[MUSIC] Hi, everyone, it's Juliana and I'm back with Gus from New Haven. Gus, thanks for being back. Let's talk a little bit about staffing considerations at your community. Starting with training, who in your community is responsible for staff trainings? >> So overall, the Director of Human Resource is for our group is responsible for staff training. And where the coordination of the training necessarily than presenting. We are also building a lot of our training programs right now. And we have done a lot of conversations related to the virus and what's happening. So in addition to the memo that I send out pretty regularly, we also have two Zoom calls a week with all of our team. So people can log on and we start talking about what's happening. And I keep track of whatever is happening around our state when it comes to any care centers and what's going on from the Department Public Health of the city. So I update everybody pretty directly about that. And as we've learned more information, we're always sharing those pretty regularly. So between that and the memos that we're sending out, the staff have really understood. We've already done a lot of the infection control, training and PPE training, and all of that. And it just so happens that we did a huge training session before COVID even sterted related to so what is bloodborne? What is airborne? And so we had a hard time coming up with airborne things other than the flu. So now, yeah, we don't have any problem coming up with what airborne means anymore. >> So it's your fault, Gus, is what you're saying. [LA GH]. >> I let it right into this, two months before all this started happening, I think it was December, yeah. How you take out all of that well, and this is what you do here, yeah. So the timing couldn't have been better or worse however, you look at it, yeah. >> Yeah, I need your crystal ball, I guess. [LAUGH] So what is the culture in terms of COVID-19 prevention among your staff? How do you empower them to follow COVID-19 prevention strategies? How do you manage that kind of moral support there? >> So in the very beginning, of course, our staff were a bit afraid. We were having so many cases literally two blocks from us at Yale New Haven that were scary. And actually knowing some of the contacts we have in there, there were entire families who are all of a sudden coming into the emergency room needing to be intubated. And some didn't make it because there just wasn't enough time to intubate everybody. So our staff, we're pretty aware of some of this stuff because they're so close, and so there's a lot of fear. In the very beginning, our front desk staff, some of them just decided not to come into work anymore, and some of them did leave because of this. When we decided to start doing the temperature taking and the screening questions, there was so much anxiety and stress that it got to the point where we could see that our staff really were feeling like we were putting them at risk, even though they were being protected by PPE. So we decided to hire a temp agency to start doing the test screenings as people were coming in. And that helped alleviate a lot of the staff fear of being directly in contact with all these 150 people who come in and out of our building and that. And so of course, we took care of the the folks who are working for the testing agency, but I think our staff felt supported and taken care of. And we did have two people at our front desk, unfortunately, who ended up getting the virus. Not because of their exposure here, but both of them went into their faith communities and ended up getting them there. So our first one ended up being in the ICU for quite a long time. And then our second one months and months and months later, unrelated, ended up also being in there. And between them and sharing their stories, people started to really understand how dangerous this is, and it really took it seriously. And how difficult struggle was to get through those days for those folks. So thankfully, people have been able to recover, and we've sent our prayers and our messages. And we really have done our best and let the community know that we're thinking of them and stuff. So we've been okay so far. >> Yeah, wow, well, I know that everyone's hearts and prayers go out to folks who are impacted, so I'm glad to hear that they were able to recover. And that's certainly a tough assignment there at the front desk at the entrance. What can you say about other staff assignments and how you arrange that within the community? >> So I know that some places were beginning to divvy up where people work so that people would stay in the same area of the building. And our staffing pattern really wasn't able to do that per se. And we do have housekeepers who are in apartments and such, and they don't necessarily go from one section of the building to the other. And we do have people who are tend to be stationed in one place more so than another. But that was never really solid way for us to keep the virus from one place or another. We were struggling with PPE in the beginning like everybody else. We actually did have some of our shipments that we ordered be taken over by FEMA and taken so that they got diverted. We were also in the community asking people for help, and they were able to start making masks. We had one group literally within our area who made 2,000 masks for us because we weren't able to get masks at all for a period of time. I mean, we are part of a Jewish Federation in our area, and they were able to go out and get some supplies for us. So when it came to protective equipment, in the beginning it was a little scary, especially when we had shipments coming that eventually didn't. But since then, we've been able to stockpile of what we need, and we have adequate supplies. And we have been able tokinda keep up with our practice is needed to be. And of course, we had somebody always going around disinfecting everything and spraying everything down and such. So all that stuff kind of help, and between the screening. But everything started really to shift when we started our testing, that was a really big help. >> Yeah, yeah, great. And speaking of staff, you mentioned the temp agency, have you experienced staffing shortages? And what did you do about it, any other unique strategies there? >> Well, interestingly enough, we did have shortages, even when there was a lot of people being laid off and people were going on unemployment. We did have staffing shortages because people were not applying for jobs in the beginning, when people were really doing everything they could to stay home and stay safe. So we were down a number of positions, I can't even tell you how many because people would not want to come in and possibly expose themselves. And in the beginning, we also have problems with some of our food service applicants because they were afraid of working in a senior building. Because they thought that there would be more at risk here than they would somewhere else. Since the testing started, we haven't really had that issue, we had some people who refused to be tested, and eventually they had to move on. But the people who get tested, they have the sense of comfort, even though it's only a point in time, it still gives them a little bit of a comfort. So we don't have any issues with any of our staff getting tested at all, and I think people at least get a little bit of peace of mind each week. So we're doing okay. >> Yeah, yeah, that's great. Any strategies that you would recommend for other providers, I know that communication has been another really big tool that you've used. How do you navigate that with the residents? >> Well, our communication is really the most key piece, and I think some of it has to do with building up that trust. And being able to really help people know what's going on and being up front, even when the conversations have been hard. And in fact, at one point I did hire a consultant firm to help us with some media because we weren't sure what was going to happen. And we were expecting the media to show up if we ever had an outbreak, so we worked with the firm which actually helped come through eliminate, where they did pretty right some of our copy and some of our information so that we could plug in the facts when we needed to. And we were able to at least prepare ourselves for that. It never came to be other than the beauty salon like I shared. But other than that, people were pretty understanding and pretty easy going. So as far as staffing issues and stuff, we've been unfortunately not fully staffed, but we've been stable. And I think going differently, have we been able to really bring on a full complement of that. >> Yeah, absolutely, I'm so glad to hear about the stability that you have there at the community, and again, everything that you're doing to help keep residents safe. So thanks again, Gus. >> Thank you, it's been a pleasure.
