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Protecting Your Health During COVID-19 And Beyond

With the rising COVID-19 numbers, it’s more important than ever to practice social distancing and be cautious when out in public places. From the CDC, we’ve collected some tips on how to continue to protect your health.

Make a Plan:

As a family or household, make a plan so everyone is on the same page. If you have older adults or people at risk of severe illness, discuss strategies to keep these people safe and what to do if they get sick. People at higher risk of severe illness include adults 65 years or older and people of any age who have serious underlying conditions.

  • Stay informed of COVID-19 updates in your local area from public health officials. Pay special attention to what your local officials recommend to keep your family and community healthy. In the “Stay Informed” section below, you can find links to some of our local health departments. Check with your county’s health department regularly to stay up-to-date.
  • Discuss and agree on how everyone will protect themselves in and out of the home.
  • Choose a room in the house or apartment that could be used to separate sick household members from others.
  • Create a list of local organizations you and your household can contact if you need access to information, healthcare services, support, or resources.
  • Create an emergency contact list including family, friends, neighbors, carpool drivers, healthcare providers, teachers, employers, and other community resources.

Build Daily, Preventative Habits:

Even as people go out more, preventative habits are still important to practice. These habits can help you stay healthy long-term and protect you against future flu seasons or other viral illnesses.

  • Wash your hands frequently, such as before and after you eat and after you leave a public area. If soap and water is not available, use a hand sanitizer that is at least 60% alcohol.
  • Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
  • Stay home when you are sick.
  • Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue or your elbow. Wash or sanitize your hands immediately afterwards.
  • Regularly clean and disinfect frequently-touched objects and surfaces like cabinet handles, doorknobs, keys, and wallets.

Stay Informed:

It’s important to stay informed, especially on the local rates of infection in your area. Staying up-to-date can help you make decisions about when to go out, for how long, and where. It’s also important to know what your community health professionals recommend if you are feeling sick and where to go to get help.

Run Errands:

If possible, order online or arrange curbside pickup. If you must shop inside a store, continue to use the following safety precautions:

  • Stay at least 6 feet away from others while shopping and in line.
  • Use a cloth face covering when going out in public.
  • Do not touch your eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands
  • Try to go shopping during hours when fewer people will be there, such as early in the morning or late at night.
  • If you are at a higher risk for severe illness, contact the store and ask if they have special hours for people at higher risk.
  • Use a hand sanitizer or wash your hands often, especially after touching items that others may have touched like store products, shopping carts, or pin pads.
  • Do NOT use disinfectants meant for hard surfaces like bleach or ammonia on food packaged in cardboard or plastic wrap.
  • Wash your hands with soap for at least 20 seconds after unpacking any food or products you brought home.
  • Regularly clean and disinfect your kitchen counters and any other surfaces where you frequently place shopping bags, purses, wallets, or high-touch items.

Cope with Stress and Anxiety:

It is perfectly normal to experience fear, stress, and anxiety about the COVID-19 pandemic. You may feel this anxiety more on some days and less on others. If you’re feeling anxious or stressed, try coping in a healthy way, such as:

For more information, or for links and phone numbers to immediate help in a crisis, see the CDC’s article on coping with stress

Many of these habits are helpful for maintaining your physical and mental health generally as well as during the pandemic. It’s also important to be aware of what the businesses you frequent are doing to keep their staff and customers safe from COVID-19. Many companies have posted a statement about what they’re doing on their website. You can find our statement here. At Haven Healthcare, our #1 priority is to keep our staff and clients safe and healthy.

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Why Ownership Matters:

At Haven Home Health and Hospice, we are proud to be the last locally-owned, independent, and clinician-led provider of home-based care in our region. While that may sound like a simple fact, it’s actually a defining difference—one that matters deeply to the quality of care our patients receive every day. In recent years, private equity firms and large corporate healthcare chains have rapidly bought out home health and hospice providers across the country, including right here in our community. What we’ve seen in the aftermath is troubling: rapid turnover of staff, shrinking time spent with patients, and decisions driven more by profit margins than by compassion, dignity, and clinical excellence. 

When ownership shifts from caregivers to corporations, priorities shift too. 

We believe healthcare should never be treated like a commodity. That’s why we’ve remained committed to local, clinician-led ownership—because we answer to patients, not shareholders. Our leadership is hands-on, involved, and invested in every life we touch. We believe that meaningful care takes time, intention, and heart—and it starts with the people who make the decisions. As owners who are also licensed clinicians, we understand the weight of the responsibility we carry. Our patients are not numbers in a spreadsheet. They are parents, grandparents, neighbors, and friends. And we believe they deserve the kind of care we’d want for our own families. We will continue to stand against the corporatization of healthcare, and we invite you to stand with us. Whether you’re a patient, a referral partner, or a member of the community, your trust makes it possible for us to preserve something rare and essential in today’s healthcare system: personalized, human-centered care. Because in the end, ownership isn’t just about who signs the papers—it’s about who shows up when it matters most.

– John Ray, Founder

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