Community Helps Mary Wade Weather The Storm

The Mary Wade Home survived the 1918 influenza epidemic. It’s now toughing out the health and financial challenges of the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic — thanks in part to neighbors’ emotional support and $4,953.19 gift.

That money went to pay for protective gowns, recently donated by members of the Fair Haven Community Management Team.

Mary Wade President and CEO David Hunter offered that perspective Thursday night with deep gratitude at the regular meeting of the Fair Haven Community Management Team (FHCMT). Also Thursday night, Mary Wade announced it will be the first nursing home in the state to conduct on-site Covid-19 testing.

About 30 people attended the meeting via the Zoom teleconferencing app, hosted by FHCMT President Diane Ecton and Corresponding Secretary David Weinreb.

Click here to find a full recording of the meeting.

“I don’t know where to begin,” began Hunter. He struggled to balance gratitude with the sense of ongoing challenge to nursing homes/assisted living institutions such as Mary Wade, a century-and-a-half old organization that is also a large employer and financial anchor of the Fair Haven community.

Mary Wade has been one of the hardest-hit New Haven nursing home facilities. As of Monday, 33 residents had tested positive for the coronavirus, and 13 had died. One staff member had also died from the virus.

“Mary Wade hasn’t dealt with this since 1918, 1920,” Hunter said. ​“What gives me strength is that Mary Wade survived then and we better get through this too.

“It’s a real challenge. In February and March nursing homes were not considered first responders, and we couldn’t get protective equipment for our staff, especially gowns. And we ​‘burn’ through 300 gowns a day to take care of our residents.

“I don’t know where to begin to thank you for the almost $5,000. We’re using it toward the cash flow to provide PPE [professional protective equipment] for our staff.”

The money came from a redirection of Neighborhood Public Improvement Program (NPIP) funds the team had previously voted.

Last month, even before the pandemic had turned in-person meetings into online ones, the FHCMT had already conducted an online ranked choice voting procedure about how to spend the money. Members voted to allocate their funding to five projects. They included $7,300 to paint a welcoming mural on the underpass at Middletown Avenue and Front Street and $3,000 to support the Quinnipiac Riverfest.

The proposers of those two projects, Susan Regan and Lee Cruz, suggested that the funding they received be returned to the management team to be redirected for the more pressing needs of the pandemic. The beneficfiaries selected were the Mary Wade Home and the Fair Haven Community Health Center (FHCHC)

FHCHC’s Robyn Hoffman reported that funds redirected to it from the FHCMT are going to support a mobile food pantry in Fair Haven, especially to permit deliveries to Covid-19 affected families in the area. She reported increasing food insecurity especially among families that have a member needing to self-isolate, and 112 families received deliveries in April.

Hunter said that love and emotional support by the neighborhood for the staff at Mary Wade have also helped to keep light and optimism alive during a dark time.

He called particular attention to last Saturday, when neighbors in a spontaneous expression of support gathered by the dozens on Pine Street to clap and cheer their gratitude. 

The work is dangerous, Hunter said, and the staff is often exhausted taking care of the residents. ​“We monitor the CDC guidelines daily, but they’re changed on us from morning to afternoon, it’s really mind-boggling.”

“It was great to see you (out there on Saturday). ​“The staff was crying [in appreciation],” he added.

Hunter said other grants have also been received, and some neighbors have been fashioning gowns on their own and contributing them to Mary Wade as well.

Even with the funds, Hunter said, finding sources for the gowns remains an ongoing challenge and because of the demand Mary Wade has to pay top price as well.

Mary Wade To Covid-19 Test Entire Staff

In a bulletin released shortly after the meeting concluded, Mary Wade also announced that it has become the first nursing home in the state that will provide Covid-19 testing for its entire staff.

Below is part of the release:

A collaboration between the CT Department of Public Health (DPH), Mary Wade Home, Fair Haven Community Health Care (FHCHC) and Quest Diagnostics in New Haven has allowed Mary Wade to be the first nursing home in Connecticut to provide COVID-19 testing to its residents and direct care staff. The DPH along with FHCHC provided testing kits and swabs to perform the widespread testing of staff and residents. The tests are being conducted by Fair Haven and administered by Quest, and began this week.

This is an essential step in our efforts to keep residents and staff safe and healthy during this pandemic; the biggest impediment faced in health care during this time is the unknown factor that has come from a lack of widespread testing, and this testing removes that factor,” Mary Wade Home President & CEO David V. Hunter said today. ​“We thank Fair Haven Community Health Care and Quest for recognizing what we need to ensure the well-being of our community and to prevent the further spread of the disease. We are pleased to be the first nursing home to do what, hopefully, all others in Connecticut are able to do soon.

Before we received these kits, testing was very sporadic and hard to come by due to lack of supplies,” said Hunter. ​“Now, with sufficient testing supplies and the help of FHCHC, we are able to test everyone quickly and properly cohort our positive and negative cases. The 24 hour turnaround time provided by Quest has been critical to the process.

Click on the above video to watch an interview on WNHH FM (during the ​“Great Give radiothon) with Mary Wade’s David Hunter and Lisa Hottin about the home’s wrestling with Covid-19.