Nursing Home Residents Get 1st Visits in Over a Year

Some area nursing home residents have been waiting more than a year to see their families, and a March 13 announcement from Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt has cleared the way for those visits to finally resume.

In Sallisaw, Sequoyah Manor Nursing Home Administrator John Ryan said Tuesday that, according to state guidelines, long-term care facilities can reopen for in-person visits after those planning to visit complete essential care training and other required measures.

The essential care training is expected to take about 15 minutes, Ryan said, and if the resident and family member(s) are both vaccinated, they will be allowed to have non-supervised contact.

The staff at Sequoyah Manor in Sallisaw is looking forward to the resumed visitations, Ryan said, though it may take a week or so to get everything up and running. The agency is in the process of training staff members and ensuring it complies with the governor’s ruling.

Visitors will still have to wear masks, be screened at the door and sanitize their hands as they enter the facility, Ryan said, and they will still need to sign up at the door.

At Sequoyah East Nursing Center in Roland, Long-Term Care Administrator Carolyn Turrentine said Tuesday that her agency has been allowing in-person visitation since Saturday. She said guests are required to make appointments, check in, wash their hands before and after their visit and take their temperatures before and after their visit. Masks are required for each visit, which is limited to one hour. Guests are asked not to make contact with anyone other than the patient they are coming to visit.

“Everybody has been pretty compliant,” Turrentine said. She said Sequoyah East has two rooms set up for visitations and social-distancing procedures are still in place.

Laura Brown, KXMX Staff Writer

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