(updated July 7, 2020)

To all of our valued customers,

We know caring for a loved one is vitally important at this time.  We want to keep your family safe, while still giving caregiving, companionship and daily living assistance. And, we are keenly aware of the challenges of keeping our patients/clients, who are a population with increased risk of severe illness, safe and protected while still providing comfort and care. We are open to serve you, now more than ever, because we know you truly need us as an essential service!

We wanted to take a moment to assure you that we put our customers’, patients’ and employees’ health above all else. We have been watching the recommendations laid out by OSHA, WHO, the CDC and our industry daily, and are taking many precautions to keep everyone safe. The following policies have now been put in place:

1. We are asking every client household that is not already known by us to be Covid-19 positive to please advise us if anyone in the household has had a fever, cough, sore throat, congestion, runny nose, fatigue, muscle pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, lost of taste or smell, is feeling ill, has been exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 (the virus responsible for Covid-19). We are also asking households if they have been outside of the home in the last 14 days without following all CDC recommended guidelines (ie maintaining social distancings, wearing a mask, frequent handwashing, wearing gloves, etc). If any of these apply to you and you still need or wish to have services in your home by our staff, we will treat the home and/or client(s) as if they are Covid-19 positive.  If any of these apply to you, and you can suspend services for a time, we ask you please reschedule your services until 14 days after the last exposure or onset of symptoms, or 7 days after the last symptoms, whichever is greater. If anyone was Covid-19 positive and is believed recovered, we will ask if you will be tested and share negative test results. (We will continue to follow HIPAA guidelines within the parameters of any other current laws as they relate to the reporting of Sars-Coronavirus-2.

2. No employee is allowed to work if they are ill, if anyone in their household is ill, or if they have knowingly been exposed to SARS-CoV-2. If they have had any unprotected exposure, they are to discontinue work and urged to follow the CDC recommended guidelines for self-isolation or quarantine for up to 14-days. If they become ill, they are urged to follow the CDC Guidelines for “If You Are Sick," and “When You Can Be Around Others." If an employee is positively diagnosed with Covid-19, or is suspected of having it, we will notify any clients or other employees if they may have had exposure if there was an interaction within 14 days without proper protection procedures, or if they had any contact with the employee within 48 hours of symptoms.  We will also report to any required governmental entities.

3. Effective immediately, every employee will be required to practice social distancing while working as much as practical, and we are requiring they wear 3-ply non-woven/melt-blown mask or acceptable healthcare worker alternative and gloves during every patient interaction to lessen the probability of contamination for both our clients and employees. If they are treating any Covid-19 positive clients, they will be required to wear a N95 mask (or CDC acceptable alternative for Healthcare Workers), gloves, eye protection, and disposable gown. While we are ordering PPE (personal protective equipment) almost daily, receiving them is another story.  We are happy to say we have an ample supply for now.  However, should we run out of masks, we will contact our clients and give them the option of rescheduling.

4. Employees will be required to use Alcohol hand sanitizer of 60% strength or above immediately before entering a home. They will also wash their hands in your home for 20 seconds before donning gloves, and will wash for 20 seconds just before leaving your home.

5. Employees will need to take their temperature and have it read within normal range before each shift.

6. Our employees are attending numerous in-services to educate them on the facts regards SARS-CoV-2 and Covid-19, the risks involved in providing care for low risk or high probability clients, how to evaluate their risk, how to stay protected, how to clean properly, and their rights, which include their right not to work if they feel unsafe.

7. We are asking employees to take a little extra time in their own homes to frequently clean remote controls, alarm and thermostat pads, switches toilet handles and so on, as well as asking clients to do the same. Hand sanitizer is still difficult to keep in stock.  Therefore, we are asking clients if we can use their sanitizers, soap and disinfectants if there are areas our caregivers need to clean in the client’s home.

8. We are following the CDC guidelines closely and will communicate any changes to our policies as their recommendations change.  Here are a few helpful links to FAQs about Covid-19:

• CDC – 15 Days to Slow the Spread of Covid-19
• How to keep a home with a Covid-19 person clean – for homeowners
• How to keep homes with a Covid-19 person clean – for facilities
• WHO World Health Organization Covid-19 Q&A

Also, for added protection in your home, or if you also have a business, now might be a great time to schedule a regular or deep cleaning using cdc recommended guidelines, as an added layer of protection.  Our cleaning division is actively protecting homes and business, and are even offering an Electrostatic Disinfection process as an added layer of protection (not in place of other CDC post exposure cleaning guidelines, but in addition to).  Here is a link to our main commercial cleaning services page, as well as our residential cleaning services.

If you have any questions regarding these new policies or anything else regarding our company, please feel free to give us a call. We are a very resilient nation and State. These are truly uncharted times and we’re learning right with you as we navigate COVID–19 together. We are proud of our employees and their dedication, and we will always do what’s best for those employees and our customers.

Thank you,

Mark Finkelstein
President
IRS / CWC