Frequently Asked Questions: COVID-19 and other health concerns

What safety protocols do you follow?

At Special Tree, the health of our patients, staff, and visitors is our top priority. We follow guidelines from the CDC, state and local regulations, and our own best practices. Our infection control team closely monitors a number of measure to prevent and control the spread of viruses such as COVID-19, influenza, and others.

Some of the ways we do this include:

• Using best practices for monitoring infection control

• Training staff on universal precautions and contagious illness prevention

• Providing flu shots and other vaccines

• Tracking client and staff illness

• Enforcing illness related return to work guidelines for staff

• Encouraging hand hygiene and cough etiquette

• Asking visitors to stay away if they have symptoms or illness

• Conducting emergency preparedness drills

• Keeping our facilities clean and sanitized

• and more

What can I do to stay safe and to help protect my friend or loved one staying at Special Tree?

We kindly ask that visitors refrain from visiting should you have any illness which may be contagious and present a serious threat to our patients and staff. When visiting, please follow our current guidelines which may at times require wearing a mask, social distancing, visiting outdoors, and/or other measures.

To keep yourself healthy, please consider:

• Frequent hand hygiene with hand sanitizer or soap and water, washing for at least 20 seconds.

• Keep work surfaces, linens, dishes, eating utensils and shared equipment clean and disinfected daily.

• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing, or use your shoulder if you do not have a tissue.

• Follow the guidelines to stay at home and reduce your interactions in the community as much as possible during times of illness

• Get information from reliable sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), World Health Organization (WHO), the Michigan Department of Health and governing bodies in your city of residence.
  

What do you do when COVID-19 cases (or other infections) are on the rise?

As we transition away from the COVID-19 pandemic phase into the endemic phase, we hope to return to more of our routine practices while vigilantly maintaining patient and staff safety. At times when cases have been on the rise, for COVID-19 or any serious infection, we take steps to protect our clients and staff in as many ways as we possibly can.

At Special Tree we:

• Have an infection control team which carefully monitors COVID-19 (and other viruses) who make decisions to protect our clients and staff

• Follow the recommendations from the CDC, WHO, and local and state authorities

• May ramp up our screening protocols for clients and team members, with a higher alert to respiratory symptoms

• Consult frequently with our Respiratory Team, who provide care 24/7 at the NeuroCare Campus, for their professional expertise relating to clients who may exhibit respiratory concerns or COVID-19 related symptoms

• Routinely examine our policies and procedures around infection control to ensure we are properly prepared should an outbreak occur

• Routinely review our emergency preparedness and outbreak response plans

• Continue to enforce standard precautions and prevention techniques we already have in place to prevent the spread of illness and disease
  

Where can I learn more?

You can find information and resources about COVID-19 on the State of Michigan’s COVID-19 dashboard and on the CDC website and through the Michigan Department of Health.