Topeka Presbyterian Manor resident loses battle with COVID-19

A resident who previously tested positive for COVID-19 has died at Topeka Presbyterian Manor.

“The entire Topeka Presbyterian Manor family is mourning today,” said Heather Pilkinton, executive director. “It is always difficult to lose one of our beloved residents, and our hearts are broken.”

The resident was being cared for by designated employees in a special isolation area for COVID-19 positive residents. COVID-positive residents are cared for according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for transmission-based infection prevention protocols and physician’s orders.

The campus continues to conduct routine surveillance testing of employees and weekly outbreak testing for residents in health care and assisted living. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) requires surveillance testing of all employees, agency employees, volunteers, hospice, lab and therapy providers at our campus to be tested for COVID-19 on a frequency determined by our county’s COVID-19 testing positivity rate. A round of testing was completed Monday, November 9, and the test results are still pending.

Topeka Presbyterian Manor will continue to work with the Shawnee County Health Department and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) to stop the outbreak.

All employees, residents, and visitors are encouraged to follow CDC guidelines and best practices as these are continually updated. The community regularly reinforces with all staff that an employee should not report to work if he or she is experiencing symptoms of a respiratory illness or not feeling well.  The community educates all residents and their families regarding preventive measures to slow the spread to COVID-19 including social distancing, practicing good hand hygiene, wearing an appropriate face covering, and sheltering in place within the community to the greatest extent possible.

For more information about Topeka Presbyterian Manor’s response, go to PMMA’s (Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America’s) website, presbyterianmanors.org/media-room.

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