BLOOMFIELD, Conn. — No one has been more affected by COVID in nursing homes than the residents and the nurses.
The Duncaster Senior Living facility in Bloomfield is a 60 bed non-profit facility where 99% of the staff are vaccinated and boosted. They told me they’ve gotten through the last two years with the four "C’s": Care, Compassion, Containment and Communication.
“Connecticut, I think we’ve got this,” said Gov. Ned Lamont. The governor noted a hopeful turning point in a two year war against the invisible enemy.
For the first time since the onset of the pandemic, the message was delivered from inside a nursing home. A notable achievement after many months of keeping everyone out of nursing homes, even families.
“At my window, on my phone. They talked on their phone and that’s how they communicated,” remarked Evenlyn Devorin as she recalled the window visits with her family.
Evelyn’s memory isn’t what it used to be, but she’ll never forget the sacrifices that COVID forced on everyone. “For one year we were in our rooms. We couldn’t do anything and that isn’t very good for the mind or the body,” explained Devorin.
With COVID rapidly declining, hope springs eternal at the Duncaster retirement community, where social activities are breathing new life into the routine.
“This week for instance, we are having a lot of entertainment which we couldn’t have for a while,” said Devorin.
Ninety-nine percent of the staff at Duncaster have gotten their booster shot, which is now a state mandate that was just codified. The same is true for resident Mary Stoughton at 95 years young.
“I was happy because everyone had to have one,” she explained.
And helping these residents age gracefully in their golden years are nurses like Musa Sebadduka.
“The last two years have been very challenging for everybody. When this started everybody was confused. What is it and how to deal with it?” he explained.
Sebadduka told FOX61 the biggest challenge that remains is the staffing crisis.
“Yeah, we need to have incentives for people to want to come in. What I know is we are losing more nurses than who are coming in,” he said.
As for those incentives, state officials told FOX61 that over the course of the state's two year budget, they’ve put $172 million directly toward health and pension and wage increases for workers. They acknowledge more work needs to be done.
Matt Caron is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at mcaron@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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