Erickson Living Responds to Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Last Updated: March 26, 2020

At all of Erickson Living’s managed communities, the health and safety of those who live and work on campus is always our highest priority. In response to COVID-19, the company is taking unprecedented action to prevent the spread of the virus at our communities. With the full strength of our enterprise’s nearly 40 years of experience and expertise, we are focused on prevention and providing continuity for safe operations. We are acting with an abundance of caution and taking every precautionary measure in response to this serious public health concern.

Visitor Requirements

All Erickson Living-managed communities are closed to nonessential visitors.

Continuing Care Neighborhoods

Access to our continuing care neighborhoods is limited to medical and healthcare professionals and essential visitors, defined as those experiencing extreme hardship.

Continuing Care Essential Visitor Requirements

In addition, effective March 14, we are now adhering to the new requirements put forth by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Those protections include:

• Restricting all visitation, except for certain compassionate care situations, such as end-of-life circumstances. In those cases, visitors will be limited to the specific resident’s room only.
• Screening all staff for COVID-19 symptoms. This includes a temperature check.
• Requiring that all essential visitors undergo a temperature check before entering, and wear a surgical mask while in continuing care to prevent the spread of germs.
• Asking essential visitors to limit the surfaces they touch and use good hand hygiene to prevent the spread of germs.
• Asking essential visitors to refrain from any physical contact with the residents and staff members. This includes shaking hands, hugging, and kissing.
• Closure of all dining rooms and adopting in-room dining for all residents in continuing care. Residents that require assistance to dine will have monitoring in place.
• Canceling of all group activities and moving to in-room engagement.

Essential visitors are also required to monitor themselves for COVID-19 symptoms every day for 14 days after their visit and instructing them to contact the community’s Administration immediately if they develop flu-like symptoms, a fever, or cough.

Independent Living Neighborhoods

All Erickson Living-managed communities are closed to nonessential visitors at this time, including those with Friends and Family badge access.

Access to our independent living neighborhoods is limited to caregivers and aides, and essential visitors, defined as those with loved ones receiving hospice or end-of-life care or bringing necessary supplies, groceries and medications to a resident.

Independent Living Essential Visitor Requirements

• Essential visitors will be required to undergo a screening prior to entering the clubhouse.
• They will receive a special visitor pass and access will be restricted to the resident’s apartment home only.
• Essential visitors will be limited to one visitor per resident, per day.

Travel Restrictions and Advisories

Employee Travel Restrictions

All nonessential business travel for all Erickson Living employees has been postponed or canceled.

Any employees who have been exposed to someone with COVID-19, have traveled internationally, or taken a cruise ship to any destination will be required to self-quarantine at home for 14 days before returning to work.

Resident Travel Advisories

It is strongly recommended that residents remain on campus and not visit public places, and that they postpone all upcoming travel, including flights, cruises, and third party transportation.

Service Updates

Dining

By Friday, March 20, all dining venues at Erickson Living communities will close their dine-in service until further notice. A new in-home dining program is being implemented so that residents can safely enjoy meals and snacks in their apartment homes.

If you have specific questions, please contact Administration or the Dining Services management team at your community.

On-Campus Amenities and Activities

At Erickson Living communities, all on-campus events, including resident-run clubs, activities, and social gatherings are canceled until further notice.

In keeping with current recommendations from health officials, on-site amenities including fitness centers, pools and salons are closed. There will also be no access to community rooms or gathering spaces at this time.

For those communities with on-campus pharmacies and marketplaces, these amenities may remain open, but the number of individuals allowed access will be limited in accordance with social distancing guidelines.

Our on-campus Medical Centers will continue to see patients by appointment only.

Transportation

To align with current social distancing recommendations, we will be limiting on-campus shuttle service to an on-call basis. In addition, we have reduced seating on shuttle buses to allow for social distancing. Check your individual community for the times when on-campus shuttle service will be available. To arrange pick-up, residents may go to the main lobby in their clubhouse.

We are strongly recommending that residents remain on campus and not visit public places. For essential trips only, off-campus shuttle and sedan service will be limited to medical appointments.

These policies are subject to change, and we will continue to update residents as needed.

Housekeeping

We have increased our common area cleaning and disinfecting and have temporarily suspended all residential housekeeping services.

Prevention Resources

Being diligent with prevention is key to keeping all members of our communities safe. We are asking residents, staff, and guests to follow these proven measures to protect themselves and others from COVID-19:

• If you are experiencing flu-like symptoms, stay at home and contact your medical provider, including the on-campus medical center or Employee Health and Wellness Center.
• Avoid touching your face to reduce the spread of germs
• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, dry them with a paper towel, and then use it to turn off the tap and open the door
• Cover your cough with a tissue, promptly discard it, and wash your hands
• Avoid contact with sick people and those who have recently traveled to high-risk areas
• Avoid crowds and practice safe distancing
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces with a regular household cleaning product

These guidelines have been posted in highly visible locations throughout all of our communities and corporate buildings and shared via consistent, ongoing communications across multiple channels.

External Resources

Center for Disease Control

Communications

Our robust preparedness measures include proactive, comprehensive communications to residents, staff, family members and visitors to keep them informed about the coronavirus and educated on best practices for protecting themselves and others, as well as any changes to community operations and services.

In addition to extensive posted signage throughout our communities and corporate buildings, we are committed to providing timely and transparent correspondence as we continue to monitor this rapidly evolving situation.

Letter to Residents from Erickson Living CEO Alan Butler, March 23, 2020

Media Contact

If you are a member of the news media with questions about Erickson Living’s response to COVID-19, please contact a member of our external communications team at covidpr@erickson.com or call:.

• Dan Dunne, 410-916-6338
• Jeffrey Getek, 410-456-9809
• Courtney Benhoff, 410-925-7893