Hard-Hit Plush Mills to Get Vaccine Jan. 27

Residents of Plush Mills Senior Living in Wallingford will receive their first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine on January 27, according to Donna Ferruzzi, marketing manager for the residence’s parent company SageLife. Residents have been anticipating the event impatiently, as cases in the center have risen sharply in recent weeks.

“We’re having a hell of time,” reports resident Ken Wright. 

Plush Mills saw no cases of COVID-19 among the residents between the end of May and the fall, Ferruzzi says. But after the holidays, as case numbers in Delaware County began to climb, the virus made its way into Plush Mills as well. “Several people on my floor got it,” Wright reports.

Fifteen of the approximately 150 residents tested positive for the coronavirus between January 1 and 18 of this year, Ferruzzi confirms, compared with an average of three per month between April and December. 

Seven residents died of COVID in the first weeks of 2021. In 2020, three died, all in May.

Plush Mills Senior Living organized an outdoor performance for its residents last spring. Photo: Paul Rosen

Precautions

Both Wright and fellow resident Carolyn Hopson say they appreciate the steps Plush Mills is taking to stop the virus’ spread. Ferruzzi reports that apartment visiting was prohibited before Thanksgiving. Upon seeing positive post-holiday test results, “we suspended communal activities, including dining,” which had already been limited. Now, public spaces are closed entirely. Residents are required to stay in their apartments, where their meals are delivered. 

Being isolated “is hard on everyone,” says Hopson, who visits with her extended family online every Thursday. She reports feeling lucky to have a large apartment with a balcony so she can sit in the sun. 

Hopson says that staff members visit residents regularly, wearing personal protective equipment and remaining near the door as they check temperatures and make deliveries of crossword puzzles and cupcakes. “They try to keep us happy,” she says. 

Wright says he is choosing to remain at Plush Mills, rather than move in with his daughter, because he believes he is safer at the facility, which has been his home for 13 years. “This is where I live,” he says. “This isn’t just some hotel room I’m in.” He says Plush Mills also offers the advantages of regular testing and, soon, convenient vaccine access.

Residents are currently being tested for COVID twice a week. “We will continue with that frequency until we have two consecutive weeks with 100% negative test results,” Ferruzzi wrote in an email.

One family member of a resident, who asked not to be named, said, “It’s tremendously comforting to family members that Plush Mills has recently increased its testing.” She expressed dissatisfaction with the lower frequency of testing in 2020.

No Longer in the Dark

Wright expresses frustration at how hard it has been until recently to get information about the spread of COVID among Plush Mills residents. “They wouldn’t tell us” how many people had the virus, he declares. He reports that information flow improved after he spoke to SageLife founder and president Kelly Andress and argued for the importance of informing residents. Since the beginning of 2021, the staff has disclosed when a fellow resident has died, although not the cause of death, he says.

Ferruzzi says that general manager Paul Rosen sent weekly updates to residents this fall when COVID-positive results started coming in, then switched to sending them about twice a month. She says management’s intention was to put out sensitive and thorough communications.

In years past, when residents died, staff would publicly display their photograph on the common-space piano, along with details about funeral or memorial services. Since the beginning of the year, Hopson reports, “that photograph is put on a sheet of paper and brought to us.”

Plush Mills residents are scheduled to receive the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine on February 24.