May 27, 2020
A message to our Community,

Last week, Governor Justice contacted the West Virginia Healthcare Facility Licensing Agency, assigning them the task of beginning to develop a future plan to ease visitation restrictions for WV Nursing Homes and Assisted Living Facilities.

Today, I was part of the first in a series of statewide conference calls to introduce this subject to all stakeholders.  On the conference call were representatives of our licensing agency, the WV Bureau of Public Health, senior advocates, and eldercare facility administrators throughout West Virginia.

The Licensing Agency stated at the onset that Governor Justice has absolutely no date in mind to begin to ease restrictions, which would allow the public to reenter eldercare facilities in West Virginia to visit their loved ones.  His only request of the group was to begin to develop a plan to ease restrictions once he decided that it was acceptable to determine a date to start the process.  The decisions to adopt a plan and implement a plan to ease restrictions are not up to each facility.  These decisions remain solely with the Governor.

We understand that this has been a difficult time for our residents, their family members and our staff.  Separation from loved ones in terrible – but restricting visitation so far has enabled us to protect our residents against the coronavirus.  The health and safety of residents and staff are our top priorities.

I will continue to update you, as I know more information. Thank you for your prayers and your patience.

Respectfully,

Donald R. Kirsch
Administrator