By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Senior centers throughout the state have been given a green light to start the preparations to open up.
With the most susceptible population to COVID-19, senior facilities have been on hold while most other settings and services have been back in business.
“Our constituency is the most vulnerable,” Wood County Committee on Aging Executive Director Denise Niese said back in May. “While we are wanting to get people back in our buildings, we cannot put them at risk.”
But as senior centers waited, some of their aging consumers deteriorated.
“It is time to let senior centers across the state of Ohio open,” Niese said Tuesday after Gov. Mike DeWine’s announcement that senior facilities will be allowed to open Sept. 21, with reduced capacity and safety standards in place.
Just last week, Niese told the Committee on Aging board that seniors need their eight centers in Wood County to open.
“They have to understand how senior centers are different,” she said of state officials. “They are not assisted living or day care. These are community-based older adults.”
Throughout the county, many senior citizens are finding themselves increasingly isolated by the safety measures imposed for COVID-19. Niese said the pandemic has been particularly hard on seniors whose access to socialization was at one of the eight county senior centers that remain closed.
“They’re frustrated,” she said. “We’re getting calls from people just in tears. They are so lonely.”
So DeWine’s announcement gives the Wood County Committee on Aging the opportunity to use its reopening plan that was adopted in July.
As of Thursday evening, the state guidelines hadn’t been posted on the Ohio coronavirus website, so Niese said she still wasn’t sure of the parameters.
“We can live with 50% capacity. I certainly hope it’s not 25%,” she said.
The reopening plan has four phases – which will result in a gradual opening of the facilities.
“Not all eight of the senior centers will open at once,” Niese said. The first to open will be the Wood County Senior Center in Bowling Green.
Phase 1 involves staff putting decals for social distancing on the floors, and plastic shields on desks. The centers are already stocked with cleaning supplies and face masks.
Phase 2 will allow for centers to be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., for face-to-face appointments for nursing, social work, or technology assistance. Those entering the centers will have their temperatures taken and will be asked a series of health questions. Home-delivered meals and medical transports will continue.
During Phase 3, the Committee on Aging will look at which in-person programs can be put in place based on the state parameters. Non-contact activities may begin with physical guidelines in place and monitored. Grab-n-go lunches will be made available for seniors.
And in Phase 4, the centers will potentially open for congregate dining. Reservations will be required by 2 p.m. the prior day. The centers may implement timed servings based upon the number of seats permitted. Seating times will be structured to allow for disinfecting of tables and chairs prior to next seating.
Niese realizes the senior centers have a great responsibility as they open back up to clientele.
“When we reopen throughout the state, we have to prove to Gov. DeWine, and the Ohio Department of Health, and to our constituency that we know what we’re doing,” she said.
And while the decision to open senior centers is welcomed by many, Niese also realizes it could be fleeting if the COVID numbers spike and land the county in code red or purple levels.
“Then I’m going to have to make tough decisions,” she said.
The reopening plan has been distributed to staff and is available to the public via the WCCOA website or a hard copy by request.
