Visitation with residents of Westmoreland Manor resumed this week in an outdoor setting, under a tent on a patio in front of the county-owned nursing home in Hempfield.

County officials Wednesday announced new safety measures and other precautions associated with the resumption of visits to the nearly 400 Manor residents, who have essentially been quarantined there since March at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

In-person 30-minute visits are by appointment only. They are available on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

They can be scheduled by calling the Manor’s switchboard at 724-830-4000.

“I can only imagine how difficult the past few months have been for our residents and their families. It is heartbreaking to be apart from your loved ones, but we needed to protect the most at-risk population,” Commissioner Gina Cerilli said. “This is the first step to our new normal. Although a small step, I’m sure it will bring smiles to many.”

County Solicitor Melissa Guiddy said the first visits were held Tuesday.

Anyone with covid-19 symptoms is prohibited from seeing Manor residents. Those returning to Pennsylvania from 20 states must wait two weeks before they visit. They are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.

Visits can be scheduled for each resident on a first-come first-served basis, according to documents published on the county’s website. Subsequent visits will be scheduled after all residents have been offered an opportunity to meet with guests, according to the plan.

Visitors will be required to wear masks and wash hands, are required to keep 6 feet from residents and are subject to temperature screenings.

The plan calls for visits to be moved inside to a general recreation room during “excessively extreme weather” conditions.

County officials in March halted general visitation with Manor residents as the coronavirus took hold in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

Nursing homes have been an epicenter of coronavirus outbreaks both nationally and in Pennsylvania. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, 21% of the state’s 110,218 cases of coronavirus are associated with residents and staff at more than 841 long-term care facilities.

In Westmoreland County, 20 facilities accounted for 219 cases, a number that represents 16% of the county’s 1,351 confirmed and pending cases, according to state data.

County officials have reported no residents of the Manor have tested positive for coronavirus. Three staffers, including two administrators who have no contact with residents, tested positive for the virus in late June after the county conducted did state-required testing of the facility’s more than 800 residents and employees.

Commissioners said they don’t believe the visitation policy will place residents at risk.

“I am very confident in this approach to protect the residents, employees and visitors,” Cerilli said.

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)