Statement from Western Hills Health Care Center regarding COVID-19

Updated: Friday, December 4, 10:10 a.m. MST

Western Hills Healthcare Center is thankful to share that we have cleared our COVID-19 outbreak! We currently have zero active cases in residents and only 4 staff still out completing their isolation. We have had 20 days and 2 rounds of testing with no new positives.

We continue to meet with the representatives of the public health department and are working closely with Jefferson County. We have been approved to lift our in-room quarantine for our residents. Please note, all residents recently admitted/readmitted from the community will continue to be required to quarantine for 14 days regardless of past COVID-19 recovery status or current negative test results.

We are grateful to start this new chapter. We remain vigilant because of the high positivity rate in our county, and we will continue to test staff twice a week. Also, our visitation status, communal dining and group activities remain restricted.

However, we do get to restart some activities we have missed:

• Our residents can open their doors (unless on yellow unit for 14-day quarantine after admission)
• Our residents can enjoy socially distanced and masked hallway activities with their hall/neighborhood
• Our residents can stroll, socially distanced and masked, in the facility to check out the birds, fish, menu or just to say hello to a friend
• Our residents can go to a designated window while socially distanced and masked for a window visit

Here are our final outbreak numbers:

• Start date: October 19, 2020
• End date: November 27, 2020 (14th day of no new resident positives)
• Total resident cases: 78
• Total resident deaths: 14
• Total associate cases: 38 (34 recovered, 4 still out recovering)

Thank you all for your love and support through all of this. Additionally, I would like to thank our Lakewood community partners who have shown us overwhelming support and prayers through all of this.

Our hearts are heavy for those who we lost and the families and friends left behind. As we begin this new chapter, we are proud of those who answered the call to care, and we recognize all of our Champions that rose to the occasion. Our hearts can now again be filled with hope and joy as we continue to serve the wonderful people of the Western Hills community.

Amy Goeglein, executive director