Gold Crest’s Story

On April 1, 2020, a small, rural Nebraska long-term facility received a call from their local health department. One of their elderly residents, who had been in the hospital, tested positive for COVID-19. The facility team was overwhelmed and, at that time, unsure of what that news meant.

 After contacting residents’ family members, their next call was to the Nebraska Health Care Foundation for help in fighting the invisible virus that threatened their residents and team members.  

 The outbreak was especially challenging as many of the facility’s team – as well as health care providers across the country – did not know much about the coronavirus. The facility was also limited on personal protective equipment (PPE). The Nebraska Health Care Foundation sprung into action by identifying the facility’s PPE needs and providing solutions for building PPE supplies.

 Another tool in the facility’s fight was participation in a statewide COVID-19 mentor program that paired affected skilled nursing facilities and assisted living communities with infectious disease experts. The program helped the team quickly gain the infection control knowledge and resources needed to keep up with the day-to-day challenges presented by COVID-19.

 The facility overcame their COVID-19 outbreak with minimal lives lost to such a deadly virus. The team found joy in telling families that their loved ones and staff have begun to push through COVID-19 and could return to some semblance of normal inside the facility.