BRISTOL, Conn. — For the first time, assisted living facilities are starting to see the positive effects of the COVID-19 vaccine. But as the health crisis in long term care facilities nears a hopeful end, a financial crisis is just beginning.
You might remember Shady Oaks Assisted living in Bristol. Nearly a year ago, they went into a bubble. 17 staff members sacrificed their personal lives to live in RVs in the parking lot to protect residents. "A lot of people could die. This has given me nightmares. Like really, I’ve been up all year," said Tyson Belanger, the owner of Shady Oaks.
Belanger had one goal. Keeping his residents and staff alive. "That was the right thing to do. It is the right thing to do," he said. So, in March of 2020, they bubbled up. "Our goal was to reach a time of better testing and better equipment. And we did it!"
Equipped with PPE and testing, Shady Oaks popped the bubble in May. "We were able to transition smoothly into testing every week." That testing caught their first asymptomatic COVID case of a staff member in June. "And it didn’t transfer to anyone because we were wearing the KN95’s," said Belanger.
Shady Oaks has both residents and staff wear KN95 masks. In another innovation, Belanger purchased 75 medical-grade air purifiers. "It’s made a huge difference for us we believe," he said. The summer was good, but then came the fall. "We saw in September that things might get worse again as the models started looking at the winter," said Belanger.
By November and December, two more staff members caught COVID in the community. "But it didn’t transfer to any other staff member or any resident." And because of his aggressive measures, Shady Oaks is among a minority of long-term care facilities able to offer visitation to residents and their family members. "Isolation, fear of abandonment. Concern for their family members. It rides on people and ultimately, it’s about quality of life," remarked Belanger.
Fast forward - now we have a vaccine. At Shady Oaks, 80% of the staff elected to get that vaccine. But overall, the uptake rate is more like 40%. Belanger said, "It was a privilege to be getting the vaccine. But it was also sort of scary and a little bit or a burden - sort of like being the pioneers of landing on the moon."
As the health crisis nears a hopeful end, a financial crisis is just beginning. Shady Oaks was denied aid for the third round of CARES Act funding. "We don’t even know why we were denied," said Belanger. "We know other homes had gotten assistance, but we’ve been denied. This would have been our chance to get back to baseline."
Teetering on a financial precipice — Tyson, a former Marine whose grandmothers lived at Shady Oaks, saved lives. "We kept people safe. I would do it again. I’ve got no regrets," he said. Tyson told FOX61 he thinks more long-term care facilities could offer visitation if funding was made available for better masks and air purifiers.