As a new week begins, PRI is continuing to prepare for a phased reopening of our services. Last week Governor Walz announced that the stay at home order will expire tonight, and some businesses may begin to re-open under certain circumstances following strict, social distancing measures.
Because services at PRI are considered congregate settings, we were also notified by the MN Department of Human Services (DHS) that we will need to receive additional guidance from them before opening our facilities. We hope to receive more information from DHS this week to aid us with our plan.
In the meantime, we continue to prepare for reopening in-person services. To couple with this, we recently secured a loan through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). With the support of these funds, all furloughed employees are returning to work on Monday. This adds resources as we ready our locations to reopen. These funds will also allow us to reach out clients, homes, and families via phone and video more. We are excited to have the entire PRI Employee Team back working as we prepare for the entire PRI Community to return.
Recently, DHS also approved the ability to provide some services remotely. There are limitations to this, but we are continuing to expand our capability to provide remote services with the support of some funding from DHS coupled with the PPP loan.
Within our planning we are also finalizing PRI’s COVID-19 Pandemic Plan. We will update this to align with any new requirements and guidelines issued by DHS this week. Once we receive that guidance, we will share this plan with you so you can better understand the details behind PRI’s preparedness to resume in-person services.
We realize that it continues to be challenging not knowing when PRI can reopen. Please know that we are following governmental guidelines while diligently working on what resuming services will look like. We also know that returning to PRI will happen gradually as we work with everyone individually to determine when it is best to return. This will be different for everyone and will depend on factors such as an individual’s level of risk to COVID-19, ability to follow recommended hygiene practices and social distancing recommendations, and everyone’s choice on when they are ready to return. We will work to honor everyone’s choices while also keeping the safest environment possible.
Thank you for your patience during this time. Again, look for our Pandemic Plan to be posted soon (hopefully this week).
Take care and stay healthy.