Community Update for week of 10/10/2022

October 12, 2022

Update to Resident on 10/11/2022

Coffee Hour on Thursday at 9:30 a.m.

We’ll be having our usual monthly Coffee Hour held in the Fox & Fell but also available on Zoom and KOTV.  The conversation is always livelier with an audience that is fully engaged in matters that are important to Kendal residents and staff. We’ll welcome you if you can only join by Zoom or KOTV but you’ll miss a great cup of coffee or tea and fellowship. Zoom link: https://kendal-org.zoom.us/j/82348954314  Meeting ID: 823 4895 4314.

Safety Training on Thursday/Friday

Keeping Kendal safe necessitates lots of training in procedures for staff. On Thursday (4-6pm) and Friday (1-3pm), the Oberlin Fire Department will wrap up training our staff in the proper use of fire extinguishers. This is part of Life Safety regulations for all staff and assures we are ready for that unexpected incident. Recently, our evening facility staff demonstrated this capability and contained what could have been an extensive electrical fire.

COVID Booster Clinics are (finally) scheduled

We have full assurance that CVS Oberlin will be on campus the week of Oct 31-Nov 4. They will have plenty of COVID Booster for any resident that would like one. They ordered enough based on our numbers from a couple of weeks ago and we know some residents have gone ahead and received it off campus. The COVID Booster will be provided to Stephens Care Center residents on October 31 and will be offered Nov 1-4 for Independent Living residents and staff. As these dates approach, we will reach out to residents again to discover who is still planning to get their COVID Booster here at Kendal at Oberlin. You will then be given a date and time block to come down for your COVID Booster. Thank you for your patience while these details have been worked out.

Masks and Sign-In still required to Pass Through the SCC

Special rules still apply for the SCC: IL Residents are certainly allowed to pass through the Stephens Care Center without visiting someone (as has been the case for some time now) BUT YES, all individuals passing through the SCC must still sign-in through the kiosk upon entry into the SCC and be masked at all times in the SCC. You can use the generic “a resident” as the identified resident you are visiting for the “pass-through.”

Annual Flu Vaccinations

We have received our supply of our annual flu vaccines. We will have an ample supply for all residents and all staff. We ordered the High Dose Quadrivalent for all availability to residents as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). At-risk staff will also have this as an option. The Regular Dose Quadrivalent is an option for everyone as well.  Annual Flu Vaccination Clinics will be announced soon.

Always Be Aware of the Signs and Symptoms of COVID

Recent cases of COVID on campus have been mild. It is so important that signs and symptoms are not dismissed as seasonal or a simple reaction to the change in season. From the CDC:

People with COVID-19 have a wide range of symptoms reported- ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. Anyone can have mild to severe symptoms.

Possible symptoms include:

• Fever or chills
• Cough
• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• Fatigue
• Muscle or body aches
• Headache
• New loss of taste or smell
• Sore throat
• Congestion or runny nose
• Nausea or vomiting
• Diarrhea

If you are experiencing any signs or symptoms, please utilize your own COVID Home Test. If you test positive, please notify the Health and Wellness Clinic at 440-775-9819 during regular business hours or the Stephens Care Center RN Nurse Manager at 440-775-9800 at other times. They will provide you next step instructions. If you test positive, remain in your home and away from others until you have been cleared. Please use the above phone numbers if you do not have a COVID Home Test Kit and are experiencing signs and symptoms.

Dining Update

Greg Zehe, Director of Hospitality Services & Assoc. Administrator

Urgent Request! 

We are running short of the green ECO plastic carryout containers at nearly every meal now! Until lately, we have had a sufficient inventory and have not had any problems, with plenty of containers. Please remember we rely on residents to return the containers promptly. Just place them on the Langston conveyor belt so we will have them for your next meal. Thanks!

Job Fair at Western Reserve High School

Today, Tuesday, we are holding a recruiting event at Western Reserve High School. We do have a couple of students from Western Reserve on our team already and hope to attract a few more. This is a school we worked with last year and are happy to see the partnership continue.

Always-Available Options

We have been working on improving our speed of service for the Always Available Menu items. Scott and our sous chefs have been tracking the usage for the various items and are utilizing the data to be better prepared with ingredients so that the wait time for these is reduced. Some selections will still take longer than the menu items, particularly if they must be cooked from a raw state, but you will see your wait time reduced. As always, thanks for your patience with our staff!

Other Announcements

Marcia Ballinger, President of Lorain County Community College

Marcia Ballinger will update us on Oct 13, 7:15 pm Heiser and KOTV – talking about the college’s goal to offer affordable quality education to our community. She will explain the importance of the upcoming ballot initiative.

Jeanine Donaldson, Director of the Elyria YWCA

On Oct 17, 7:15 pm Heiser and KOTV: will help us to understand the action items of the Lorain County Racial Equity Center which was established in June. The agenda includes six focus areas: economic justice and workforce development; housing; health care equity; criminal justice and community policing; education; history. We hope that you will want to attend these two programs to learn more about the important work that is being done to better our community. (Shared by Shirley Taylor)

Interested in visiting the Cleveland Museum of Art on January 4 for the special Keithley Collection exhibit?

Let Gerry Findlan know of your interest by October 21 so we can confirm the trip. Sign-up sheet will be put out later. Exhibit is $12 for non-member seniors, free for members. Bus cost is estimated around $30. The exhibit includes works drawn from a collection of 100 works donated by the Keithley family, from Impressionism to Modernism.

Black and Blue film to be shown Oct 27

(shared by Lynn Ayres) This Emmy nominated documentary tells a never before filmed story about the 1934 game between the University of Michigan and Georgia Tech. When Georgia Tech agreed to come to Ann Arbor for a game, they insisted upon one condition: Michigan had to sit out their lone African American player, a talented end from Detroit named Willis Ward. Future President Gerald Ford, then a lineman from Grand Rapids, was so outraged that he threatened to quit the team in response to Ward’s benching. The incident galvanized both the U-M student body and the Ann Arbor community which held loud protests against the decision. The Ward incident helped Michigan to turn an important corner in race relations. Brian Kruger, Director and Producer of Black and Blue, will show his film, talk about the backstory and the impact of his film, and answer questions in Kendal’s Auditorium on Thursday, October 27, at 7:15 p.m.

Pool Monitors start soon!

Pool monitors will begin Sunday, Oct 30. You can check to see when/if a monitor will be on duty by looking at the new message board located across the hallway from the pool door. There will only be a monitor in the time slot with a name in it. Remember, monitors are not lifeguards. Everyone in the pool has the responsibility to watch out for others. Review the Safety Station Instructions at the sign in table in the pool area. Questions can be directed to Jill Tvaraho or Kathy Caldwell. Safe swimming everyone!

Covid News/ Statistics

Governor Mike DeWine’s regular COVID Press Conferences: https://ohiochannel.org

Looking at Fall and Winter Ahead through Medscape (Shared by Don Parker)

Medscape reports on studies and data from UK and Europe which likely presage what’s coming to the US this fall. Also, the need to alert people to the changing presenting symptoms — which are now predominantly sore throat, and not fever and loss of smell.

Sore Throat Becoming Dominant COVID Symptom

Having a sore throat is becoming a dominant symptom of COVID-19 infection, with fever and loss of smell becoming less common, according to recent reports in the U.K. The shift could be a cause of concern for the fall. As the main symptoms of the coronavirus change, people could spread the virus without realizing it. Read the article here.

Attention everyone who has been reading the COVID Statistics

We’ve been publishing these statistics for over two and a half years but now feel that they are not as critical as they once were. Starting next week, we plan to greatly reduce the number of items reported on. We will still publish data specific to Kendal at Oberlin. If there is a particular statistic you wish to see continued, please let Dale Preston or Stacy Terrell know. Thank you!