Meadow View took early initiative in COVID-19 testing
Meadow View Press Release
Long before any state directives, the Meadow View senior living center in Norris voluntarily initiated and completed testing of the residents and staff for the coronavirus with all negative results.
While there were no residents or staff with symptoms of the COVID-19, there was always the concern of an infected asymptomatic resident or staff.
Asymptomatic conditions mean that there are no symptoms but the person could still be contagious.
The virus has proven to be more threatening to older adults.
This threat has been evidenced at many senior communities around the country and has developed into a major crisis.
Testing options of asymptomatic residents or staff was generally unavailable from state or local health departments.
In March, the Center for Medicare Services also facilitated testing through the introduction of new billing codes.
The leadership of Meadow View searched for a voluntary option that could test all residents regardless of symptoms.
Some available tests have questionable accuracy and all tests are an indicator of conditions at the time of the test.
However, the leadership of Meadow View located a testing process that generated a highly credible result.
On April 13, Meadow View retained Blue Sky House Calls and Vikor Scientific Laboratory to provide on-site molecular testing of all residents and staff for the virus.
After specialized training, the facility’s nurses executed the testing.
Meadow View and its parent company, GoodWorks Unlimited, LLC., was the first and only senior community provider to initiate and complete testing of all of its residents and staff in Tennessee and Kentucky.
“The test was very comfortable and only took a few minutes. It makes our residents and staff very confident and secure to know that they have tested negative,” said Pam Forgety at Meadow View.
After training, the Meadow View nurses tested residents and staff. The completed tests were then sent to Vikor Scientific for molecular processing. Results were returned within two days. All tests at Meadow View were negative, meaning that there were no residents or staff with evidence of the coronavirus.
“I am thrilled. It is wonderful to know that all residents and staff at Meadow View have been tested and that all are free from infection from the coronavirus.” said Ken Holland, director of operations, GoodWorks Unlimited, LLC.
Meadow View is one of the first senior communities to initiate testing of all residents and staff. This testing has generally been unavailable to the senior community.
The leadership of Meadow View took the initiative to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the residents and staff.
“Loving our residents is our mission, so providing this test is a critical initiative to fight the spread of the coronavirus,” said Gary Keckley, chief executive officer, GoodWorks Unlimited, LLC.
“The staff are the real heroes and we are honored to be able to provide them and their families with this test as a real benefit,” he added.