Dear Family and Friends,

As of today, we have no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in our care center. Our care center continues to test staff weekly. Our care center is no longer in point prevalence testing and we have resumed communal dining, small group activities, the beauty shop has reopened and plan to resume indoor visits soon! We are following recommendations from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

This week, Minnesota is beginning a new COVID-19 vaccine pilot program. There will be nine vaccine sites that will serve persons 65 years of age and older as well as prek-12th grade educators, school staff, and child care workers. All appointments available for the nine sites were immediately booked. These sites will begin administering vaccines at the end of this week.

We are thrilled to see the enthusiasm and determination of our community to be vaccinated and help protect our most vulnerable from the COVID-19 virus. The CDC has released data proving that this Pandemic has disproportionately affected seniors. From May 2020 to August 2020, 78% of COVID-19 deaths were aged 65 and older. As a reminder, our care center will be hosting 3 separate clinics for vaccinations for our staff and residents. Any residents or staff members who were unable to attend the first clinic are encouraged to attend the 2nd and 3rd clinics for their free vaccinations. Our next clinic is on January 27th.

Looking for ways to help? We have a variety of positions available with flexible scheduling and on the job training. For more information or to apply, visit www.jobswithus.org.

Don’t forget to get your flu shot this season to help protect our community. Please follow our Facebook page (@Franciscan Health Center) or our website (www.sfhs.org) for all COVID updates and information on what is happening inside our care center. Please do not hesitate to reach out to Brittany Loosbrock, Administrator, at 952-239-6638 if you have any questions or concerns.