Residents in Montgomery County care facility hit hard by COVID-19 are moved to Allentown location – lehighvalleylive.com

All skilled-nursing residents of a Phoebe Ministries care facility in Montgomery County -- including many battling COVID-19 -- have been moved to the Allentown location, according to a letter to residents and their families.

The 37 residents, who average 84 years old on the skilled-nursing floor, require constant care, a spokeswoman said. Independent living and personal care residents can remain in their apartments at Phoebe Wyncote, the letter said. There is adequate staffing to care for them there, the letter said.

More than two dozen Phoebe Wyncote residents were sick with COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, as of Friday and many are now recovering under specialized care, a spokeswoman said. None was hospitalized, a spokeswoman said. Ten staff members had been self-quarantined after positive tests and two have recovered and returned to work, a spokeswoman said.

No one has died from COVID-19 at either location, a spokeswoman said.

The Phoebe Allentown facility has largely avoided experiencing an outbreak of the virus, the letter said. One pool employee ttested positivethere before the Wyncote patients were brought north, a spokeswoman said.

With so much staff sidelined in Wyncote, which is a neighborhood in Cheltenham Township, the move was necessitated to provide the most appropriate and highest degree of care for our residents, the letter stated.

A resident in her 80s told the Philadelphia Inquirer that, They told us that we were going to be moved. They didnt ask if we wanted to be. It was mandatory. My family is too far away to do anything about it anyway.

Normally, a nursing facility cant move patients without their permission, Diane Menio, executive director of the Center for Advocacy for the Rights and Interests of the Elderly, a Philadelphia nonprofit, told the newspaper. But a lot of the regulations have been suspended, she added.

The 1 West and 2 West neighborhoods at the Allentown facility, 1925 W. Turner St., are equipped with specially trained staff and resources (including necessary personal protective equipment) and will be solely dedicated to caring for COVID-19 positive residents, the letter said. Neighborhoods are units within a building, the spokeswoman said. The 3 West neighborhood will be used for patients from Wyncote who have not tested positive for COVID-19, yet need to be closely monitored for symptoms, the letter said.

Teams are dedicated to these units and they have separate entrances that restrict crossover between employees and residents, Phoebe Ministries said.

Families were advised about the move, which took place on Wednesday as social distancing was created in buses, the letter stated. Staff on board wore appropriate protective gear, the letter said.

The arrangement will last until affected members of the Wyncote staff are able to recuperate and return to work, Phoebe Ministries said.

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Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. If theres anything about this story that needs attention, please email him. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.

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Residents in Montgomery County care facility hit hard by COVID-19 are moved to Allentown location - lehighvalleylive.com