by Kate Dolan

Cathedral Village, a continuing care retirement community in Roxborough, set restrictions in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Group living facilities continue to be at risk, with 9 of the city's 17 fatalities having occurred in nursing homes. Staff at Cathedral Village has taken steps to protect its residents according to Kristin Hambleton, Vice President, Sales and Marketing at Presbyterian Senior Living which owns Cathedral Village.

“Cathedral Village began to implement visitation restrictions early, and as a result of the proactive approach, has not to date had any person, staff or resident, contract COVID-19,” Hambleton said.

Visitation hours have been cut to all but end-of-life situations and in this case, visitors are subject to temperature checks and must self-attest that they have not travelled by air internationally or been on a cruise ship.

All employees at Cathedral Village are screened with temperature checks upon arrival and departure of the facility. They must assert that they are not symptomatic and have not had known exposure to COVID-19.

Per CDC guidelines, the dining rooms at Cathedral Village have been closed and the staff is providing meal delivery services to residents and helping coordinate grocery delivery and pick-up for residents.

While common areas have been closed, residents are not restricted to their apartments and are being encouraged to take walks with pets and maintain social distancing. Events and social gatherings have been cancelled but Cathedral Village residents are engaging socially via technology.

“We are using Eversound to promote social engagement, such as hallway bingo that through that technology can happen at a safe distance,” said Hambleton. Eversound is a wireless headphone, live-streaming interactive programming designed for people at assisted living communities.

Residents are also visiting with family virtually and the facility has established a hotline for family members to call and set up virtual visitation.

“Residents and families have been very supportive of all the measures Cathedral Village has put into place,” Hambleton said.

A Presbyterian Senior Living blog post titled “Things for Seniors to Do During COVID-19 Isolation,” lists numerous activities and sources of entertainment for seniors to enjoy while staying put, including virtual museum tours, Opera performances streaming every night by The Metropolitan Opera, origami, exercise, and karaoke.”