At Courtyard Nursing Care Center, we have been stringent on visitation restrictions and a whole
host of other precautions. As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) began providing protocols and guidelines
for the coronavirus, Courtyard Nursing Care Center has diligently followed them and in many
cases, has gotten out in front of public health guidelines, adopting even more stringent infection
precautions than were recommended at the time. We also continue to follow to the letter the
direction of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
Courtyard Nursing Care Center has been wearing full PPE since March 26, 2020 – ahead of
CMS guidelines, which were released on April 2, 2020. Some additional steps we have taken
include (and a full list can be found here):
-Screening residents and patients for symptoms – first daily and now three times daily
-Actively screening and taking temperatures of all staff upon building entry
-Visitation restrictions, except for exceptional circumstances, such as end-of-life situations
- Cancellation of all outside medical appointments except for medically necessary and timesensitive treatments, such as dialysis and chemotherapy
-To make things easier for families, we have implemented the ability for families and loved ones
to perform video conferencing calls using Zoom technology
- We notified patients, residents and families immediately, and update them via regular video
conference calls
We would like to thank the Massachusetts National Guard for recently testing the remainder of
our facility. In fact, the majority of our patients and residents were asymptomatic, but tested
positive for the virus; this was critically important to know to help guide how we manage the
situation going forward. We are currently working with the National Guard to schedule a time to
test the staff.
To date, the total number of positive cases at Courtyard Nursing Care Center is 117 residents
and 42 staff members. Our thoughts and prayers go out to those impacted by COVID-19 during
this difficult time, especially the families of the additional 54 residents who passed away with
COVID. Note an additional eight residents passed away during this time as well - four negative
for COVID, three refused testing and one test pending. Our thoughts and prayers go out to
these additional families as well.
We did lose two beloved, long-term employees, but to our knowledge neither of them had
COVID. In fact, one of them never worked in the building during the pandemic. They will truly be
missed by our staff and residents. Our deepest sympathies go out to the families.
At Courtyard nursing Care Center, a 224-bed facility, we care for largely frail, elderly seniors
with multiple health conditions who are already more susceptible to the common cold, not to
mention a deadly and highly contagious virus like this one. In fact, the average age of the
residents who passed away was over 85 years old. Also, many of the residents have dementia,
making precautions and restrictions difficult to enforce. For example, it is not possible to confine
patients who are cognitively impaired to their rooms, as they are prone to wandering. They are
also often frightened by the protective equipment (masks, goggles). We are using techniques to
distract and guide them to remain in their rooms and wear the protective equipment to the
extent possible.
Finally, it’s no secret that the entire nation has been experiencing PPE shortages. However, as
part of a large national organization, we have fortunately been able to leverage all possible

 avenues to obtain Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), as the company has been able to shift
supply around from location to location as needed.
I can assure you that we are working around the clock to keep our patients and residents
healthy and as safe as possible. We are doing everything in our power – and everything medical
experts know as of at this time – to protect our patients, residents and employees.
Dr. Richard Feifer
Chief Medical Officer