Information About Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)

The New Jewish Home is closely and continuously monitoring all matters related to the novel coronavirus and is taking important precautions to ensure your health and safety. COVID-19 is a respiratory illness caused by a novel coronavirus first detected in Wuhan, China. On March 11, 2020, The World Health Organization has labeled the COVID-19 outbreak a global pandemic.

COVID-19 disease may be mild to severe. The virus is thought to be spread person to person, through respiratory droplets that spread when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Up to 80% of infected people will recover without needing to seek medical care. Symptoms may occur as soon as 2 days and as long as 14 days after exposure. Symptoms include fever, shortness of breath, and cough. Other symptoms may include nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat, or diarrhea.

The well-being of our clients — and all who come through our doors — is our most important priority.

WHAT STEPS IS THE NEW JEWISH HOME TAKING AT ITS FACILITIES?

Since we serve a frail and vulnerable population of older adults, we are stepping up our infection control precautions and are closely monitoring and adhering to guidelines set forth by NYS Department of Health and the CDC. These are the proactive steps we are taking to ensure the safety of our older adult clients, staff and visitors.

Interdisciplinary Task Force

Led by our Medical Director and Infection Preventionist, our interdisciplinary team (administrators, senior leadership, clinical leads, communications and IT departments) meet daily to discuss updates and plan for next steps.
We are in constant communication with the New York State Department of Health (DOH) to receive, evaluate and implement the latest guidance.

Patient Monitoring

Our clinicians are vigilantly monitoring patient health. We are following strict DOH guidelines for the management of all respiratory infections, including when to test for viruses and when to consider testing for COVID-19.
Our staff has been trained to identify any patients or residents who might be at risk of COVID-19 and are well-prepared to institute precautions for these patients or residents if the need arises.

Facility Maintenance

We have increased the frequency of cleaning on high touch surfaces and high trafficked public areas with hospital-grade bleach disinfectant. This is done daily, and in many areas, multiple times a day.

UPDATES

In order to limit the chance of exposing our patients and residents to potential COVID-19 in the community, we have updated the following policies.

Visitation

As per NYS Department of Health, we have restricted visitation at our facilities listed below:

Westchester skilled nursing facility (effective March 8, 2020)
Manhattan skilled nursing facility (effective March 13, 2020)
University Avenue Assisted Living Program (effective March 13, 2020)

We understand that restricting visitation may be concerning for you and/or your loved one who is under our care. To help make things easier for everyone involved, we are mobilizing all of our resources, including social workers, clergy, therapeutic recreation staff and other staff to support our residents and families. We will help you communicate with your loved ones via phone calls, face time and video calls and other methods as needed.

Manhattan Campus

Effective Saturday, March 28, we will be limiting all resident deliveries, including laundry, to our Manhattan facility. Our infection control experts have strongly advised that this is a necessary step we need to take to combat the spread of COVID-19. While we recognize this may be a challenge for you, we are committed to taking every precaution to help lower the risk of exposure for your loved ones in our care. We will be revisiting this policy every two weeks.

The health and safety of our residents, patients and staff remain our priority. We are following the guidance provided by the NYS Department of Health and the CDC.

If you have questions, please contact our If you have questions, please contact our designated “WeCare” line at (212) 870-7570 or email at wecare@jewishhome.org. We will respond to your inquiry between the hours of 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. and we encourage you to reach out during these hours, unless there is an emergent need.

Westchester Campus

For families who have hired companions to help care for their loved ones, please note that due to the community-based spread of COVID-19 in our county, we are currently only able to accept companions and home health aides from two providers: HAPI (212-273-2577) and Eldercare (914-815-0566). We have contracts with these two companies and they are available to help you.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation and understanding during this challenging time. If you have any questions about your loved one, please call the main number at 914-698-6005. If you have any other questions, please contact Administration at 914-864-5110.

Kittay Senior Apartments

Please know that maintaining the safety of our tenants is our priority. In order to limit possible outside exposure to COVID-19, at this time we would like to limit visitation to essential workers and caregivers. We are requesting visitors who are at risk for developing the virus to refrain from visiting Kittay at this time. All visitors will be asked to complete a screening questionnaire as well as a temperature check.

Should you have any questions, please contact us at 718-410-1415.

Manhattan and Bronx Adult Day Health Care Programs

Effective March 17, 2020, per mandate from NYS Department of Health, our Adult Day Health Care Programs in Manhattan and Bronx are CLOSED until further notice. If you have questions, please contact Mary Lou Harren Matamoros (212-273-2530; mharren@jewishhome.org) or Mark Becker (718-329-8389; mbecker@jewishhome.org).

How to Update Family Contact Information

If you are not receiving email updates from The New Jewish Home and would like to, please contact your Director of Social Work.

For Manhattan, please contact Meg Bondy:
212-870-4939 — mbondy@jewishhome.org

For Westchester, please contact Cristina Giarratano:
914-864-5660 — cgiarratano@jewishhome.org

GENERAL FLU-PREVENTION MEASURES

We encourage everyone to practice general flu prevention measures as recommended by the CDC which are the exact same measures that will help us prevent COVID-19 illness:

Stay home if you’re feeling sick; call your doctor immediately to report your symptoms and travel history;
Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue or sleeve; throw the tissue away immediately;
Wash your hands regularly;
Avoid touching your face;
Avoid close contact with people who are sick; and
Get your flu shot, if you haven’t already received it.

Please be assured that our team is monitoring the situation in real time and be sure to check back here for future updates.

Below are links you may find helpful.