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Home Health & Hospice to Begin Phased Reopening of Adult Day Program

South Burlington Location To Welcome Participants Next Month

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Nurse serving three seniors dinner.

COLCHESTER, Vt. – The University of Vermont Health Network – Home Health & Hospice Adult Day Program, which provides critical care and therapeutic services to the community, will reopen its South Burlington site on June 8, based on guidance from the state of Vermont.

Statewide, Adult Day Programs have been closed for more than a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Staffing and resource challenges are driving a slower-than-hoped reopening for these facilities across Vermont. Home Health & Hospice will focus its staff and resources in one location – Farrell Street in South Burlington. The two other Adult Day Program sites operated by Home Health & Hospice in Colchester and Essex will remain closed until further notice, with the possibility of reopening them re-evaluated ongoing. This gradual approach is intended to work to ensure the long-term viability of this important program.

“We are excited to restart services and see many of our participants again. Our goal is to serve individuals with the greatest need for Adult Day services, while working to ensure the safety of our clients and staff,” said Heather Filonow, director of Community Care Services at UVM Health Network – Home Health & Hospice. “We know how important this program is to our community and we look forward to providing this critical resource.”

Guidance from the state directs Adult Day Programs to maintain physical distancing and masking measures, which means services provided will be limited to traditional physical care and will not include memory care.

The South Burlington Adult Day Program site will not be able to offer participation to all previous clients due to the state’s capacity and census limits and because Home Health & Hospice is re-opening only one of its three sites at this time. Adult Day Program leaders recognize this may be disappointing to some and apologize for the inconvenience. They plan to be in touch with participants/caregivers and community partners in the coming days to explain the reopening plans and participation criteria.

Participants who previously attended one of Home Health & Hospice’s Adult Day Programs at the time of closure last year will be prioritized. Other factors to be considered when prioritizing participation include:

  • Vaccination status
  • Ability to mask, social distance and perform hand hygiene while at the program
  • A one-person assist or less required

About The University of Vermont Health Network - Home Health & Hospice
We are a 116-year-old organization dedicated to delivering health care to patients wherever they call home in Chittenden or Grand Isle counties. Especially during this global pandemic, providing care in the familiar, comfortable, convenient home environment not only meets patients’ and families’ preferences, it is also cost effective and ensures the greatest level of safety.

Our visiting nurses, physical, occupational and speech-language therapists, licensed nursing assistants and personal care attendants bring high-tech professional clinical care directly to patients’ homes. Compassionate end-of-life care is provided at Colchester’s McClure Miller Respite House, Vermont’s only Medicare-certified inpatient hospice facility.

Home Health & Hospice is a member of The University of Vermont Health Network, an integrated system established to deliver high-quality academic medicine to every community it serves. The network includes:

For more information, visit www.UVMHomeHealth.org or visit our Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram sites.