It has now been three-and-a-half months since the pandemic began, our visitation was restricted, and our initial precautionary measures were put into place. Our visitation restrictions and enhanced infection control procedures remain fully in place and we continue to connect our residents with their families, friends and medical professionals via video calls. Our team has worked incredibly hard to mitigate further spread of COVID-19 within our facility after it was first confirmed within our community in early June. At this point in time, we are happy to report that over 50% of the 30 team members who tested positive with the virus have now been cleared to return to work after taking the necessary precautions. We continue to follow state and federal guidelines and recommendations related to training new staff to join our team and have continued to offer above and beyond the minimum requirements set forth by the Department of Health. We are thankful that our full 3.5 week Nursing Assistant Trainee course will resume this month.

Ten days ago we saw one additional resident confirmed with COVID-19 but have otherwise not seen any new resident cases since our last update. Sadly, however, over the past two weeks there have been an additional three deaths among residents confirmed with COVID-19 and two resident deaths that are suspected to be related to COVID-19. One of these deaths did not occur at the facility but took place in a local hospital. All of us at Cedar Haven offer our sincere condolences to the family-members and friends of these residents during this difficult time. We want to thank all of our dedicated staff for their hard work and the personal sacrifices they have made during this historic period that has been thrust upon all of us in Central PA. We truly are all in this together and we appreciate your ongoing support of our residents and team of healthcare heroes.

June 22, 2020 UPDATE

We are thankful to report that Cedar Haven has not seen any confirmed cases of COVID-19 among our residents for ten days. We are continuing testing in order to mitigate further risk and spreading of the virus. Thankfully 16 of the residents with COVID-19 have been asymptomatic and all impacted residents with the exception of one have been located on the same floor. It is with heavy hearts, however, that we announce that our facility has experienced a total of four resident deaths due to COVID-19. All of us at Cedar Haven offer our sincere and heartfelt condolences to their families and loved ones during this difficult time. 26 of our staff members have tested positive for COVID-19 to date though approximately half of those staff members were both exposed and tested outside of Cedar Haven. All impacted staff are following strict quarantine requirements before returning to work. We want to thank our team for their rigorous efforts and commitment to our residents and also thank our community for the ongoing support during this truly unprecedented time.

June 14, 2020 UPDATE

After several months of remaining COVID-free, Cedar Haven saw its first positive case of COVID-19 confirmed on June 3rd. We implemented widespread testing efforts which have confirmed an increasing number of COVID cases, both symptomatic and asymptomatic, despite the rigorous precautions that have been in place since mid-March. As of June 14th, we now have 30 positive cases among our residents and suspect that 8 more may also have been impacted. Of the 30 confirmed cases, 13 are asymptomatic. Thankfully, these cases are not widely distributed throughout our facility. All but one of these confirmed or suspected cases appeared on the same unit (1C), while the other impacted resident was on 3C and has now been moved from that floor. To date, 23 Cedar Haven staff members have tested positive for COVID-19, 11 of which were asymptomatic at the time of testing. Our team has been working hard to follow guidelines put in place by health officials and experts to mitigate the further spread of the virus to other units within the building. Cedar Haven has also been working to reprioritize and reallocate our team in order to care for the immediate essential needs of our residents. Our first priority and absolute commitment now and always is to provide high-quality and compassionate care for our residents. We will continue to update the website as we receive additional information. We appreciate your patience and support.

June 10, 2020 UPDATE

Cedar Haven has now received confirmation that eight total residents at our facility have tested positive for COVID-19. These confirmed instances have all appeared on one floor (1C) and all affected residents have been moved to our dedicated isolation wing where they are receiving care in a safe setting in order to limit further exposure on that floor. We suspect that two additional residents may possibly have COVID-19 and are awaiting test results. Our team is working hard to facilitate widespread testing among our staff and residents. We are also actively working to set up additional remote COVID-related care opportunities with local experts via telehealth. Please know that we are dedicated to remaining transparent and sharing updates as often as possible as we receive more information. Our team is reaching out to families directly if their loved ones are suspected or diagnosed with COVID-19. Our first priority and absolute commitment is to provide high-quality and compassionate care for our residents. We appreciate your ongoing support of our facility during this time. Please remember to use our website to request a video call with your loved ones (https://cedarhaven.healthcare/video) and continue to visit this webpage for additional updates.

June 8, 2020 UPDATE

As you are most likely aware, Pennsylvania now has had over 80,000 confirmed cases of Coronavirus and Lebanon County has now seen over 1,000 confirmed cases. We began preparing for the impact of this pandemic upon our facility in early March, as we have outlined in detail in earlier communications, when we began checking staff temperatures twice a day and implementing other strict infection control precautions. Cedar Haven has now received confirmation that two residents at our facility have tested positive for COVID-19. These instances all appeared on one floor (1C). Several more residents are currently being tested and we are awaiting the results. We have taken measures to isolate residents who are positive with COVID-19 in order to protect our other residents during this challenging time. Our administrative team created an isolation wing ahead of time so that we could swiftly implement this measure for the safety of our residents and team should we see confirmed cases among our resident population. Any impacted resident who moves to the isolation wing will receive high-quality, compassionate care in that dedicated unit. Please know that we are dedicated to remaining transparent and sharing updates as quickly as possible. Please continue to visit our webpage to receive additional updates. Thank you for your ongoing support and patience during this unprecedented set of circumstances.

June 4, 2020 UPDATE – Edited at 5:20pm EST

We are very thankful for our administrative and clinical teams and for how they have thoughtfully and carefully navigated our first confirmed case of COVID-19 among our staff, which we learned of yesterday (6/3/20) as announced below. Since yesterday, two additional team-members have tested positive for COVID-19. All three of these individuals were exposed to persons outside of the facility with COVID-19. All team-members who have tested positive are self-isolating at home for the prescribed amount of time and will be required to take a second test before returning to work. No residents at Cedar Haven have tested positive for COVID-19 to date.  Our strict infection control guidelines which have been in place for months (including taking staff temperatures twice a day, heightened housekeeping protocol, and the use of PPE) will continue. The safety and well-being of our residents and staff is our top priority. Thank you for your ongoing support during this time.

June 3, 2020 UPDATE

It has now been several months since we first put cautionary measures in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In early March, Cedar Haven Healthcare Center quickly adopted best practices as recommended by the CDC, CMS, PADOH, and our own administrator and infection control director. Visitation was restricted, PPE was required for all and a new isolation wing with dedicated staff was established for new admissions and anyone who was symptomatic. We immediately increased housekeeping routines to include disinfection of surfaces multiple times per day. We also limited the possibility for cross-community spread by requiring staff to cease working at outside facilities affected by COVID-19. Employee temperatures have been taken at the beginning of the shift and a health questionnaire has been completed by each staff member entering the building since the pandemic began. To alleviate resident and family anxiety or sadness at not being able to visit in person, we implemented a video conference option so families could see and speak with their loved ones. We have also launched a full telehealth program so that residents can receive remote specialist care without risking outside exposure.

On June 3rd, a Cedar Haven staff-member tested positive for COVID-19, which leads us to report our first positive case to date. This employee was immediately quarantined at home.

While we have tested any resident or staff member exhibiting or reporting any symptoms associated with this virus since the beginning of the pandemic, we are now putting new measures in place. In light of our one positive case, this week we are implementing more wide-spread testing among those who might have had contact with the employee, regardless of the presence of symptoms. Additional screening processes and heightened disinfection procedures are in place throughout the building as we make every effort to contain any spread.

Please check back for updates on this webpage and rest assured that we are continuing to implement the highest level of precautions to protect our residents and staff. Thank you for your continued support and adherence to necessary protocol during this unprecedented time.

The Cedar Haven Management Team

May 22, 2020 UPDATE

We are happy to report that Cedar Haven remains COVID-Free at this time. As you know, the number of Coronavirus cases in Lebanon County has climbed substantially and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) as well as our local Department of Health officials are monitoring the situation closely. Thankfully, our residents and staff have remained safe in part due to the heroic efforts of our team to maintain infection control protocols and precautions.

You can always view our current policies and the precautions we put in place to protect our residents on this web page (https://cedarhaven.healthcare/coronavirus), which will we keep up-to-date:

All Non-Essential Visitation is Still Restricted Until Further Notification

It is in the best interest of our residents to stop all non-essential visitation to our facility.

Video Call Technology at Cedar Haven

We are proud to announce that our “Resident Care Connection” and Telehealth program has been well received and utilized by many of our residents and their loved ones. We have conducted over 150 video calls over the last month! Families interested in coordinating a video call with their loved ones can request a planned meeting time at https://cedarhaven.healthcare/video.

Telehealth for Specialist Care

Cedar Haven has also been offering numerous telemedicine opportunities for our residents that allow them to continue to access additional specialist care without being exposed to unnecessary risk of exposure to COVID-19. To date, our residents have received assisted Telehealth services that have directly connected them to specialists in psychiatry, neurology, endocrinology, orthopedics, and more, without leaving the comfort or safety of their rooms! These events are powered by SAGE Health, which enables the secure transmission of private health care information to the provider office.

Screening

We continue to conduct required screening for all personnel and vendors as they come into our building, which involves signing a form to attest to screening criteria as well as temperature checks conducted multiple times a day. For residents who require hospitalization, we have provided a safe, comfortable, and separated area of our building where they can return to Cedar Haven and wait 14 days before matriculating back into their usual living quarters. This policy, and all of our current procedures, are designed to proactively keep our residents safe and lower risk of exposure for those who call our facility home.

We cannot say at this time how long these restrictions and policies will be in effect. Our clinical team will continue to monitor this evolving situation and will consider the necessity of this policy moving forward as new information becomes available. In the interest of protecting our vulnerable residents and our staff, please continue to adhere fully to these policies. As you know, the Coronavirus (COVID-19) can severely impact the elderly or those with chronic health conditions.

Social Distancing Activities

Our Therapeutic Recreation Department has been creative and proactive in leading a number of fun activities for residents that are designed to keep them safe and smiling. For example, they are using our television broadcast system to run live bingo games that can be enjoyed from each resident room.

Our social distancing dance parades in the hallways have continued to be enjoyed by all.

Please continue to check back for new updates. Thank you for your continued support during this time!

Welcome to Cedar Haven!

Thank you for visiting the Cedar Haven blog. Please contact us with your questions or visit our jobs page to learn more about career opportunities at our facility.

Experienced Team . High Quality Care . Therapeutic Success . Friendly Atmosphere