Hooverwood Living closed its doors to visitors last March, even before the state mandate came in to do so. Over the past year, many residents have only been able to see their family members through a glass window or over Facetime to protect them from the COVID-19 virus.

Hooverwood spent a lot of time and money to gather the necessary PPE and cleaning supplies to combat the deadly virus looming over the world. Shortly after the pandemic widely spread, Hooverwood opened a COVID-19 ward separate from the rest of the residents in order to mitigate a spread through the living facility. 

Susan Taylor, a nurse at Hooverwood said the reality of the pandemic was hard on both the patients and the staff. It was all hands-on deck to cover the shifts on the ward. Nearby overcrowded hospitals even sent COVID-19 patients to recover at Hooverwood, she said.

“I’ve lived through the AIDS epidemic, H1N1, SARS, and bird flu,” Taylor said. “This is the worst that I’ve ever lived through, and I just think that the future of medicine is really going to be about protecting each other and protecting ourselves.”

Staff not only cared for residents suffering from the physical and psychological ramifications of the pandemic, but they also communicated with families on a daily basis about their loved one’s condition.

“At Hooverwood, every resident there has someone who loves them very dearly, and they are never alone,” Taylor said. “No resident is ever alone, and that to me is so important, the love and caring that these residents get.”

The social isolation has been hard on the patients, she said. They look forward to opportunities to socialize with others during arts and crafts activities, something that was cut short to keep residents safe.

At several points during the pandemic, Hooverwood was able to close the COVID-19 ward. Even when cases were rising across the country in the winter, the ward at Hooverwood was able to stay shut down because there were zero COVID-19 cases for weeks at a time.

And on a Friday in early January, Hooverwood residents woke up early with excitement. After 10 months of fear and isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they would finally experience a sense of relief.

Residents often asked “When are we going to get the vaccine?” said Brittany Scheidt, Hooverwood Operations Manager.

Hooverwood staff laid out a red carpet, literally, for the CVS pharmacists who brought the vaccines. Residents and staff cheered and clapped as the pharmacists entered the building.

On that day in January, 60 Hooverwood employees and 115 residents received the first dose of the vaccine.

“When the vaccine arrived our residents were in tears of joy,” said Evan Lubline, Hooverwood CEO. “Families knew that a new beginning was around the corner for us to move forward in 2021 and beyond.

”Finally, after almost a year of social isolation and fear, there is light at the end of the tunnel for Hooverwood residents and staff.

Both Lubline and Scheidt reflected on their excitement to return to normalcy, or at least to a new normal. It has been too long since most residents have been able to host visitors and hug their loved ones, they said.