Pandemics And Infections In Senior Living Communities
In Part I of this blog (here), we left you with these questions…….
Have we forgotten about all of the other infections that we have always faced and had to deal with in any community option in the continuum of senior care?
What options do we have to better serve our seniors, our associates and our future customers?
How much more of our resources will we continue throwing at this problem with old solutions that have so far achieved limited success? Is that a successful business model?
In one small way, we have been fortunate so far this winter. The seasonal flu has been virtually non-existent to date according to the CDC. But, with all of the bad press that has unfairly been directed at senior communities – the tragic reporting out of New York, the image of National Guard troops going into facilities, all of which still lingers – what impact would an outbreak in senior living have? What would an outbreak of c-diff or MRSA have given all of the reporting today? What would happen if there was an outbreak of either viral or bacterial pneumonia? What will happen if any of these infections were to affect a population that recovered from COVID but that may have lingering effects to their respiratory systems or to weakened immune systems? Most frighteningly of all, what happens if a new variant of SARS-COV-2 appears that is resistant to the vaccines that people have received?
I imagine that the successful implementation of vaccination clinics has provided a moment of relief to the psyches of so many. But we aren’t done. Viruses, bacterial infections, protozoan infections, mold, mildews, allergens and germs will always be present – in and out of communities, our homes and our lives.
The costs have been immense! The lives lost, the physical and mental tolls, the financial costs. Vacancies are revenues that are lost forever. PPE, cleaning supplies, sanitization, disinfection and staffing costs have snowballed. We are not done. We must not think that the vaccine is a panacea for everything impacting senior living. The light at the end of the tunnel is today still merely a faint glimmer in the distance. When will these enhanced costs end? When will the children of seniors once again be the engine that drives their parents into all that senior communities offer? When will our communities once again be centers of social, spiritual, cognitive and community activities?
What can we control today? PermaSafe offers communities, and all businesses, cost certainty. Unlike traditional disinfectants, the benefits of PermaSafe do not end when the product dries. Rather that is when they begin! One application of the PermaSafe System provides your businesses with perpetual microbial control and elimination for months or longer. PermaSafe is on the EPA’s List N, meaning that it kills the coronavirus that causes COVID. And it is effective against the other microbes that threaten the health of your residents. It does all of this through an electro-mechanical process which means that it is non-toxic. PermaSafe is approved by the EPA for use on porous surfaces which very few disinfectants are. PermaSafe can make your HVAC systems antimicrobial, and it is also approved for food contact surfaces. PermaSafe can eliminate the need for you to continually source and buy cleaners, sanitizers and disinfectants.
Imagine the impact to your marketing efforts if you could say that your communities are self-sanitizing and perpetually antimicrobial. Accelerate your return to business!
Hopkinton Home Care 
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