Resident at Fort Scott Presbyterian Village tests positive for COVID-19

A resident has tested positive for COVID-19 at Fort Scott Presbyterian Village.

“The safety of our residents and employees remains our highest priority,” said Jeanne Gerstenkorn, PMMA’s infection preventionist and vice president for health and wellness.

The positive test resulted from Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) testing on November 20 following exposure from an employee who tested positive November 7. No other residents or employees are positive.

The Bourbon County Health Department has been notified and we will retest residents and staff on November 30, per their guidance.

The COVID positive resident will recover in isolation and be cared for by designated staff. We will follow KDHE guidelines for when the resident may come out of isolation. Under the current guidelines, symptomatic residents may leave isolation when at least 72 hours have passed since resolution of the resident’s fever without the use of fever-reducing medications and the resident’s symptoms have improved and at least 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared. Asymptomatic positive residents will quarantine for 14 days. Designated staff members are following doctor’s orders for treatment protocols and following CDC infection prevention protocols.

Presbyterian Village will follow any additional guidance from the Bourbon County Health Department, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment epidemiology hotline and the CDC.

All employees are encouraged to follow CDC guidelines and best practices as these are continually updated. The community regularly reinforces with all staff that an employee should not report to work if he or she is experiencing symptoms of a respiratory illness or not feeling well.

For more information about Fort Scott Presbyterian Village’s response, go to PMMA’s (Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America’s) website, presbyterianmanors.org/media-room.