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Finally seeing Mom again: Restrictions eased at some Ohio long-term care facilities

Akron Beacon Journal - 6/14/2020

For years, Chris Walker has visited his mother every Sunday at the assisted-living facility in Akron where she lives.

But the novel coronavirus put a stop to that ritual three months ago, with the state issuing an order March 13 banning visitors to nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.

"It's like holding your breath," Walker said, of the inability to see his mother, Charlotte, 98, in person the past three months. She doesn't hear well and phone calls or video chats are not feasible, Walker said.

Now, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has eased that restriction somewhat, allowing outdoor, on-site visits with assisted-living facility residents.

DeWine has not revealed when nursing homes will reopen for visits, frustrating some Ohioans. Last week, a group protested outside a nursing home in Hamilton, outside Cincinnati. The protest was organized by a man whose mother has Alzheimer's disease and lives in the facility.

Walker, 71, of Fairlawn, is planning to visit his mother this week, bringing a writing board with him. He figures he can write messages to bridge the communication barrier that masks will create.

Visitors and residents must wear masks.

Walker plans to kick off the visit by writing: "HI MOM! WE LOVE YOU"

Although his mother has short-term memory loss, she reads and enjoys doing crossword puzzles. The memory unit in which she lives is part of an assisted-living facility. This means scheduled outdoor visits are allowed.

While it's been frustrating not to be able to see his mom, Walker said, he knows the staff members at Ohio Living Rockynol in Akron are taking good care of her.

Rockynol is a long-term care facility in the city's Highland Square/Wallhaven area. Walker, a retired job counselor, checks in with staff members there frequently.

"I'm hoping that we're going to get back to what we had," he said, and he and his brothers, Curtis and Andy, who live locally, and their sister, Gretchen, who lives outside of Pittsburgh, and spouses can have normal, inside visits with Charlotte Walker.

"But I try not to worry about things I can't control ... there's nothing to blame but a virus, and I can't confront a virus."

Nationwide, long-term care facilities have been hard hit by the coronavirus.

The residents are often older and have an illness, which can put them at higher risk from complications from the coronavirus. Workers -- who may work at more than one facility -- can carry in the virus.

A total of 1,745 residents of Ohio long-term care facilities -- including nursing homes -- have died of COVID-19, according to the Ohio Department of Health. The latest weekly update -- released last Wednesday -- shows that reported deaths of residents of the facilities increased by 104 from the prior week.

The total 1,745 deaths represent about 71% of all reported COVID-19 deaths in the state.

As of Friday afternoon, there were 150 coronavirus-related deaths in Summit County involving those with ties to the facilities. Those deaths represent nearly 78% of the total 193 COVID-19 deaths in the county as of last week. Summit County Public Health has said earlier that its tally of deaths involving long-term care facilities include at least one of an employee.

The county and the state do not release the names of the facilities associated with the deaths, citing privacy reasons.

Judi and Mike Christy of Green are among the many Ohioans waiting for nursing home restrictions to ease.

Mike Christy's mother, Marcia, who is 87, is in a nursing home in Ashtabula County. She is almost totally deaf and cannot talk on the phone. Her children have tried to video chat with her, but the calls haven't been successful, said Judi Christy, who is director of marketing and communication for the Akron Area YMCA.

"The worst thing is that no family member has really been able to explain to her what's going on with COVID-19 and all the restrictions,"Judi Christy wrote in an email, noting the family sends letters and cards. Prior to the ban on visits, the family had tried to make sure she had one visit each day from a family member or friend.

Mike Christy said in the email he is torn up by the idea his mother might think she has been abandoned.

"The fact that I can't hug her or kiss her or explain to her what's going on is sad," said Mike Christy, who is in sales with Solmet Technologies in Canton.

Judi Christy said she understands the nursing home -- which has had no COVID-19 cases -- is taking necessary precautions.

She suggested that a person be able to sign a waiver -- releasing the home from liability -- and visit a resident in a nursing home. The visitor also would don and mask and get his or her temperature checked, she said.

Such measures are mandatory for the outside visits with residents of assisted-living facilities. Additionally, only one visitor is allowed at a time.

DeWine has said state officials want to see how the visits go at assisted-living facilities before allowing visits for nursing homes.

Joyce Johnson, a part-time WKSU radio host, Beacon Journal freelance writer and part-time college instructor, is optimistic that visitations at nursing homes will soon be allowed.

Now, she said, she keeps in touch with her mother, Karin Johnson, who has Alzheimer's disease, via phone calls and video chats. A staff member of the nursing home reaches Johnson.

"Usually it's me singing German songs [from Karin Johnson's childhood] ... just to kind of rekindle her memory," said Johnson, who lives with her family in Copley.

DeWine's easing of stay-at-home orders last month means residents of independent living facilities have a little bit more freedom, though they are still advised to stay home as much as possible.

The change means Joan Dangel, 87, has been able to visit with family members away from her independent living apartment at the Village of St. Edward in Fairlawn. Previously, if she would have left the facility's campus, she would have had to quarantine for 14 days upon return.

Her daughter, Kate Bame, said family members have established "ground rules" for taking her off site. For example, they won't take her places where there could be crowds.

"Just the peace of mind ... knowing that we are now able to get my mom out [for occasional visits], is a blessing." Bame said.

"The separation was awful," Bame said, noting that family members would stand below a window of her mother's third-floor apartment to see her during the stay-at-home period that lasted for more than two months.

"They were very protective of us," Bame's mother said of the staff at the Village of St. Edward in Fairlawn.

Dangel, who has seven children and 11 grandchildren, said she added to her family pictures on display in her apartment to help her deal with the loneliness.

"I tried to always keep upbeat," she said.

Beacon Journal reporter Katie Byard can be reached at kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com.

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