-Messenger file photo
Mary Jane Oppedahl waves to community members driving by for a quick honk and hello in August to let Friendship Haven residents know they are remembered and loved during the pandemic.

As COVID-19 spread through Iowa in March, the doors of long-term care facilities in Fort Dodge closed to visitors.

For months, nursing home residents have been able connect with their families only by phone, internet or perhaps through a window. And even when outdoor visits were allowed, everyone had to be six feet away from each other. There were no hugs, no holding hands.

Considering their isolated circumstances, residents of the Marian Home and Villages are doing remarkably well, according to Tracy Trotter, the facility’s administrator.

But she added, ”They could be doing so much better, like they were before COVID, with their family by their side.”

Trotter said residents have experienced ”different levels of sadness” because of the lack of visitors. She said staff members have had to explain to some residents that their families are not mad at them and that the pandemic is the only reason they stopped coming to visit.

-Messenger file photo
Joe Peed and Tori Johnson watch as friends, family and well-wishers drive around Friendship Haven in August.

Julie Thorson, chief executive officer of Friendship Haven, said the situation is ”extremely difficult” for the residents and their loved ones.

”Every resident reacts to the isolation in a different way,” she said. ”Our team members know the residents in their neighborhood very well and provide support, companionship and care on an individual basis.”

To help meet the residents’ needs, Friendship Haven has expanded the ranks of its companions, who are part-time employees.

”This is a unique position not found in most nursing homes,” Thorson said. ”This person provides one-on-one attention to residents who want or need individual attention, whether it is assisting with an outdoor visit, helping them write a letter to a loved one or just being there to listen to their stories. While this position was created prior to COVID, we continue to hire more individuals to help residents in this difficult time.”

To lift the spirits of its residents, Fort Dodge Villa Care Center held a parade down Martin Luther King Drive in May. Like any parade, it was led by a police car with flashing red and blue lights. It featured cars and trucks decorated with signs and other greetings for the residents. Friendship Haven has had two parades for its residents, including a recent September Salute.

Outdoor visits in which nursing room residents could go outside to meet friends and family, were allowed beginning in mid to late summer. During those visits everyone has to stay six feet apart and wear masks.

A recent cool afternoon did not deter some Marian Home residents from outdoor visits, according to Trotter.

”They said ‘Bundle me up and give me a blanket, I’m going to see my family,”’ she said.

COVID cases in the facilities

There have been relatively few COVID cases in Fort Dodge nursing homes.

Hardest hit was Fort Dodge Villa Care Center, which had 19 residents and eight staff members test positive. Six of those residents died, but care center Administrator Lisa Eastman said they were already in hospice care. She told The Messenger that she believed it was unfair for them to be classified as COVID deaths.

The Marian Home had five residents test positive in July and August. Three of them were asymptomatic.

Trotter said three residents recently tested positive, but they are showing no symptoms of illness.

One Friendship Haven resident tested positive in June, but recovered.

Stress on the staff

Caring for the residents during the pandemic has placed an extra burden on nursing home employees.

Friendship Haven has lost some employees due to the stress. Thorson said the staff has ”embraced the challenge and are doing an awesome job in light of the difficult times.”

She said the Rev. Jennifer Owen , Friendship Haven’s spiritual care director, is available help employees feeling worn down by the COVID situation.

Trotter said the Marian Home provides an employee assistance program.

What’s next

”I can’t imagine it going back 100 percent to the way we used to know it,” Trotter said. ”I think we will always have in the back of our minds that something like this could happen again.”

She said nursing homes have recently received guidance from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services advising them to allow visitors back into the facilities if certain conditions are met. According to those recommendations, visitors should be allowed when there are no COVID cases in the facility and the community positivity rate is below 10 percent. Visitors would have to pass a medical screening including a temperature check.

At Friendship Haven, Schmoker Adult Day Services has been closed since March. Thorson said the reopening of the program will be evaluated in the near future.