Rolla Presbyterian Manor employee tests COVID-19 positive

A Rolla Presbyterian Manor direct-resident care employee tested positive this week for COVID-19. The employee is in isolation and quarantined at home.

“Our top priority is the safety of our residents and staff members,” said Jeanne Gerstenkorn, PMMA’s infection preventionist and vice president for health and wellness.

An essential health care employee who last worked Wednesday, August 26, in health care and Tuesday, August 25, in memory care has tested positive for COVID-19.  The employee passed employee pre-screening for both shifts and was not scheduled to work Thursday. The employee called prior to their Friday shift to report an exposure and said they were going to get tested for COVID-19. The result was reported to the campus on Sunday evening.

The Phelps County Health Department has been notified of the positive case. The campus has conducted contact tracing to determine who had direct contact with the positive employee during their last shifts worked.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines exposure as being within 6 feet of another person while he or she is symptomatic for 10 minutes or longer. Employees who had direct contact will be asked to self-quarantine at home and residents will be placed in isolation pending test results.

The Phelps County Health Department recommends testing all residents and employees at the community this week.

Families have been called to alert them to the potential exposure. The community will follow any additional guidance from the Phelps County Health Department and the CDC. The campus will  remain in Phase 1 of its reopening plan. Outdoor visitation, group activities and communal dining will be paused while we resolve the COVID-19 situation at our campus.

All employees 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.

Presbyterian Manor will follow CDC guidelines for when COVID-positive employees may return to work. Under the current guidelines, symptomatic employees may return to work when at least 24 hours have passed since resolution of the employee’s fever without the use of fever-reducing medications and the employee’s symptoms have improved and at least 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared. Asymptomatic positive employees will quarantine for 14 days. Upon the employee’s return to work, we will follow CDC recommendations related to work practices and restrictions.

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

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