ADDISON COUNTY — Officials at Addison County Home Health and Hospice are reacting to reports that some agencies in other parts of the country are discontinuing their home care services. According to Gov. Phil Scott’s “Stay Home Stay Safe” order last week, agencies like ACHHH provide services deemed critical to public health and safety.
“We are following all appropriate precautions as required by the Center for Disease Control and the Vermont Department of Health,” said ACHHH Director of Development Maureen Conrad. “We are also in daily contact with Porter Hospital and the Visiting Nurses Associations of Vermont to share information as circumstances change rapidly.”
Conrad said that before ACHHH staff visit a home, clinicians screen patients by telephone and provide guidance to patients who feel they need to be tested for COVID-19. She said the clinicians are practicing infection control just as they have in the past and they have access to the personal protective equipment that will keep them and their patients safe.
“Even as we all adjust to our new ‘temporary normal,’ we are your partners in home care and hospice care,” Conrad said. “Together, we will get through this.”