January 25, 2022 —The requirement that visitors to skilled nursing facilities, Taughannock House, in our case, be tested prior to visiting has presented some challenges. Kendal at Ithaca recognizes the importance of maintaining social ties during this time. With the difficulty some are experiencing getting tests in the community, Kendal is pleased to be able to offer rapid test kits to residents and visitors at the main reception desk from 8:30am – 7:00 pm Monday through Friday and 10am – 4pm on weekends and holidays. Visitors may show proof of a negative PCR test within 48 hours or a rapid test within 24 hours prior to visiting in lieu of testing.
We ask residents to limit the number of rapid tests to no more than 1 test kit (2 tests) per week unless you are having more than two visitors to your residence or you are visiting the health center frequently. If you are a frequent visitor, please ask about that protocol for frequency of testing. The tests are meant for residents or resident’s visitors on campus – they are not meant to support large gatherings.
While we have a good supply right now, this may change but we are happy to make these available to our Kendal community while we have the ability to do so. We want to be good stewards of our supply and hope that applying the honor system to their use will succeed.
Be well,
Betsy Schermerhorn