Coronavirus (COVID-19) Advisory: Please help us limit exposure. Learn more about COVID-19 here. Coronavirus Information and Update from Community LIFE March 31, 2020 Dear Participants and Family Caregivers, This letter is to update you on the impact of the COVID19 virus on the Community LIFE program. This is a follow up to our letter of March 17. Our day/health centers have been closed since March 15, at the direction of the PA Office of Long-Term Living. We anticipate that this will continue at least until the end of April. As cases locally and other places in the United States continue to climb, we are preparing to care for those who fall ill – both participants and staff members. Our goal is aligned with the state and national goal to keep the “surge” of sick people as low as possible. Our organization has been working non-stop to prepare to support you at home through this crisis. Our teams have rearranged services to ensure home delivery of your medication, food, and supplies. Where necessary, nursing services that were performed at the center are being done in the home. Our staff have been issued letters from the state authorizing them to travel to you and to our offices, to assure that you continue to receive necessary services. We are considered an essential, life-sustaining business. Our administrative staff continue to work, making sure that your care is coordinated, and all pharmacy and health care claims are paid. Infection Control: We have been reviewing and adopting guidance updates from the Centers for Disease Control and the Pennsylvania Department of Health. We are screening all participants and staff daily or as needed for home visits and entering our centers. Screening is a series of questions to determine if there are symptoms of COVID-19. Testing is only conducted when a person is sick, based on physician assessment and guidance from the Health Department. We must report cases of COVID-19 to the Health Department, the Office of Long-Term Living, and CMS. We are doing many assessments by phone or other electronic means to limit close contact where possible. Our staff have had refresher training on infection control and the use of Personal Protective Equipment, or “PPE”. PPE is needed when caring for a person with known/suspected COVID-19 symptoms. For persons who are not sick, the recommended infection control measures are: Stay at home as much as possible and keep 6 feet away from others unless you are providing or receiving care; Wash hands frequently, especially before and after caring for a patient. Please remember that if you are feeling sick, especially if you have fever, cough, shortness of breath, or sore throat please contact your Community LIFE nurse or physician at your center. If you have questions or needs that are not medical, please contact your social worker and they will get an answer for you. Respectfully Yours, Richard DiTommaso Susan Hoppe, M.D. President Medical Director Community LIFE Fraud, Waste, and Abuse – COVID -19 Response To further Community LIFE’s goal of supporting its staff, participants, and the community it serves, Community LIFE will work with UPMC Fraud team who will be serving as a centralized location to report, monitor, and coordinate the investigation and/or response to fraudulent schemes being seen related to COVID-19 such as: · Theft of Community LIFE critical supplies · Treatment scams · Supply scams and Black-Market products · Provider scams · Charity scams · Investment scams & Price Gouging scams We ask that all identified instances of the above schemes, as well as any others not specifically mentioned above, be immediately reported to Patty Stern, Community LIFE’s Compliance Officer: sternpa@upmc.edu or 412-436-1344 or your supervisor/manager who will notify Community LIFE’s Compliance Officer. For immediate concerns or questions please reach out directly to: Patty Stern Community LIFE’s Compliance Officer at: sternpa@upmc.edu or 412-436-1344. Community LIFE is committed to providing guidance related to FWA during the COVID -19 emergency. March 24: Yesterday afternoon, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolfe announced a stay-at-home order as of 8:00 p.m. yesterday evening for a period of two weeks. We confirmed with the Office of Long Term Living that we are an essential, life-sustaining business and our staff are permitted to travel to you and other places they work to provide services. You will continue to receive your home care, supplies, nursing visits, and transport to necessary outside medical appointments. Only the day centers remain closed to participants until further notice. If you have any questions, please call your Community LIFE center. March 23, 2020 Dear Participants and Family Caregivers, This letter is to update you on the impact of the COVID-19 virus on the Community LIFE program. The PA Office of Long-Term Living, at the direction of the Governor, ordered all programs like ours to close the day care portion of their programs for an indefinite period. This may last for several weeks. To assure that our participants stay as healthy and as functional as possible during this time, we have taken the following actions. We have adopted CDC and CMS guidelines for COVID19 including screening for participants and staff and precautions to prevent transmission; We will continue to provide care through out clinics and in the home, using recommended screening and precautions; We will make sure you continue to receive medications We will continue routine and non-routine assessments, including if you request new or increased services, unless you object; We will be modifying care plans on an individual basis for longer-term closure of the day centers, offering additional services where necessary to prevent decline; We have communication and coordinated with our network nursing homes regarding their screening, admissions and visitation policies and are reaching out to other providers (dental, behavioral health, etc.) to do the same We have developed plans to handle suspected and confirmed cases and if you have fever, cough, shortness of breath, or sore throat please contact your Community LIFE nurse or physician at your center. If you have any questions or needs that are not medical, please contact your social worker and they will get an answer for you. Enrich a life. JOBS → MAKE A REFERRAL → MAKE A DONATION → LANGUAGE ASSISTANCE ESPAÑOL РУССКИЙ ITALIANO DEUTSCHE KREYÒL AYISYEN DEITSCH ગુજરાતી 繁體中文 عَرَبِيّ ភាសាខ្មែរ 한국어 TIẾNG VIỆT FRANÇAIS POLSKIE PORTUGUÊS CMS APPOINTMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE PARTICIPANTS RIGHTS PRIVACY NOTICE GRIEVANCES AND APPEALS ©2017 Community LIFE. All Rights Reserved.