COVID-19 President Update May 14
Dear Cushing Community,
I hope that you and your families continue to stay safe and healthy during this time. As week nine comes to an end, we are all anxiously awaiting Governor Baker’s announcements on May 18th and what that will mean for our community. While we all want to return to our routines and some sense of normalcy, we must proceed cautiously.
I am pleased to report that this week we have seen things stabilize with our COVID cases. Of our 5 participants that tested positive – 2 are finishing up 14 day quarantine while the other 3 will finish their quarantine next week. We are so grateful to report that all of these individuals had mild to no symptoms and have recovered remarkably well.
Over the weekend we did have 2 staff test positive and 2 additional staff that are awaiting their results. Anyone who had direct contact with these staff have been notified. We have also had more than 5 staff voluntarily get tested and their results were all negative. Additionally we had 6 adult/student participants test over the weekend and we were pleased to learn that their results were all negative.
This week we participated in a call with one of our licensors and they cautioned all agencies to remind staff that they must accurately disclose results of their COVID tests. While we have no reason to believe this is happening at Cushing, there were agencies that reported that staff were not disclosing their results for fear of being put out of work. Please know that if we learn of this happening at Cushing it will result in immediate termination and will be reported to the Department of Public Health. It is hard to imagine that this could happen, as we have experienced quite the opposite. I want to take this time to applaud our staff for being so responsible and vigilant in managing their own health and reporting any concerns to administration.
At the beginning of this week our administrative team determined that all of our staff would wear N95 or surgical masks until further notice. This is to add an additional level of safety and security to our staff and to those we support through this surge. We also continue with regularly scheduled cleanings as well as professional deep cleaning and sanitations of those buildings that have been impacted with a positive cases.
Last week was dynamic to say the least. I am embarrassed to admit that these days and weeks have all blended together and I did not give proper recognition to our Nurses, our Teachers and most importantly, to our Moms!
May 6th – Nurses Day – A belated Happy Nurses Day to all of our Nursing staff, especially during this pandemic. Thank you for all that you do for our community!
THANK YOU TO:
Adult Services Residential Nurses: Meg Verni & Carla Houghton
Adult Family Care Nurses: Linda Davis, Heather Lindahl, Joanne Owen, Pamela Sargent, Carmel O’Leary
LOU Nurses: Denise Peterson, Kerry Hayes, Julie Owens, Jackie Holden-Delaney, Maribeth Barrows
St. Coletta Day School Nurse: Matt Rodenhiser
Cardinal Cushing School Hanover Nurses: Danielle Silverberg, Emmanuel Manigat, Beth Chadwick, Kathleen Richards, Jana Faustrum, Samantha Taylor, Hilary Aronson Van Ness, John Devin
Teachers Week May 4th – 8th – A belated THANKS to all of our teachers who have adapted to our new way learning!
THANK YOU TO:
St. Coletta Day School Teachers: Laura Rasher, Erik Zifcak, Casey Brait, Cindy Gallagher, Val Ashton, Sara Puccia and Winnie Wachira
Cardinal Cushing School Hanover: Victoria Robak, Karen Harkins, Cheryl Clark, Michael Timcoe, Barbara Worthington, Ellen Long, Kathleen Garland, Karyn Squire, Scott Jones and Nick Sullivan
Lastly, thank you to all of the Moms…
Like many of our recent holidays, our Mother’s Day family traditions were different this past weekend. While these traditions were interrupted, our love for our Moms remained continuous. We are grateful for you!
Thank you again for the outpouring words of encouragement to our staff and to those that we support. These past 2 weeks, our community has been faced with unprecedented challenges in an environment that was changing day-by- day and sometimes hour-by-hour. Yet every day, the Cushing Community rose to face new challenges and to overcome them in extraordinary ways. As we look toward the future, we can’t know for certain what our new normal will look like however, we know that our mission remains strong and our community is resilient.
Be Well,
Michelle Markowitz
Interim President & CEO
