Questions?

It’s great that we’re talking about beginning this process, and we know you all will have a lot of questions.

And honestly, we don’t have all the answers. But we’re going to do our best to keep you informed and engaged. Check out our January 19 Town Hall with CEO Jean Phelps:

Interested to know why some of your fellow Care Champions got vaccinated?

“…for myself, my husband, for the people I support & all the community…and to hopefully soon be able to see my parents in Germany.”

“…I did it for the medically fragile people I serve & their families. And for my son & family.”

“…I need [to] protect myself & other people in my community & the country as a whole.”

“…I miss hugging people.”

“…I want to be among those who terminated COVID-19.”

Why will you choose to get vaccinated?

Updates

COVID Task Force Message - February 8, 2021

Dear Care Champions:

As you have probably seen by now, we’re hosting a COVID vaccine clinic for eligible participants in the Incompass community on Wednesday at Omni Way! The clinic is once again being held in collaboration with our partner Long Term Pharmacy Solutions (LTPS), and is open to those in the Incompass community eligible under the Phase 2, Step 1 Massachusetts guidelines.

First, the details (also attached to the email so managers can share with their teams):

About the Phase 2 eligibility guidelines, the clinic is open to the following Incompass groups:

  • Group home staff
  • Group home residents
  • Day program Staff
  • Shared living providers
  • Adult Family Care providers
  • DESE providers
  • Medically Complex Program caregivers
  • Age 75+ primary caregivers to Incompass individuals
  • Age 75+ individuals served at Incompass

LTPS will be administering the Moderna vaccine, which requires two doses that are received 28 days apart. A Moderna vaccine fact sheet is available for you to review here

If you want to be vaccinated, you must pre-register. We cannot accept walk-ins.

Incompass staff may register using our online form, and our team will confirm your appointment. You can also reach out to Bev Champagne in HR to sign up at 978-349-3030. (Please don’t forward the invite, as this clinic is only open to the Incompass community.)

Please note that you will need to sign the consent form attached to this e-mail and provide government identification and insurance information to the LTPS team on the day of the clinic.

We do need to remember that the vaccine protects you from getting sick with COVID-19, it does not prevent you from spreading coronavirus to others. So, until many more people in the community have been vaccinated, we all need to continue complying with the COVID precautions of mask-wearing, social distancing, hand washing, and testing.

This is obviously welcome news, and we’re so happy that we are able to get more members of our community vaccinated. We hope to see many of you this week!

Sincerely,

Al (on behalf of the COVID-19 Task Force)

P.S. For those of you who participated in last month’s first-dose clinic at Omni Way, we’ll be sending details next week for the second-dose clinics that will be held on February 22 and 24.

COVID Task Force Message - January 28, 2021

Dear Care Champions:

The numbers are in! We were able to vaccinate 177 staff and individuals this week during our vaccination clinics with Long Term Pharmacy Solutions (LTPS)! Woohoo!!! We are so grateful that so many of you were able to receive the first dose of the vaccine this week, and we will be in touch with details for the February booster shot clinics in the coming weeks.

In this week’s task force update, we’re sharing a recap of our first Incompass vaccine clinics, important resources on the statewide vaccination process, and updates on our own COVID protocols.

The Vaccine Clinic:

The LTPS team has conducted a number of these clinics, and remarked on how impressed they were with our team! The clinical tandem of Alicia Mordach and Chris Snell specifically want to recognize a few members of the team who went above and beyond to ensure we had a smooth process:

  • Dianne Learnard
  • Bev Champagne
  • Stacie Murphy
  • Melanie Marino

The consensus among Care Champions was some sore arms the next day for sure, but no major side-effects from the shot. Our group home residents were fortunate that our highly-skilled residential nursing team was in the observation room keeping an eye on them after their shot and monitoring them this week:

  • Barbara Zalwango
  • Eunice Wangeera
  • Katheryn Burke

A lot of you were also happy to share your stories on why you got vaccinated! I encourage you to check out some of the pictures from our two clinics on our Facebook and Instagram pages. And if you haven’t yet, check out our newly-launched vaccine web portal where you can find a recording of last week’s Virtual Town Hall with Jean. Dan also interviewed a few of in the observation room after receiving the shot, and you can hear those clips on the latest All Incompassing Minute podcast.

Vaccine Eligibility:

For those who couldn’t attend and wish to be vaccinated, all individual-facing Incompass staff are now eligible to receive the vaccine under the latest Phase 1 guidelines. While we’re actively working with LTPS to procure more doses for another clinic, at this time we don’t know when – or if – we’ll be able to hold another one. The state has opened numerous vaccine clinics where eligible members of the population can sign up to be vaccinated. While not every clinic requires it, if you need proof of employment, you can reach out to human resources.

You can view a list of vaccine clinic locations here, and download the self-attestation form for eligibility here. I recommend you pay close attention to the criteria at each individual site, as some are restricted to residents of a town/city or are only serving senior citizens. Nearly all of them require an appointment be made in advance through the listed web site as well; they aren’t accepting walk-ins. The Governor announced this week that he anticipates having 165 clinics statewide by the end of next month, so check back regularly as more sites in our area hopefully come online.

COVID Safety Protocols, Testing, and Updates:

Remember, while this is an important step forward, everyone who has received the vaccine must continue to follow all of the COVID protocols at Incompass. The vaccine does not prevent the spread of coronavirus, so wearing a mask, socially distancing, reporting symptoms, etc. is critical to protect not only yourself but those around you. (And remember that KN95 masks must be worn at all times in program areas.) We’ll continue to do this #ForEachOther, as the health and safety of all of you and the people you support remains our top priority.

On that note, day programs in our Parker Street facility were suspended yesterday for 14 days after we got word of a positive staff test on Monday. The staff member is asymptomatic but had reported interactions with each of our three Parker cohorts in the days prior to the positive test. We are following our own protocols around exposure – meaning that each of the cohorts and respective DSPs are undergoing testing and need to isolate until February 8 to prevent an outbreak. The day program facilities will also undergo a deep cleaning during this period. We are working on engaging with our participants virtually over the next two weeks to help with the transition, and look forward to welcoming them back!

These are difficult decisions, but taking the necessary precautions is our best defense against an outbreak. And your continued cooperation and vigilance is absolutely a key reason for our success.

That’s all for this week! Keep getting tested. Keep being vigilant. Keep self-reporting. And keep being hopeful. While Chelmsford and Lawrence remain in the “high-risk” designation, the statewide positivity rate dropped below 5.0% last week for the first time since November, and we’re hopeful that’s a sign of things to come. I don’t know what the future holds, but I do know that we will gather again someday and it will be something to celebrate!

 

Sincerely,

Al

COVID Task Force Message - January 22, 2021

Dear Incompass Care Champions:

Today we received two wonderful pieces of news. 

  • First, it was clarified that day program staff are eligible for vaccination during Phase 1 of the state’s vaccination roll-out. 
  • Second, the governor announced today that all the remaining stages of Phase 1 are now immediately eligible for vaccination. 

This means that all individual-facing Incompass staff and contractors are eligible for vaccination now!

  Better news…we still have slots available for the vaccination clinics at Omni Way next week!

  • Monday, January 25th from 9 am until noon
  • Wednesday, January 27th from 1 pm until 4 pm

 

If you want to be vaccinated, you must pre-register with Bev Champagne via phone (978-349-3030) or e-mail (bchampagne@incompasshs.org). Please have your health insurance number handy when you reach out, and note that you will need to sign the consent form attached to this e-mail.

(The consent form references a fact sheet for the Moderna vaccine which is available for you to review here or by using the QR code at the bottom of this e-mail.)

  We do need to remember that the vaccine protects you from getting sick with COVID-19, it does not prevent you from spreading coronavirus to others. So, until many more people in the community have been vaccinated, we all need to continue complying with the COVID precautions of mask-wearing, social distancing, hand washing, and testing

This is welcome news and brings us one step closer to gathering together again. We hope to see many of you next week!

 

Thanks, and Be Well!

Al

COVID Task Force Message - January 13, 2021

Dear Incompass Care Champions:

Vaccines are coming.

Let me say that again…vaccines are coming.

You’ve been amazing at helping us prevent the spread of coronavirus at Incompass – diligently following all of the best practices to keep the entire community healthy and safe. And for the first time since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are ready to take the next steps in defeating this virus. While only 20% of eligible sites have received the vaccine, we are anticipating receipt of our first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine within the next two weeks.

So what does this mean for you? Here is what we can share today:

  • Eligible Incompass staff will receive the vaccine at no cost.
  • Residential staff will be the first to receive the vaccine.
  • While we encourage all eligible staff to get vaccinated, we are not requiring anyone to receive the vaccine as a condition of employment.

The last point is an important one; receiving the vaccine is your choice. We’ll share more information on the Moderna vaccine and the administration of the vaccine with you and your managers. We’re going to schedule a virtual town hall on Tuesday of next week with everyone to engage with you in the process and answer your questions. Details on the time and link to sign on to the Zoom will be forthcoming.

Our goal is to get as many Incompass staff vaccinated as possible, and where a small number of other providers have already started administering vaccines, we’re able to learn from their experience as we develop our own procedure.

Of course, we’re required to follow the guidelines issued by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in terms of eligibility, which is broken down into multiple steps within the phases. Incompass staff who are phase 1 eligible include those Care Champions working in:

  • Group homes ( step 4)
  • AFC, ISS, and family support services ( step 5)
  • Shared living ( step 5)

 

I know that day program staff are not currently classified as eligible in phase 1, which is thoroughly disappointing, but our advocates at ADDP and the Arc and Jean and myself have been pushing this issue relentlessly with EOHHS to include all staff performing in person, face-to-face services and supports included in phase 1. We’ll keep you updated as we learn more from the state, and the mass.gov web portal has a page specific to the parameters of eligibility for Massachusetts residents.

Remember, even after you’ve been vaccinated we’ll all still need to continue wearing masks, social distancing, and taking all necessary precautions as the administration of vaccines is expected to last through the summer. But one thing is clearer than ever, and that is we will be able to gather together again this year. And that is a day to look forward to!

 

With gratitude,

Al (on behalf of the task force)