SEDRO-WOOLLEY — Country Meadow Village hasn’t had a case of COVID-19 among its residents.
And staff have done everything possible to keep it that way.
“We started screening visitors the last week of February 2020 as we realized the virus was on its way,” said Country Meadow Village Building Administrator Sandra Jensen.
In the ultimate effort, the owner of the Sedro-Woolley assisted living facility, Village Concepts, provided 101 COVID-19 vaccinations Wednesday to Country Meadow Village’s residents and staff.
“Once we knew the vaccine was getting close, we registered with the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) as did as a lot of other long-term care providers in order to get the vaccine and provide it to our seniors in their living areas,” said Village Concepts Corporate Director of Wellness Laura Foster.
Village Concepts partners with CDC-approved Consonus Healthcare for its 14 facilities in the state and the Consonus pharmacy provides residents with their pharmaceutical needs.
“We contacted them (Consonus Healthcare) and worked together to bring all these vaccines to our residents,” Foster said. “It has been a great relationship. They helped with a lot of the heavy lifting in regards to paperwork and we took care of that on our end while we provided the nurses and clinics within the communities.”
The vaccines were administered by Foster and Country Meadow Village Resident Care Director Caroline Davis. After receiving the injections, individuals were monitored for any reactions. There were none on this day, and Foster said the vaccination has been tolerated well by those at the Village Concepts facilities.
“It was a joyous day at Country Meadow Village, and my arm feels good,” program director David Bricka said.
In three weeks, Consonus Healthcare will return to Sedro-Woolley to administer the second dose of the vaccination, completing the two-shot program while also offering an initial dose to any new residents and employees. Those new individuals will get the final dose during a third visit.
“We have received nothing but positive feedback (from those receiving the vaccine),” Foster said. “They were all excited to see it coming today. They were very excited to see that vehicle pull up with the vaccines in it.
“It gives them hope that maybe they can eventually eat meals with their friends again in the dining room and see their families and loved ones. All those things.”
Village Concepts is offering vaccinations to residents and staff at all its facilities. Foster said Village Concepts has encouraged everyone to get the vaccine.
“We have 14 buildings and this is day 10,” Foster said. “So we have four more clinics to go and we’ll be through our first round with our residents and part of our staff. And we’ve had a very good turnout.
“We have that second round all scheduled so we’ll have a little break and then start back again. And we even have a third. It’s great to be able to have three clinics set up in order to offer choices for everybody.”