No New Coronavirus Cases At Symphony of Joliet For 90 Days

JOLIET, IL - For the past 90 days, Symphony Care Network’s Joliet facility has not had a single new Coronavirus positive test result for patients or staff. They credit infection control protocols and testing regimen for the milestone.

“Symphony’s early call for ‘universal testing’ of all patients and staff quickly became the standard across the long-term care industry and is a key reason why we’re seeing results like those at the Joliet facility,” Dr. Alexander Stemer, an infectious disease expert who co-chairs Symphony’s COVID-19 Task Force said in a written release. “Such outcomes are added motivation for us to identify the most advanced infection prevention protocols to keep our vulnerable patient population safe, as we await a vaccine and increasing consensus around treatment options.”

In the early weeks of the U.S. outbreak, when public health authorities advised long-term care facilities to cease testing patients and employees once a positive case was identified due to the lack of supplies, Symphony sought out alternative sources of tests, including partnering with the University of Chicago Medicine and purchasing its own testing units to deploy strategically at its facilities, a written report detailed.

“Symphony’s “hot spot” testing unit helps reduce the spread of coronavirus and supports its recovery efforts. Symphony Care Network now has reached over 1,200 patient recoveries across its network,” the organization said in a written release. “Symphony’s universal testing strategy enables staff to proactively identify and isolate COVID-19 positive individuals.”

Symphony’s testing protocol calls for testing:

• New patients to confirm their COVID-19 status before entering a facility to determine if they are placed in an isolation unit or a COVID-19-negative area

• All nursing home staff and patients where local and state public health authorities did not provide for testing
• New Symphony employees prior to starting work at potential hot spot facilities
• Patients and employees who previously tested negative

The strategy is the result of Symphony’s COVID-19 Task Force, which is led by Stemer in partnership with Dr. Stacie Levine, chief of the section of geriatrics and palliative care at University of Chicago Medicine. In addition to working with the clinical teams, Stemer provides regular video briefings on Symphony’s COVID-19 response for employees, patient families and community leaders across the network of facilities.