Heritage Heights Assisted Living facility emerges from the pandemic

CHELAN - On June 30, Washington State opened under the Washington Ready plan. But assisted living facilities have been operating under a different reopening plan called the Safe Start plan. At Heritage Heights, an assisted living facility on East Highland Avenue, reopening has been “very positive,” said Amanda Ballou, CEO of Heritage Heights.
The Centers for Disease Control, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, Department of Social and Health Services, and Aging and Long Term care worked together to develop a reopening plan, Ballou said.
“The majority, most of our residents, were vaccinated [with] two doses by February and that is when the reopening really started for long term care. In February, dining reopened and the residents were able to resume dining together in the dining room,” she said.
In March, Ballou said, visitation opened. Residents could go out into the Chelan community and visitors could come to see the residents. In May, reopening began in full swing because residents who were fully vaccinated didn’t have to wear masks or social distance during meal time.  Since the statewide reopening at the end of June, not much has changed.
Some increased costs the assisted living facility faced due to the pandemic like the vaccine were covered by federal programs, said Ballou.  Supply costs with masks have been another cost increase but the primary cost increase has been labor costs.  
During the pandemic, admission into long term facilities went down, Ballou said, as people were reluctant to move in during the midst of the pandemic. At the same time, Coronavirus protocol created more work per resident. This meant Heritage Heights was operating at lower occupancy but with the same amount of staff that they would have at a higher occupancy.  The existing staff was very loyal throughout the pandemic which helped the facility to run smoothly.
Governmental programs that assist long term care facilities have helped Heritage Heights, Ballou said. The Payroll Protection Program and the Provider Relief Fund helped the facility to maintain their staff when revenues were down. Heritage Heights takes both private care and Medicaid individuals and is a non-profit.
Ballou said that the amount of patients on Medicaid and those who are private pay patients has been pretty evenly split during her 18 years at Heritage Heights. Individuals are admitted on a first come first serve basis and reflect the demographics of the community of Chelan.
During the pandemic, many industries have faced extreme uncertainty. Many businesses have had to shut down entirely.  For a while, Ballou said, it was uncertain how people would feel about assisted living in the long term. However, as soon as the vaccine came in and restrictions began to lift there was an influx of families interested in admitting elderly family members to Heritage Heights.
“And what we actually saw was kind of a pent up demand of individuals needing to come in residential care and families who needed the help. And so we have found that the market is still very much there for assisted living,” she said.
Just because the facility is bouncing back doesn’t mean that everything has been easy. The health of residents at the assisted living facility declined during the pandemic, Ballou said.
Living in isolation is very difficult for the human spirit and seniors are no exception.  But the seniors have shown resilience as their mental health and well-being has improved since they were allowed visitors.
For everyone on staff, there was a “very high” degree of stress during the pandemic.  Staff have needed to take time off and take personal time to recover. Community has also helped. Staff at Heritage Heights banded together and were each other's “strongest source of support.”
The larger community of Chelan reached out to support Heritage Heights throughout the pandemic, Ballou said.  One family brought chocolate every week for the staff to brighten their moods. People brought cards and presents very frequently. Last summer, when residents couldn’t leave their apartments, a car show was put on.
Community members drove their cars around the apartments and honked to let residents know they weren’t forgotten and were cared about. The cars were decorated and passengers carried colorful signs.
A little later in the season another wonderful gift was a Christmas tree from the 12 Tribes. The group reached out to Heritage Height and brought the tree, coupons, and gifts.
“They just made a whole Christmas for us,” Ballou said.
Besides the levity and joy that a Christmas tree brought in December, Coronavirus was an unwelcome visitor. Ballou said that there was an outbreak in the first week of December. By the end of December, there were no new cases.
Personal protective equipment stopped the outbreak, Ballou said. Gowns, N95 masks, and visors were worn when visiting residents. Between visiting each resident, the personal protective equipment was disposed of and switched out for new equipment.
Heritage Heights never faced a supply shortage of personal protective equipment. Ballou credits the Chelan-Douglas Health Department for the adequate supply. While the rest of the state lifts masking restrictions, masks are still required for assisted living facilities.
Even without an outbreak, staff are still required to wear surgical masks and eye protection, Ballou said. Masks are required for residents and visitors in the common areas. The only exception is that in a residents apartment that resident can give visitors permission to not wear a mask and are free to go maskless themselves.
When visitors come into the facility they face a health screening and need to attest that either they or the person they are visiting is vaccinated, Ballou said. Even with visitors and a return to normality, it's hard to say what the future will bring.
“I would say that it's a constantly changing picture. We receive new information every day,” Ballou said.