Wilshire’s Response during COVID-19

Wilshire at Work during COVID-19

Wilshire Hospice and Wilshire Home Health

Wilshire Hospice and Wilshire Home Health are continuing to serve the community during this time. In an effort to continue to provide quality healthcare during the COVID-19 outbreak, Wilshire has been working for several weeks to make sure we have the proper safety equipment to protect staff while delivering care, as well as protect patients while they receive care. As a healthcare provider, we are governed by regulations and guidelines; emergency preparedness is one of them and the COVID-19 pandemic falls into that category. We can assure you that at all of our agencies we are meeting and exceeding the guidelines to ensure that our patients and staff stay safe. Protocol includes:

1) We are using CDC guidelines to screen each patient for COVID-19 symptoms, including fever, dry cough & difficulty breathing, in order to follow best practices to triage patients and get them the support they need.

2) All staff is screened every morning before they make visits and consistently self checking for any symptoms.

3) We have procedures and treatment plans in place for staff that come across COVID-19 symptoms or have patients that have been diagnosed with COVID-19; we know how to support them and our clinicians will follow those best practices.

4) We are in close contact with the San Luis Obispo Public Health Department every single day and are also providing personal protective equipment for staff.

5) We are up to date with CDC Guidelines so that they can act as interventionists in the home setting to help patients and families follow safety protocols, including: recommending preventive measures like personal protective equipment (i.e. gloves and masks), access to proper nutrition, social distancing, and most importantly hand washing with soap when coming in contact with surfaces and other people.

6) We are continuing to use innovative tools like our Telehealth Monitoring technology to check in with patients and eliminating unnecessary contact when possible. This has also been a great tool for patients, as they have immediate communication with clinical staff when they have questions or concerns.

We are focusing our efforts to especially support our patients and their families because many of them are at high risk during the COVID-19 outbreak. Allowing our clinicians to come to your home is incredibly important; if you have any questions please call our office or our clinical team to receive accurate healthcare information and up-to-date information on our services.

Wilshire Community Services

Wilshire Community Services has a commitment to promoting the health and safety of our clients and will continue serve our community’s older adults the best way we can.

We must find a way to continue our work while also keeping ourselves and our volunteers safe and secure. We have implemented precautionary measures, including screening and using appropriate barriers and protection when we are out in the community. We are continuing counseling and friendly visits via phone sessions; and still have volunteers willing to drop off food and medications to our clients.

We are committed to continuing to serve homebound, isolated older adults, especially in this time when they are most at-risk. Thank you for your continued support. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Jen at jkaplan@wilshirehcs.org

Creative Mediation

Creative Mediation is open and staff are working remotely. We know this is a tough time for you, your business, your family, and our community. We hope to provide you support during this time. We are offering services by phone and some by video conference. You are welcome to call our office and leave a voicemail, and one of our staff members will get back to you.

We know this is a tough time for you, your business, your family, and our community. We acknowledge that conflict doesn’t dissipate when shelter in place is in effect, so we hope to provide you support during this time.

Center for Grief Education and Healing

If you are grieving, and need additional support we have staff available to take counseling calls over the phone. While our group grief sessions and Death Cafes are currently on pause, follow us on Facebook as we continue to provide access to educational and supportive services online.

Wilshire’s Riso Family Loan Closet and the Wilshire Hospice Hope Chest Thrift Store

Keeping our staff and volunteers safe is a matter of great responsibility for Wilshire Health and Community Services. It is for this reason that we are temporarily closing the Wilshire Hospice Hope Chest as well as Wilshire’s Riso Family Loan Closet. This was not an easy decision, as the loan closet is a critical service to the community, and the thrift store monetarily supports so much of our hospice services for underinsured patients and our hospice programming. However, we believe in taking the lead and being an example for how to protect our community members and are following the California Public Health Department and the CDC’s Guidelines to do so. Our dedicated staff and volunteers have become a part of our community and our customers and clients have become friends. We hope to see you again once this season of life has passed. Thank you for all of your support.

Messages From Our Leadership

Hear from Wilshire Health and Community Service’s CEO, Tricia Smith, on how Wilshire is operating and continuing to serve the community moving forward

Hear from Wilshire Health and Community Service’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Kevin Parzych, on clinical operations and how we are protecting staff and patients during this time.