Some families bring relatives home from Arlington Heights senior living center

After learning a staff member at the Church Creek Senior Living center in Arlington Heights contracted COVID-19, Kathy Brush decided to take her 95-year-old mother out of an independent living apartment there to stay home with her in Rolling Meadows.

"I wanted to before somebody had it," Brush said Thursday after picking up her mother, Angie. "I feel safer in my home. I haven't left the house since Friday other than to go to the senior center today. I'm not in contact with anybody."

Residents and their families learned Wednesday a staff member in the memory care wing of Church Creek, 1250 W. Central Road, tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Officials from Five Star Senior Living, which offers memory care, independent living and assisted living housing within the senior center complex, said the employee is in quarantine and receiving medical care.

They said they are not aware of any other resident or employee testing positive for the coronavirus. They were informed of the news by local health officials Tuesday.

"We will continue to work closely with local health officials in Cook County to ensure all residents and team members have the appropriate and necessary medical support," Suzanne Venema, Church Creek's executive director, wrote in a letter to residents, family and staffers. "It is important to note that our team members are well prepared and specifically trained for infection prevention and control practices, and we have detailed plans in place to safeguard other residents at Church Creek."

As a precaution, residents are essentially confined to their rooms, Brush said, meaning they can't go to the dining room for meals or participate in any group social activities, such as bingo or movie nights.

"Between my brothers, sister and myself, we all felt it was in her best interest," Brush said of the decision to bring their mother home. "At least she's getting socialization."

Brush said it's a choice other families have made. Two of her mother's friends also went home with their families in recent days.

"I told (the staff) when we left today, when they open the dining hall and can leave their apartments, then hey, she can go back," Brush said. "But until they lift that restriction, then what's the point?"

Nonessential visitors are barred from entering Church Creek, and staff members and essential visitors are asked to use only the front main entrance. Essential visitors include health care providers and caregivers, home care and hospice agency staffers, immediate relatives or friends only at critical times such as during a resident's severe illness, and vendors needed urgently.

Essential visitors experiencing flu-like symptoms or who have traveled in the last two weeks to places hard hit by the coronavirus are asked not to visit.

All staff members and essential visitors are having their temperatures taken and are asked to wash their hands before entering the center, officials say.