HUTCHINSON, Kan. — While many businesses are reopening with the easing of pandemic restrictions, some agencies and local operations are going to stay under restrictions that may go further than those imposed by the state. Members of the task force assembled to get the county open again include those leaders in the long-term healthcare sector. Lowell Peachey, president of Mennonite Friendship Communities, says they are looking at keeping strict guidelines in place for dealing with the pandemic.
“We have to follow, as you all know, CMS, CDC, KDHE and Kansas Department of Aging and Disability Service guidance. And so we are subject to those regulatory authorities,” Peachey said. “We are thinking at this point that we will probably be more restrictive than those outlined in the reopening plan from the governor or the Reno County Health Department.”
Peachey hopes that any policy made by the subcommittee will be shared by all similar agencies in the area.
“(I) had a conversation with Nick (Baldetti) about maybe once this gets clearer, convening a phone call with all of the providers in the area to try and be more collaborative, and be able to have a sort of a common voice in how we figure out what the reopening means for us.”
While many hot spots in the COVID-19 pandemic centered around care facilities, the procedures for reopening their doors to the outside world may be very different.
“Our opening is probably going to be on a different schedule,” Peachey said. “And it may be even shaped . . . completely different than other places.”
Several other subcommittees of the task force are also considering tighter restrictions than what is laid out by the governor. Health Director Nick Baldetti says those guidelines will come out as each subcommittee decides the course of action it will take.