After being closed for nearly 17 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Caring Place of Hot Springs reopened its doors to participants last Monday with a new, upgraded facility.
The Caring Place, a ministry of First United Methodist Church and a group of interfaith volunteers located at 101 Quapaw Ave., provides care and different activities for those who suffer from different forms of dementia. It was started in 1993 for families whose loved ones suffer from the disease.
Board member Ann Carrithers said caregivers were excited to have their loved ones back for Monday's welcome-back day.
"Well, actually, it went quite smoothly," she said. "We had I think six participants the first day and nine the second and, each day, you know, more coming back. We, of course, have required that they be vaccinated and we lost several of our participants due to death during that 16 months, and so now we're trying to get the word out so those who had not participated before know that our ministry's available."
Joyce Whitfield, board chair, noted the participants are especially vulnerable to the virus and in addition to a thorough cleaning, repainting and redecorating of the facilities, the nonprofit organization was recently gifted a needlepoint bipolar ionization system that was installed on all five HVAC units to clean the air.
"It cleans for all kind of germs such as COVID, staph, allergens," she said. "I mean, it's cleaning our air, you know, all day long -- all 24 hours a day. It takes away smells and, I mean, the air's just so fresh in here it's unbelievable compared to what it was before. So we were gifted that by a donor and it's just a fabulous addition for safety."
Whitfield said they also retrofitted the lighting to LED lighting to save money on energy.
"And we have upgraded the eating area, the dining area, to a '50s retro theme," she said. "We have repainted the building. COVID, you know, was a blessing in some respects that we had time to repaint the entire building. It hadn't been painted in 20 years, so we repainted. ... Because the whole thing of getting reopened was all driven by, you know, when could we safely reopen and get our participants back in here."
While the facility is open and accepting new participants, because of the recent spike in COVID-19 and delta variant cases, only participants and workers are allowed in currently. Caregivers were excited to have their loved ones in a safe and secure environment, Whitfield noted, as they received some much-needed relief from the 24-hour-a-day care.
"We do have reduced numbers right now just because this is our first week to open," she said. "Normally we would have volunteers and entertainers in here with the participants, with the staff, but due to the rise in the COVID cases, our board of directors made the decision last week to limit exposure for everybody, and so we are only allowing our staff -- essential staff members who are trained -- and the participants to come in the building. We really don't know how long this will have to go this way but could be as long as eight weeks just depending on how this spike in cases and the numbers come and go."
With a smaller number of participants when compared to the usual 25 to 27 average prior to the shutdown, Whitfield said the participant-staff ratio is in line with the state regulations which they closely monitor. She said the group's main concern right now is keeping everyone healthy and safe.
"Because we are licensed by the state of Arkansas and we have guidelines of how many people we have here in relation to how many participants," she said.
"You know, we appreciate our volunteers and entertainers who will be joining us but right now we've just got to use every precaution to protect everybody. It's not just protecting our staff and participants but those volunteers are being protected too and entertainers from, you know, just -- everybody's got a limit to what they're exposed to right now. And the big thing is we want to be able to stay open and if we have one break through, then that just puts us right back where we were."
In addition to snacks and a noon meal prepared by the group's full-time cook on-site, participants get to enjoy being with friends and taking part in activities including art, music, dancing, exercise and garden therapy. Carrithers said their latest project is the opening of a new outdoor facility for various projects this fall.
"We're really organized, in the first place, to give relief to the caregivers because they have a tremendous responsibility 24/7 and they need a day to just tend to themselves," she said. "And this is a way for them to bring their loved one in and their activities are planned, you know, to keep them busy. They're not sitting in front of a television -- we have appropriate activities for everyone there."
The Caring Place is open Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and new openings are now available. For more information, visit their Facebook page or their website at http://www.thecaringplacehotsprings.com, or call 501-623-2881.