4 employees, 3 residents test positive this week for COVID-19 at Blue Mt. Care Center
By Logan Bagett on Friday, March 12th, 2021 in Eastern/Southeast Oregon News More Top Stories
PRAIRIE CITY – (Press release from Community Counseling Solutions)
Grant County Health Department (GCHD) and Blue Mountain Hospital District (BMHD) are announcing the recent test results of Blue Mountain Care Center’s (BMCC) COVID-19 testing program for employees and residents.
BMCC has had seven positive COVID-19 test results this week. Four of the seven positive results are employees and three are residents. These positive test results are a component of a required testing program mandated by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Due to the results of these positive tests, BMCC will be listed on the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) COVID-19 Weekly Report, which summarizes long-term care facilities with three or more positive tests over a 28 day period. Following state protocol, the facility will not admit or re-admit residents until they have received written approval by the Safety Oversight and Quality Unit of the Oregon Health Authority. We have reason to believe that these positive test results were a result of increased community spread occurring in the last two weeks.
BMCC continues to take numerous steps to maintain staff and resident safety and reduce the transmission of COVID-19, including:
• Social distancing and hand hygiene
• Suspension of communal activities that cannot maintain social distancing
• Temperature checks and screening for symptoms upon facility entry
• Limitation of facility entry to employees and essential individuals
• Suspension of in-house visitation except for compassionate care situations
o Visitation options such as window visits and video conferencing have been implemented
• Twice weekly testing of staff and residents as CMS regulations dictate
• Assessing residents every shift for symptoms
• Proper wearing of masks and eye protection while in facility
• Enhanced sanitation procedures using approved solutions for cleaning and disinfecting
• Ongoing infection control education
Communication to BMCC residents, families and employees regarding the status of positive cases is ongoing.
BMCC and GCHD continue to work collaboratively surrounding COVID-19 and continue to actively monitor our testing program and public health guidelines for long-term care facilities.
