents have made a big difference in keeping infection rates low, even non-existent in some cases inside our communities.
Services continue to reopen throughout our campuses, each following their own guidelines per county COVID-19 positivity rates. And, with many seniors having access to vaccines, new residents are continuously moving in and enjoying life at Immanuel.
Virtual and in-person tours are now available at all our communities offering 55+ active living, independent living, assisted living, skilled nursing and long-term care, and memory support. Learn more and speak with a senior living expert at our Immanuel Communities home page.
And learn more about how we’re continuously updating our COVID-19 prevention practices and safely reopening communities through our updated response timeline and phased reopening guides, newly updated and available at our COVID-19 dedicated response website.