DHS Update for Long-Term Care and Assisted Living Facilities

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New guidelines for long-term care and assisted living facilities were released Friday, March 20, 2020, by the Wisconsin Department of Human Services. While many measures remain in place and unchanged, guidelines for how facility leaders should approach employee care have become more stringent:

  • All employees in and around patient-care areas must be monitored at the beginning of every shift for any sign of respiratory infection and questioned periodically about any signs or symptoms of respiratory infection.
  • If a worker exhibits any signs, they must immediately don a mask and go home for at least seven days. If the individual is tested, and the results are negative, they can return to work after 72 hours of receiving the results of the test.
  • Employees who are exposed but asymptomatic are still cleared for duty, but should wear a PPE if they are exposed to coronavirus. The gold standard would be to send them home but only if staffing levels can support the staffing reduction.

If you have any questions about how to approach the policies and procedures designed to curb and protect employees, residents and patients from coronavirus, please call your Reinhart attorney.

Wisconsin DHS website
www.dhs.wisconsin.gov

DHS Revised Memo for Long Term Care and Assisted Living Facilities https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/dph/memos/communicable-diseases/2020-16.pdf

DHS Memo regarding PPE from the Strategic National Stockpile https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/dph/memos/communicable-diseases/2020-15.pdf

DHS memo for Dental Providers
https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/dph/memos/communicable-diseases/2020-14.pdf

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