An Update from President & CEO Jeff Heinecke
June 29, 2020
June 29, 2020
Dear Lyngblomsten Family,
It’s been about three months since my last letter to you. You’ll recall at the time, COVID-19 was beginning to spread throughout the Twin Cities, but it had not yet touched our Como Park campus. It was April 28th when we had our first confirmed COVID-19 case among our residents. One case quickly grew to many more.
In those early days, our priority was working to find adequate amounts of PPE (personal protective equipment) and a sufficient number of surveillance test kits. The turning point for slowing the spread of the virus in our care center was when we finally had enough PPE and tests. Sadly, that wasn’t until after many more residents and staff were infected. We are thankful that the vast majority of those with COVID-19 recovered, and we mourn the loss of those who succumbed to the virus.
While we feel more confident today about our ability to contain the spread of future cases on our campus, until there is a vaccine, we understand all too well the real risk COVID-19 will continue to have on our residents, tenants, their loved ones, community participants, staff, and volunteers. So, we celebrate the milestone of having had no new cases over the past two weeks, all the while beginning to assess what it will take to fully recover from what was been an incredibly difficult time for our Lyngblomsten family.
Before contemplating our path of recovery, however, it’s important to reflect on what we learned about ourselves through this crisis. First and foremost: our residents, families, and staff are far more concerned about one another than they are about themselves. It was remarkable to witness. Of course, people had concern for their own health and that of their loved ones—but their concern began and ended regarding the good health of each other.
We also learned that we truly do have heroes among us. And a lot of them. Staff consistently put themselves in harm’s way and often took on new responsibilities, entirely different from their primary job. They did this without pause. This mindset was best summed up by one of our staff that told me during the height of all the rockiness, “This has been the most rewarding time of my career.”
The spirit within Lyngblomsten has never been stronger. What emerged during the crisis was a level of teamwork beyond what anyone could have imagined. Because of that, I’m confident we will tackle our recovery with that same level of passion and commitment.
We began to take admissions into the care center for the first time in nearly three months. Staff are beginning to take summer vacations. Family visits are again happening on campus (albeit outdoors and socially distanced). Residents and tenants have a bit more freedom to move about the campus. All sure signs of more “normal” days ahead.
This look back on the past three months would not be complete without extending my deep, deep gratitude to all of you who reached out to support Lyngblomsten residents and staff. Your messages and special treats raised our spirits. Your gifts of homemade PPE helped keep us safe. On behalf of everyone on our campus, THANK YOU!
In Christ,
Jeff Heinecke
President & CEO
P.S. This week we celebrated with a special Care Center Family Parade—where residents and staff were spectators and family members were the parade units. Check out the photos on our website: www.lyngblomsten.org/Photos.
