“Oct. 5 at the very earliest,” Schnabl said of the reopening date. “I will not reopen if the county remains in red status and even if the county drops in red status but the incidence levels in Oxford remain high, I’m very reluctant.”
Not only are seniors at higher risk, but Schnabl said centers have been given a long list of protocols they must follow to open safely and they are still working through how to accomplish those. Some of those include:
- COVID-19 testing all staff and volunteers before opening and every two weeks thereafter
- Seniors must have their temperatures taken before they come in and answer screening questions about possible exposure
- They must register for the programs they want to participate in and leave directly after the program so the area can sanitized
- They must wear masks
- The center must keep a register of all clients served for potential contact tracing
Schnabl said staffers have been working to make sure visitors can practice social distancing at the facility, by doing things such as installing plexiglass barriers on tables. The center received $46,000 from the city of Oxford to help with some of the expenses but it will still be a challenge financially to reopen, especially the adult daycare center.
“It is based on understanding the rules of how many people we can have, it has to be authorized by each person’s care manager and then we have to run the numbers based on what their funding source is, to see if we’ve got enough money to pay for each day of service,” Schnabl said. “And then if the person doesn’t come one day because they’re feeling sick, then we take a loss that day.”
Plus, they don’t really know what their client base is. During the past six months, some of the seniors might have died or moved into nursing homes because “without the positive stimulation of participating in our programming,” they needed other alternatives.
The Council on Aging for Southwest Ohio spent some of its federal CARES money hiring a contractor to visit senior centers and help them become compliant, according to Randy Quisenberry, manager of procurement and provider services.
The contractor met with Central Connections in Middletown last week, and Executive Director Monica Smith said it won’t be opening to the 800 clients who use the center until she gets that report back.
“The hard part is we understand, we know that this has been a social gathering and for the emotional and social wellness of our seniors and even the physical, we understand how important it is to be back in action and open our doors,” she said. “But at the same time we have to keep everyone safe.”
These are the only two senior centers in the county since the Activity Center was shut down in West Chester Twp. Smith said there was limited senior programming at the Booker T. Washington Community Center in Hamilton but that had to be halted because the center is also used by children. They have continued to provide packaged meals to Hamilton seniors.
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