ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — While no firm decisions were made at Friday’s task force meeting on reopening long-term care facilities during the coronavirus pandemic, one thing was clear: families across the state are ready to see their loved ones again.
“Urgency. I am begging for urgency,” said Mary Daniel, a task force member and caregiver whose husband is in a care facility because of his Alzheimer’s.
What You Need To Know
- Task force members said they sympathize with families
- The goal is to reopen as quickly and safely as possible
- Group plans another meeting Tuesday
Daniel actually got a job as a dishwasher in the facility during the pandemic so she could spend time with her husband. At Friday’s meeting, she said she represented thousands of other Floridians who are upset about not being able to see their loved ones.
One of those Floridians is Orange County resident Tiffany Lytle, whose mother Bobbie Lytle lives in a Winter Springs care facility specializing in patients with Alzheimer’s and dementia.
She said she fears by the time she sees her mother in person again, it will be too late and she won’t remember her.
“That's the scariest part of it,” Lytle said. “Just with her disease and the progression — wondering if I'll get in there before she doesn’t know who I am.”
Lytle said she had a set of photo books made with pictures of her mom with family members.
“Hopefully she can look at us daily and leaf through the book, and that will help somewhat,” Lytle said.
At Friday’s meeting, task force members said they empathize with families’s needs to reunite with their loved ones and want to reopen as quickly — and safely — as possible.
Florida Health Care Association Executive Director J. Emmett Reed said among the association’s members, 96 percent of residents and 97 percent of staff members are COVID19-free.
Still, the threat of outbreaks within care facilities is a major concern. Locally, families have expressed frustrations about a lack of communication from staff at Ocoee Health Care Center, where at least four residents have died from COVID19.
Daniel said families like those who frequent a public Facebook group for Floridian caregivers understand the severity of the virus, and want to keep people safe. But there are ways to do that while still allowing loved ones some contact with one another, she said.
Caregiver Mary Daniel, a task force member whose husband is in a memory care unit, becomes emotional speaking to the group: "Are we ever going to get anywhere in expressing our desperation and hopelessness to you?" #N13Covid19 @MyNews13
— Molly Duerig (@mollyduerig) August 14, 2020
“We don’t want to go in recklessly,” Daniel said. “I will wear whatever you want me to wear. I will do whatever you want me to do. I just need to get back to my husband.”
The task force intends to hold another meeting on Tuesday.
Molly Duerig is a Report for America corps member who is covering affordable housing for Spectrum News 13. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
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