Lyngblomsten’s Year-in-Review with COVID-19

January 5, 2021

Lyngblomsten and hundreds of other senior care facilities across the country have spent much—if not all, seemingly—of 2020 responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.  While it has brought numerous hardships for everyone connected with Lyngblomsten, it has also revealed people’s best qualities—dedication, teamwork, compassion, patience, understanding, adaptability, and sacrifice, to name a few.

As we look forward to brighter days in 2021, we are providing this summary of our journey with COVID-19 in 2020.

Lyngblomsten responded quickly to implement guidance

With the news that the novel coronavirus had reached Minnesota, Lyngblomsten leadership acted quickly to preserve the health and safety of its residents, tenants, and staff.  Following guidelines from federal and state health agencies, we instituted a number of measures to mitigate the potential introduction and spread of the virus on our St. Paul campus.  These measures included screening residents and staff daily for symptoms of the virus, requiring everyone to wear facemasks, and disinfecting commonly used surfaces more frequently.

By far the most difficult policy we enacted was restricting visitors to our campus.  At first, we were only able to allow visitors into our buildings for compassionate care situations and to provide medically necessary treatments.  As knowledge of the virus evolved, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) approved additional visiting options for residents and tenants, including Outdoor Visits and Essential Caregiver Visits.  A multidisciplinary team of staff worked together to start these programs soon after they were authorized.  We also expanded Virtual Visits for residents, enabling them to connect with their loved ones via Skype, FaceTime, or a similar online service.  And two weeks ago, after months of conversations with MDH officials, Lyngblomsten received permission to offer indoor visits in our Newman-Benson Chapel for care center residents and their family/friends, due in large part to the chapel’s unique design.

As the year progressed, federal and state health agencies—including MDH, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)—issued new and ongoing guidance for senior care facilities.  Lyngblomsten has complied with all of these requirements.  MDH officials visited our care center building four times in 2020 for COVID-specific surveys and found no deficiencies.

Lyngblomsten tenacious for testing

Early on, we knew that frequent testing of our residents and staff would be one of the most important strategies for mitigating the potential spread of the virus.

On April 1, 2020, we collected our first COVID-19 test sample for a care center resident who was exhibiting symptoms and sent it to MDH for processing.  (The results were negative.)  Due to supply chain issues and difficulty getting testing supplies, we initially could only test residents who had symptoms.  After weeks of lobbying state legislators and working with MDH officials, private labs, and healthcare system partners, we finally received a substantial set of test kits.  On May 14, we conducted our first point prevalence survey (i.e., testing everyone on the same day) for care center residents.

Since then over the past seven months, we’ve tested care center residents nearly every week.  (The last seven weeks, we’ve tested residents twice each week per MDH guidelines.)  We also began weekly testing of tenants from our two housing buildings (the Lyngblomsten Apartments and The Heritage at Lyngblomsten) in mid-November after a staff member who tested positive potentially exposed tenants to the virus.

Another group we’ve been testing frequently is our staff.  We conducted our first point prevalence test for care center employees the week of May 18 and have continued doing so ever since, for a total of 34 weeks.  As more funds and testing supplies became available, we expanded the number of employees we were testing each week until it was available for all Lyngblomsten staff.

In total, we’ve collected more than 22,400 test samples for care center residents, housing tenants, employees (including contract staff), and essential caregivers.

Positive cases

Of course, testing reveals positive cases.  On April 25, 2020, we identified our first case of COVID-19 in an employee.  Three days later, we identified our first case in a care center resident.

Over the next month and a half, we experienced a major outbreak of the virus in the care center, reaching a high of approximately 90 cases (both residents and employees) the last week of May.  By mid-June, our number of active cases had dropped significantly, and they remained low throughout the summer and early fall until we began experiencing another (albeit smaller) outbreak in mid-October.  This second uptick in cases corresponded with an increase in cases seen across Minnesota as community spread of the virus increased.  Thankfully, our second outbreak seems to be abating, as we currently (as of January 4, 2021) have 0 active care center resident cases, 0 active tenant cases, and 4 active employee cases.

As of January 4, 2021, Lyngblomsten’s cumulative COVID-19 data since we collected our first resident test on April 1, 2020, is the following:

• CASES:  149 confirmed cases (i.e., positive for COVID-19) for care center residents, 7 confirmed cases for tenants, 168 confirmed cases for employees, 8 confirmed cases for contract staff, and 11 confirmed cases for essential caregivers.
• RECOVERIES:  112 residents, 5 tenants, and 164 employees have recovered.
• DEATHS:  37 care center resident deaths and 2 tenant deaths.
• TESTS:  6,676 tests (5,261 PCR and 1,415 antigen) tests for care center residents, 990 PCR tests for housing tenants, 14,196 tests (11,658 PCR and 2,538 antigen) for employees, and 539 tests (536 PCR and 3 antigen) for essential caregivers.  These numbers include individuals who have been tested multiple times.

We acknowledge that we have had a large number of COVID-19 cases.  Details about our campus community can provide helpful context.

• Lyngblomsten serves hundreds of older adults on its St. Paul campus each year (plus hundreds more living off campus through our Community Services).  Our care center, in fact, is the sixth largest skilled nursing facility in Minnesota with the capacity to serve 225 individuals, and our two senior housing buildings have 165 apartments.
• Lyngblomsten employs approximately 470 full- and part-time staff.  Despite substantial sacrifices employees have taken to limit their exposure outside of work, they are still exposed to the virus in the community.  Additionally, many of our employees work multiple jobs, again increasing their exposure.
• While more than 170 staff (Lyngblomsten employees and contract staff) have tested positive for the virus, these cases have been spread out over the past 10 months.  The vast majority of our staff have remained with us during the pandemic, allowing our staffing levels to remain strong, even when we were experiencing outbreaks in the spring and late fall.  Lyngblomsten has not faced staffing shortages during the pandemic, nor have we used temp agency (or “pool”) nursing services.

Vaccination brings hope

With much anticipation, we were able to partner with CVS Pharmacy to administer part one of the Moderna vaccine to care center residents, employees, and essential caregivers on December 29 and 30.  Later this month, these folks will get part two.  Also in January 2021, housing tenants and employees will be vaccinated.  This is a welcome boost coming into the new year!

Robust communications throughout the pandemic

While news of cases isn’t pleasant, Lyngblomsten has made it a point to communicate this information openly and frequently with our residents, tenants, their families, staff, and other groups throughout the pandemic.  Being transparent is a high priority for us because older adults and their families are putting their trust in us to make the best decisions we can to keep people on our campus safe and healthy.  Since March 3, 2020, our communication to these groups about COVID-19 has included:

• More than 160 letters (between two and five per week) to care center residents (hand delivered), their family contacts (via email), and employees (via email and U.S. Post)
• More than 65 letters (typically one per week) to housing tenants (hand delivered) and their family contacts (via email and U.S. Post)
• 34 weekly video conference calls for care center family members with the care center administrator and/or director of nursing

On we go!

We are forever bolstered by the sacrifices and dedication of staff, the resiliency of the older adults we serve, the collaborative spirit and adaptability of their loved ones, and the support from the community.  On the cusp of a new year, spirits are high as we embrace what lies ahead, anticipating a return to normal (or a “new normal”) during 2021.  We will remember the lessons learned and retain the best of the best new things we added to protocols and programming.  Adversity has made us even stronger.