Arkansas City PMMA employee tests COVID-19 positive 6/22/20
A second Arkansas City Presbyterian Manor non-direct resident care employee tested positive this week for COVID-19. The employee is in isolation and quarantined at home.
“Our top priority continues to be the safety of our residents and staff members,” said Jeanne Gerstenkorn, PMMA’s infection preventionist and vice president for health and wellness.
The employee last worked June 17. The employee was sent home after reporting feeling unwell.
Our medical director, Dr. Paul Klassen, in consultation with the Cowley County Health Department, recommends testing all employees and residents for COVID-19 this week. The community will follow any additional guidance from the health department, and all local, state and federal agencies have been notified.
Both employees who tested positive will remain in isolation until cleared to work by the health department. Per CDC guidelines, team members may return to work once they have been symptom free for 72 hours without the aid of a fever reducer and demonstrate improvement in respiratory symptoms, and at least 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared. Upon their return to work, we will follow CDC recommendations related to work practices and restrictions.
Families and residents’ physicians have been called to alert them to the potential exposure and notify them of the planned testing.
Arkansas City Presbyterian Manor implemented a strict no visitor policy at the community and discontinued group activities and communal dining for the entire campus per guidelines released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the CDC on March 13.
We encourage all staff members to follow CDC guidelines and best practices as these are continually updated. We have been screening employees as they enter the community building for a shift and before employees have any direct contact with residents. We educate all employees to stay at home if they are experiencing symptoms of a respiratory illness or not feeling well.
For more information about Arkansas City Presbyterian Manor’s response, go to PMMA’s (Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America’s) website, presbyterianmanors.org/media-room.
