It’s going to get easier to visit friends and loved ones at the Powell Valley Care Center and The Heartland.

In order to protect the group most at risk for developing complications from COVID-19, the two facilities have had to greatly restrict visitors since the start of the pandemic. Outdoor visits were allowed in the summer, but as winter approaches, the weather was going to make for unpleasant get-togethers.

“It’d be kind of chilly. We’d have to go through a lot of hot chocolate,” said Karen Zaninovich-Parker, director of The Heartland.

Thanks to a $352,500 grant from the State Loan and Investment Board — funded with federal CARES Act monies — the facilities will soon have indoor visitation areas.

“I’m really excited for it,” said Ryan Brinkeroff, care center administrator.

Starting in the next couple of weeks, the area at the front entranceway and chapel is going to be remodeled. The construction will involve some walls being torn down, but Brinkerhoff said there won’t be any major construction. The visitation area is expected to be complete and open by Dec. 31.

Just as with the outdoor visits, visits will need to be scheduled and visitors screened for symptoms and have their temperature taken; they’ll need to wear masks and adhere to social distancing requirements as well. The visitors will enter the visitation room through one door, and the resident will enter through a separate entrance, ensuring separation between visitors, staff and the other residents.

Brinkerhoff said other protocols that visitors will have to follow will depend on guidance from the Wyoming Department of Health, and that changes frequently according to current trends in the spread of the coronavirus. 

At The Heartland, a separate room is being built off the dining room, where there is currently an outdoor area. It will have an outside entrance, where visitors will be screened before entering the facility. The west wall of the dining room will be torn down and double French doors will replace a window currently in that spot. That will allow residents to enter the visitation area without having to go outside.

Zaninovich-Parker said there’s still some details to work out, so “it’s still kind of a work in progress.” 

She said other long-term care facilities are constructing separate visitation rooms that require residents to go outside to access them, which creates hazards. Zaninovich-Parker said she’s happy The Heartland will have a more accommodating visitation room.

“We’re really delighted that we’re able to move forward with this,” she said.

As with the care center, visitors to The Heartland will need to schedule the visits so screening and other protocols can be arranged. The visitors will be given a screening over the phone and again upon arrival, which will include having their temperature taken.

“Those protocols still have to be in place before visitors can come inside,” Zaninovich-Parker said.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, 58% of all deaths from COVID-19 are people over the age of 75. The care center and The Heartland have not had a positive case among residents. The care center had to stop all visits in August when an employee tested positive. However, all employees and residents were tested multiple times over a period of three weeks, and no more positive cases were found.