Letter To The Community:

The following is our latest effort at keeping you updated on our current status here at Los Alamos Retirement Community. The subject of this letter is testing.

As most of you know, the testing of symptomatic residents has been the norm for several weeks now.  Fortunately, we have had very few cases of patients showing symptoms, and all tests have come back negative.

In recent days, though, the New Mexico Department of Health has now begun requiring routine testing of asymptomatic residents and staff.

Thankfully, to this point, we have completed more than 50 tests, and all have come back negative. This testing of a portion of our residents and staff will continue weekly, pending the availability of sufficient tests, until the NMDOH directs us otherwise.

While we celebrate these results, we must balance our optimism with the reality that this challenge will likely become more difficult in the coming days, as New Mexicans begin their slow return to normal life.

Moving forward, our policy of only admitting new patients who have tested negative will remain in place, we will continue ongoing testing of current residents and staff as described above, and the current CMS-mandated visitation restriction will continue.

We hope you will join us in advocating for a more focused approach by our federal and state governments in dealing with the realities we are facing in senior living. As you talk to your community leaders and representatives, please communicate our future need for greater testing capability, and, as testing does become more broadly administered, less invasive and stressful methods of testing.

In closing, we want to reiterate our commitment to doggedly fighting the spread of this virus into our facilities. We also want to recognize the inspiring work of our staff, as well as the sacrifices of our residents and families.

For more information, please visit the Coronavirus Information page provided by our management company and available at larcnm.com.

Warmly,

Board of Directors

Los Alamos Retirement Community