Lawrence Presbyterian Manor reports COVID-19 test results

Three residents at Lawrence Presbyterian Manor have tested positive for COVID-19.

“Keeping our residents and staff healthy continues to be a top priority for Lawrence Presbyterian Manor,” said Jeanne Gerstenkorn, vice president for health and wellness for PMMA (Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America).

The community tested 10 residents and 4 employees after another employee at the community tested positive for COVID-19 August 12. All other tests were negative for the virus. The new cases bring Lawrence Presbyterian Manor’s total active cases to 1 employee and 3 residents in the past 7 days.

The Douglas County Health Department has been notified and recommends mass testing of residents and employees at the community. Health care and assisted living residents, including memory care, and campus employees will be tested this week.

The number of positive cases involved, and the fact that both residents and employees are involved, means our campus is now considered a COVID-19 cluster. A cluster is defined as two or more cases of COVID-19 tied to a specific location in a specified time frame.

The COVID positive residents will remain in isolation in a designated COVID-19 area and be cared for by the COVID-19 Rapid Response Team. Rapid Response Team members are following doctor’s orders for treatment protocols and following CDC infection prevention protocols. We will follow CDC and KDHE guidelines for when the residents may come out of isolation. Under the current guidelines, symptomatic residents may leave isolation when at least 72 hours have passed since resolution of the resident’s fever without the use of fever-reducing medications and the resident’s symptoms  have improved and at least 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared. Asymptomatic positive residents will quarantine for 14 days.

We encourage all staff members to follow CDC guidelines and best practices as these are continually updated.  We have been screening employees as they enter the community building for a shift and before employees have any direct contact with residents.  We educate all staff to stay at home if they are experiencing symptoms of a respiratory illness or not feeling well.

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

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