Mountain Meadows Avoids COVID Transmission, Faces Financial Struggles

As coronavirus swept the nation, horrified reports emerged of rapid coronavirus transmission in nursing homes across the country. However, that wasn’t the case at Mountain Meadows Senior Living Campus.  

 

“We did not have any deaths from COVID, we only had one symptomatic case with COVID and [one other] resident in our building and that was it,” said Amanda Ledezma registered nurse and Wellness Director at Mountain Meadows. 

 

Mountain Meadows had very few cases of COVID and of the two cases that did emerge in the building internal transmission to other residents was avoided by using proper sanitizing procedures, personal protective equipment, isolation of infected patients, and symptom screening. 

 

It took a lot more than just sanitation and personal protective equipment to keep Mountain Meadows running during the pandemic. The assisted living facility had to shut down their dining room and deliver meals to the residents' rooms using disposable kitchenware, Ledezma said. 

 

“Waste management had to come six days a week just to take the disposables off the property,” said Nate Ogelsby, Executive Director and registered nurse at Mountain Meadows.

 

Testing was another logistical hurdle. Ogelsby said that at times universal testing of all staff and residents had to be implemented, increasing the number of hours that staff worked. The state would only contract with a laboratory in Seattle and at times staff had to drive the tests over the mountain. 

 

The cost of food and disposables increased. Ledezma said that the cost of a box of gloves went from $5 through their carrier to $24. Staffing was also an issue.  Employees were lost due to lack of child care, burn out from working overtime and fear of getting COVID.  At the same time, all of the extra protections put in place because of COVID meant that the staff that was there worked overtime. 

 

Attracting new staff to handle the increased labor needs and departing employees proved difficult. Ledezma said that Mountain Meadows offers year round stable employment, paid vacation time, and full benefits. However, it's hard to compete with the tourism industry which can more easily raise wages by raising their prices. Further, the job is very hard and emotionally taxing.

 

Mountain Meadows will hire those with no experience and train them on the job, Ledezma said. They pay for employees to be certified first as a home health aid and then as a CNA. But when they do get an application, new hires don’t even show up for their interviews. 

 

“I would say we have about a 75% no show interview rate right now,” said Ledezma.

 

Mountain Meadows accepts a combination of private pay clients and Medicaid funded residents, Ledezma said. The Medicaid reimbursement rate in Washington State is as low as $67 per day which doesn’t cover the cost of operations at an assisted living facility. Private pay residents pay more than those on Medicaid and are relied on to cover the cost of operations at Mountain Meadows.

 

But during the pandemic as costs increased, admissions and referrals decreased. 

 

“We saw during the pandemic that families were choosing not to admit. Understandably, because they weren't allowed to come in and visit. So, the referrals and the admissions slowed considerably as well,” said Ogelsby.

 

To cover the increased cost and decreased admissions, Mountain Meadows drew from their financial reserves, Ledezma said. Besides the increased financial cost, residents faced increasing social struggles. When residents were isolated in their rooms, unable to go to group meals and activities, deaths from causes other than coronavirus increased. 

 

Since Mountain Meadows is an assisted living facility, they are following different reopening guidelines than the governor's mandate, Ledezma said. They follow guidelines from the Department of Social and Health Services and the Department of Health. Under that plan, Mountain Meadows is still under phase one and they have to follow certain precautions. 

 

Because the residents at Mountain Meadows are fully vaccinated, they can be visited inside, said Ogelsby. Source control is followed with all visitors. Visitors have to be scanned and checked in when they come into the building. Only 15 percent of the resident population is allowed to visit, so scheduling visits is recommended. 

 

If both the resident and the visitor are vaccinated, then visitors are allowed to visit without a mask, Ledezma said. If either the resident or the visitor is unvaccinated, they both have to wear a mask. Masks are still required in the hallways.

 

Throughout the pandemic, the community worked hard to support Mountain Meadows.  Financial donations were given to Mountain Meadows, Ogelsby said. Ledezma said five iPads were donated for virtual visits with residents. Snacks and drinks were donated for staff. In order to support staff, a volunteer was brought in to help with cleaning. Many members from the community sent letters to residents.  

 

Wildflour restaurant provided meals for six weeks for every staff member, Ogelsby said. A volunteer dropped off the meal kits every Wednesday. The Wildflour meals were coordinated by a local church after they heard that the restaurant was offering meals to the community. 

 

“It really hit home to us. It meant so much to us, you know, that they we’re all in this together,” said Ogelsby

 

Throughout the pandemic, Mountain Meadows made adjustments to help residents and staff. Although communal dining was not allowed, an agreement was worked out with the health district, Ogelsby said. As long as six feet of social distance was maintained in the dining room, residents were allowed to come down to the dining room to eat.

 

This allowed about 20 percent of residents to come in at a time. Each wing would come down for one meal a day. One wing would come down for breakfast, one for lunch, and one for dinner.  Between meals, the dining room had to be completely sanitized. Being allowed to eat together for one meal a day made a huge difference in residents' health, Ogelsby said.

 

Today, limited group activities are allowed. Since activities are opening up more, residents and employees have recently been able to engage in group activities, Ogelsby said. Recently there was a nerf gun war where the staff dressed up with animal masks and were hit by the residents, bringing everyone together after a long pandemic. 

 

“I think that's really important to laugh, you know. To have a reminder of why you love your job when you're tired,” said Ledezma