Roseburg VA connects Veterans with families despite Coronavirus precautions

April 20, 2020
2020-041

PRESS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Roseburg VA connects Veterans with families despite Coronavirus precautions

ROSEBURG, OREGON, (April 20, 2020) – The Roseburg VA Health Care System is using technology to its advantage to overcome hurdles necessitated by local COVID-19 precautions. Staff with the nearly 90-year-old facility, recognizing the mental health benefits family visits provide for their residents, introduced ‘Virtual Visitations’ April 13, allowing Veterans to connect with their families using mobile technology.

“One of the first things we did as part of our COVID-19 response was to restrict traffic in and out of our Community Living Centers due to the threat the illness poses for older patients,” said Nick LaFata, a CLC nurse manager. “While this was a necessary step, we understand the added burden this places on our Veterans and their families. We had the idea of virtual visits and though it took several weeks, the program is now up and running and the response from both Veterans and family members has been outstanding.”

Since the beginning of the regional spread of Coronavirus, staff with the two CLCs on the Roseburg campus have been working to mitigate the impact on their Veteran residents. Virtual visits will give Veterans another semi-normal activity, one that is vital for their mental health, according to LaFata.

“While the situation isn’t ideal for our Veterans, having an alternate method to keep our residents connected with their spouses, family members and outside support system is important to their overall health,” said LaFata. “Not knowing how long the COVID-19 response will last, we owe our residents as many normal or semi-normal activities as possible.”

One of the first precautions instituted by RVAHCS after Coronavirus began spreading across the Northwest was to sequester the CLCs – only staff assigned to the facilities are allowed in and out to help mitigate the chances of the introduction of Coronavirus. While this was done out of an abundance of caution, CLC staff are working to make life inside both the River House and the Lodge as normal as possible, according to Keith Allen, Director of RVAHCS.

“Our staff and their commitment to our CLC residents speaks volumes about the Veteran-centric philosophy of the Roseburg VA Health Care System,” said Allen. “While we are emplacing precautions to protect our Veterans, our staff and all who walk through our doors, we have a responsibility to ensure our CLC residents have as little interruption as possible to their daily lives. We’re talking about 70, 80, 90-year-old Veterans – they have earned the right to live as comfortably as possible, and that is our goal.”

To schedule a visit with a resident of the CLCs, you may call 541-440-1000 then put in the ext. 44777.

Point of contact for this release is Tim Parish, Public Affairs Officer, Roseburg VA Health Care System; timothy.parish@va.gov; 541-440-3026.

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