Wichita Presbyterian Manor releases COVID-19 test results
One new case of COVID-19 was detected at Wichita Presbyterian Manor this week.
Test results for residents in assisted living, memory care, health care and PATH® (Post-Acute to Home) short-term rehabilitation were negative in testing January 18.
The community conducted two rounds of employee surveillance testing Monday, January 18, and Wednesday, January 20. One essential health care employee tested positive in Monday’s round of testing. The employee, who works in the health care center, last worked January 18. The employee passed pre-shift screening and wore personal protective equipment as required. Through contact tracing, two residents have been identified as possible close contacts with a risk for exposure. Those residents will quarantine as a precaution.
The employees are quarantining at home and will not be allowed to work until they meet CDC and KDHE guidelines for when an employee may return to work. Under the current guidelines, symptomatic employees may return to work when at least 72 hours have passed since resolution of the employee’s fever without the use of fever-reducing medications and the employee’s symptoms have improved and at least 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared. Asymptomatic positive employees will quarantine for at least 10 days. Upon the employee’s return to work, we will follow CDC recommendations related to work practices and restrictions.
Our focus remains on ensuring the well-being of our residents and employees. We continue to follow all guidance related to patient care, employee safety, and efforts to reduce the spread of COVID-19, as provided by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). We are working closely with Jeanne Gerstenkorn, PMMA’s infection preventionist and vice president for health and wellness, in implementing our Emergent Infectious Disease (EID) Outbreak Management Plan.
This week’s test results mark two weeks with no positive resident tests in assisted living or memory care. We will discontinue testing in those areas. Resident testing in the health care center and PATH will continue weekly until two rounds of testing with no new positive cases has been completed.
The Sedgwick County Health Department and Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) Epidemiology Hotline have been notified. We will continue regular surveillance testing of employees Monday, January 25. Based on our county positivity rate for COVID-19 tests, our campus is testing employees twice a week.
All residents and employees are encouraged to follow CDC guidelines and best practices as these are continually updated. The community regularly reinforces with all staff that an employee should not report to work if he or she is experiencing symptoms of a respiratory illness or not feeling well.
As the COVID-19 vaccine becomes available, it should play an instrumental role in eventually moving toward resuming our normal operations. We are excited to offer our first vaccine clinic for residents and employees today. Every person who receives the vaccine will strengthen the protection for all residents, staff and the community at-large. As the vaccine becomes more widely available, PMMA strongly encourages our families, employees and residents to carefully consider obtaining a vaccine for themselves as well as their loved ones.
For more information about Wichita Presbyterian Manor’s response, go to PMMA’s (Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America’s) website, presbyterianmanors.org/media-room.
