‘An early Christmas present’: 94-year-old husband talks about impact of allowing visitation at long-term care facilities

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    LITITZ, Pennsylvania (WPMT) — Marking the one year anniversary of Pennsylvania’s pandemic shutdown: Many nursing home residents say periods of isolation — minimal to zero family visits at times — left them feeling lonely and depressed.

“There were times I’d think, ‘We’re both so old. Suppose we’d get together and we’d get the coronavirus and pass away.’ It’s not the worst thing that could happen in the world,” said 94-year-old Leon Whiteman of Lancaster County.

For Whiteman, difficult is just one word used to describe the past year.

“It’s good news: We did almost everything together. The bad news is we did almost everything together. It makes the separation we experienced especially very, very difficult,” explained Whiteman.

Whiteman is talking about his long-time sweetheart, Marilyn.

“Like Marilyn Monroe?” asked FOX43’s Grace Griffaton.

“She’s better than looking than Marilyn Monroe,” laughed Whiteman.

This Halloween marks 72-years of blissful marriage for the couple. They live at Brethren Home in Lancaster County. Leon is in independent living. Marilyn is in skilled nursing.

“Before the pandemic, I would come every day and feed her her main meal, and I missed very few times,” said Leon.

Leon helps Marilyn, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease.

“She doesn’t understand why I am not there,” stated Leon.

Now, one year after the historic shutdown, Leon says there is hope.

“Concierge gal said, ‘Just go on up. The restrictions have been lifted.’ If I could physically jump up and click my heels, I would have, but of course, that would have been a disaster,” Leon said with a smile evident beneath his mask.

However, Leon says hope is on the horizon. Governor Wolf’s Administration has encouraged visitation at long-term care facilities once more.

For Leon, that means seeing Marilyn without a routine COVID-19 check. Their kids can now visit as well.

“That’s a first; they hadn’t been able to visit Marilyn in a year,” said Leon.

Monisha Knight, director of skilled nursing at Brethren Village, listened in as Leon spoke about the past year.

“It was touching in so many ways,” Knight said tearfully. “I feel blessed to be called to serve. It made me feel very blessed to be of service.”

This year has been challenging for her too.

“As a healthcare worker, I really try not to take it for granted where community members could not leave their homes. We were blessed to be able to have contact,” explained Knight.

“It was a very early Christmas present for me,” added Leon.

Before we said goodbye, Leon wished to share what he has learned about the disease.

“If there is anything good about having Alzheimer’s, it is just useless to argue,” explained Leon. “I think if I had practiced that earlier in our marriage that would be even better. You don’t have to be right. You need to be kind and nice.”

According to news release by the Wolf Administration, the guidance from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) acknowledges that “There is no substitute for physical contact, such as the warm embrace between a resident and their loved one. Therefore, if the resident is fully vaccinated, they can choose to have close contact, including touch, with their visitor while wearing a well-fitting mask. Regardless, visitors should physically distance from other residents and staff in the facility.”

The guidance also states that facilities should allow responsible indoor visitation at all times for all residents, regardless of vaccination status of the resident, or visitor, unless certain scenarios arise that would limit visitation for:

Unvaccinated residents, if the COVID-19 county positivity rate is greater than 10 percent and less than 70 percent of residents in the facility are fully vaccinated;
Residents with confirmed COVID-19 infection, whether vaccinated or unvaccinated, until they have met the criteria to discontinue transmission-based precautions; or
Residents in quarantine, whether vaccinated or unvaccinated, until they have met criteria for release from quarantine.
The updated guidance also emphasizes that “compassionate care” visits, such as an end-of-life situation or a resident in decline or distress, should be allowed at all times, regardless of a resident’s vaccination status, the county’s COVID-19 positivity rate, or an outbreak.

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