Dear Cottage Residents,

I hope you are all feeling well and healthy. The team at Birch Bay Village considers maintaining the wellness and safety of our resident community as our number one priority. We continue to monitor information and guidance from the Maine Department of Health, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and are working with state and local public health and emergency preparedness officials to prevent the illness and strengthen our preparation for and response to outbreak.

We continue to be focused on infection control best practices with our staff and residents. We are screening all staff and Inn residents every day. Staff have been trained on the symptoms of the Coronavirus (COVID-19), CDC recommended infection prevention techniques, and have clear protocols for staff to stay home and not come to work if they are ill or symptomatic. Our staff continues to wear cloth masks when providing maintenance services at the Cottages. This week, guidance was issued from the CDC that Source Control masking is now extended to our residents. We have provided cloth masks to all residents at the Birch Bay Inn and to Cottage Residents who have requested them. If you are still interested in a cloth mash, please contact Susanne Hopkins and she can obtain one for you.

We currently have no cases of COVID-19 among our staff and residents. We have policies and procedures in place for when or if the first case is identified.

As a reminder, Birch Bay continues to restrict visitation on our Inn campus as required by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS). Based on federal guidance, no visitor will be permitted into our Inn except for certain compassionate care situations such as an end-of-life situation. We recommend that cottage residents follow these recommendations and limit their visitors and interactions with others as much as possible.

Governor Janet Mills has extended the civil state of emergency for all Maine residents until May 15, 2020. Inn Residents have agreed to continue to shelter in place and we would ask that all residents who live on our campus continue to do that for the health and safety of all.

To make it easier for you to stay at home, this week we began the new Birch Bay Marketplace, a grocery order service, developed for Inn residents and extended to our Cottage residents. A menu of produce, dairy, dry goods, deli items, frozen items and meats is available. Each Monday, new menus will be sent to you. Orders would need to be placed on Wednesdays and available for delivery by our staff to your cottages on Fridays. Any items purchased will be added to a monthly invoice from Birch Bay. Please contact Jackie Calabrese with ordering questions and Chef Maggie Geary about any menu items. Specific items may be difficult for us to find. If we cannot order what you need, you may benefit from having a your groceries delivered from the Southwest Harbor Food Mart at 244-5601.

We are grateful to the support of residents and their families during this difficult time. Please continue to visit our website and Facebook Page for regular updates and do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have.

Sincerely,

Peter Sullivan, MBA, RN-BC, LRCA, CDP, Executive Director, Birch Bay Retirement Village