Senior citizens have been one of the hardest hit demographics during the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to some of residents’ vulnerabilities like age and underlying health conditions, nursing homes have had to lock down and enforce tight guidelines in their residential communities.
With the holiday season here, nursing homes have also had to tackle the challenge of making it a special time given that many of their residents have had to be away from their families for several months now.
The News-Times reached out to several local nursing home facilities in the area and many are working to do just that — implement plans to make this Christmas season a bright and cheery one for their clients.
Hudson Memorial Nursing Home:
“We’ve had Santa Claus come and visit. We’ve gone up and down the halls singing Christmas carols for our residents,” Carolyn Merritt, administrator of Hudson Memorial said. “Santa Claus visited each resident and gave them their present, snacks. We’ve had carolers come to the window and sing to the residents. Kindred Hospice came and allowed residents to pick out and wrap gifts to send to their loved one. We took pictures with the residents in front of the fireplace and had them paint the frames so those too can be sent to loved one for the holiday.”
Visitors are still not allowed to come to Hudson Memorial. Residents can choose to visit their families but the facility does discourage leaving, because residents will have to quarantine for 14 days before being allowed back into the community, Merritt said.
However, everyone at Hudson Memorial will be receiving a late Christmas present next week; their first batch of COVID-19 vaccines will arrive, and Merritt said they are excited to start the vaccination process for residents.
“The Willow, a florist in Smackover, donated flowers to each of our residents,” Merritt shared. “The community paid for the materials but The Willow donated the flowers and put together the arrangements and gave one to each of our residents; they were so excited to get those.”
Merritt concluded by saying how impressed she’s been with her nursing home community during these challenging times.
Advanced Health and Rehab of Union County:
“We went to the Christmas Parade, we had a Christmas party with Santa Claus and we’re having eggnog and doing ‘The Night Before Christmas’ on Christmas Eve,” Stephanie Watson, activity director for Advanced Health said. “We also try to play Christmas music every morning to make the residents feel festive. We also had a special dinner for our residents, Santa Claus took each resident a gift and we gave them a nice dinner plate.”
Stephanie Waston concluded with a special message for the residents and families of Advanced Health. “All the staff at Advanced Health and Rehab will like for the residents to know that we love them, we’re here for them and we are in it for the long haul.”
Courtyard Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center:
“We had a house party and we’re letting some families visit, in a controlled environment; they have to follow the rules, sign an affidavit, and agree to not touch or hug, but we wanted our residents to be able to have that face to face interaction and conversation,” David Lewis, administrator of Courtyard Healthcare said. “We’ve bought all the residents a surgical mask with a snowman on it for the holidays for them to wear around as well.”
Lewis also shared that Courtyard Healthcare will be starting the COVID-19 vaccination process with residents on Jan. 5, 2021.
Timberlane Health and Rehab:
“We have our facility decorated, we had Santa passing out gifts, the local ROTC brought in gifts for everybody, and The Willow florist brought in flowers for everybody,” Toni Holderfield, administrator of Timberlane Health said. “We will also be having a traditional Christmas lunch on Friday.”
Holderfield said Timberlane Health is allowing visitors to come, but they have to make an appointment ahead of time and follow the COVID-19 guidelines outlined for the facility.
“I just want people to know that we are providing the best care possible for our residents during a difficult time,” Holderfield said.