Nursing homes and skilled living and
rehabilitation centers have been at
the epicenter of much of the focus of
the COVID-19/coronavirus pandemic in Texas
in 2020.
East Texas and Shelby County have been no
different.
While some facilities in other areas have
been hard hit by confirmed cases, Shelby
County’s Focused Care of Center has avoided
the worst of the pandemic. But it still has had
its challenges and Focused Care has not been
immune from COVID-19.
In Center, Jessica Davis and the professional
staff at Focused Care of Center, know all too
well the concerns of residents and their family
members. As administrator and executive
director at Focused Care, Jessica knows just how
hard dealing with the COVID pandemic has been.
“It’s been a challenge with lots of extra
effort from everyone here,” she says. For a time
there was a hallway dedicated to taking care of
residents who had tested positive for coronavirus.
As of early August the facility was classified
as being COVID free, she says.
Jessica says extraordinary times demand
extraordinary people stepping up. She feels the
Focused Care team has done just that.
“During this pandemic we have worked on
the front lines,” she says of her staff. But there
have been many challenges, including dealing
with both residents and their loved ones under
difficult circumstances.
“We had some opposition from families in
the beginning when the governor mandated no
visitors, and we understood that challenge, but
we continued to stay focused and care for our
residents as we always have,” Jessica says.
The pandemic has had her, her staff and
those across the nation forging ahead through
uncharted territory as they learned more and
heard more information about COVID. The fact
there were sometimes conflicting accounts from
health care agencies and leaders on how to deal
Jessica Davis,
Executive Director
with the pandemic made handling it on the front
lines even more challenging.
“One day CDC (federal Centers for
Disease Control) would send out requirements
and two days later the requirements would
change,” Jessica says. “Through the changes
we acted swiftly, stayed professional and always
compassionate.”
According to Davis, Focus Care staffers had
to figure out how to run things smoothly while
dealing with staffing issues. Some were out sick,
some required quarantine and many had to wear
personal protective gear.
“It really has taken lots of extra effort —
things like the company providing meals to staff
to lessen outside exposure,” she says.
Davis says team members stepped up, wiped
down “high touch” areas every hour and made
sure residents had social events to keep them
from going “stir crazy.”
In the facility’s corner with advice and
assistance, has been its parent company based
in Fort Worth. Focused Post Acute Care Partners
over the summer announced a major investment
in equipment and supplies to keep it’s facilities
clean and safe.
The parent firm secured MediClean Pro
equipment and supplies, a customized treatment
protocol registered safe and effective by the
federal government’s leading environmental
protection agency to treat areas potentially
exposed to the coronavirus.
Center’s Focused Care was among the
long term care communities to use the protocol
to disinfect surfaces and provide maximum
effectiveness and germ sanitization, according to
Mark McKenzie, founder of FPACP.
“Prior to the pandemic, Focused Care
invested in several measures to reduce the rate
of infection among the vulnerable residents to
whom we provide care, and in light of this highly
contagious and unpredictable virus, we have
stepped up our efforts and our investment in
protecting the health and safety of our residents
AT A GLANCE
WHAT:
Focused Care of Center
Nursing Home
WHO:
Jessica Davis,
Executive Director
WHERE:
501 Timpson Street
Center, TX 75935
HOURS:
Operates
24 hours a day,
365 days a year
PHONE:
(936) 598-2483
WEBSITE:
http://www.fpacp.com/
Center.html
FACEBOOK:
@FocusedCareofCenter
Business MATTERS | 2020 Fall Edition 13