COVID-19 Testing & Updates

Download our Letter to Residences and Family on March 12th

During the last week of May, Henry County Healthcare Center tested 179 residents and staff for COVID-19 as required by Governor Bill Lee and the State of TN. HCHC received notification that one resident and two staff members have tested positive for COVID-19, but all three cases are asymptomatic. The one resident has been retested and results are negative for COVID-19.  

Since the first guidance from CMS and the CDC, which came out in March, HCHC has taken all the appropriate actions to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our residents and staff to prevent or reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19.  This included altering the normal operations of our facility and creating a separate wing with separate staff.

HCHC continues to provide face masks for residents and social distancing is enforced.  In addition, all staff is using personal protective equipment as recommended by the CDC.  We have notified our local and state public health officials. We continue daily monitoring and education regarding hand hygiene, cleaning of equipment used for patient care, and continued restrictions on visitations, dining, and group activities.  

“We are doing everything we can to help prevent COVID-19 among our residents and partners,” said Sandra Ray, Administrator at Henry County Healthcare Center.  “We are in contact with our residents’ families and we have recently updated our website to provide information dedicated specifically to HCHC COVID-19 information and updates.  We want to assure everyone we have our residents’ safety on the forefront of all we are doing.”

HCHC COVID-19 Data

*This is only the tests performed at Henry County Healthcare Center and Plumley Rehab. This does not include any tests collected at HCMC, other facilities, provider offices, or the health department.

PositivesNegativesTotal Tested*PendingHospitalizations^Deaths
172,4372,454000
This data inside the chart below is meant to provide a rough estimate and may differ or change as new information becomes available. Last updated September 17, 2020 and reflects tests done in the past week since last update. Testing is currently backlogged, so many results are not available yet. ^This only includes current hospitalizations at HCMC.

Due to government privacy requirements, HCHC cannot divulge specific information about any individual who has confirmed or suspected COVID-19, except to the specific family members who have permissions to receive such information.  

We are keeping all of our residents and their families informed through phone calls, letters and emails.

When CMS issued their guidance, all outside visits and non-essential interactions with the public were eliminated, group activities were cancelled, dining rooms were closed, and social distancing has been maintained.   All residents and staff have been screened daily.  We have been, and will continue to be, compliant with all CDC guidelines. 

HCHC is grateful for the outpouring of support received from the community during this COVID-19 crisis.

Since the very first guidance from CMS and the CDC in March, we have been taking actions to prevent or reduce the risk of transmission.  This has included altering the normal operations of our facility and creating a separate wing for possible positive patients which can be closed off without free flow of staff or other residents. This area has designated staff to care for residents.  HCHC continues to provide face masks for residents and social distancing is enforced. In addition, all staff use of personal protective equipment or PPE as recommended by CDC.  We have also taken the following measures: notified our local/state public health officials, continued daily monitoring of and education regarding hand hygiene, cleaning of equipment needed for patient care, and continued restrictions on visitations, dining and group activities. 

Please visit the CDC website (www.cdc.gov/coronavirus) to learn how you can help prevent the spread in our community, since continued spread in the larger community increases the chance the virus will work its way into our building.

If you have questions, we encourage you to contact our center. Please call us at 731-642-5700, email us at sray@hcmc.vewebsites.com, or check back here for further updates as they become available.

Visitation Policy

Download our  HCHC & Plumley Rehab Visitation Policy Flyer.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, (CMS), who license and govern nursing home facilities, announced critical new measures designed to keep America’s nursing home residents safe from the COVID-19 virus.

It is CMS’s latest action to protect America’s seniors, who are at highest risk for complications from COVID-19.   They state, “While visitor restrictions may be difficult for residents and families, it is an important temporary measure for their protection.”

These are our four newest directives:

  1. Restricting all visitors, effective immediately. The exception is hospice end-of-life situations if the family member is equipped with personal protective equipment such as masks and is restricted to one room.
  2. Restricting all volunteers and nonessential health care personnel.
  3. Cancelling all group activities and communal dining.
  4. Implementing active screening of residents and health care personnel for fever and respiratory symptoms.

For further visitation guidance related to Henry County Healthcare Center, please refer to our article here that was updated on March 16, 2020:   https://hcmc.vewebsites.com/news/hchc-updates-visitation-and-activities-based-on-cms-guidelines-effective-immediately.

Family Communication Options

At HCHC, we understand that connecting with family members is incredibly important to our residents. Family members are encouraged to connect with their loved ones through video chat, calling, texting, email or on social media. Feel free to call our primary number at 731-642-5700 to assist in communicating with your loved one.

HCHC has a portable phone that can be carried to a resident’s room for a loved one to be able to talk with his/her family member.  The number to connect through this tool is 731-644-8940. Any nursing wing can access the portable phone and it can be taken to the resident’s room.  

HCHC now has an iPad available for residents and family members to utilize.  We are able to set up Zoom meetings for our residents and their families so you can communicate directly.  This can be done in several ways.

  1. If you are using an Android or Apple device, you would need to go to your app store and download the free Zoom Cloud Meeting app on your device and then select, Join a Meeting.  HCHC would provide a meeting ID and you would be able to see and talk to your loved one.
  2. Another option is to connect to your loved one from a computer with a webcam and microphone.  You would need to go to  www.zoom.us  and select, Join a Meeting. We would then provide you a meeting ID to connect to your loved one. Would will have to get a new meeting ID each time you connect to your loved one.

Since this is a new form of communication, please contact Tim Lee, HCHC Activities Director; Melissa Carpenter, HCHC Nursing; or Sandra Ray, HCHC Administrator at 731-642-5700 so that a time can be scheduled for you to connect with your loved one.  When this becomes a more familiar form of communication, we will utilize more staff members to assist with this communication tool.  

At HCHC, we understand that connecting with your loved ones is incredibly important, and there are a variety of other ways you might consider communicating with them. These may include telephone, email, text, video chat or social media.

If you have loved ones at HCHC, please make sure we have your most current, emergency contact information. We want to make sure we efficiently communicate with you should there be any new developments. Please reach out to Sean Taylor, LSW at 731-644-8930 or Sandra Ray, Administrator with your updated contact information. 

“Please know we are doing our very best to keep our residents safe and happy and look forward to CMS lifting the restrictions on visitation,” said Sandra Ray, HCHC Administrator.

Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact our facility.   We will direct you to a staff member who can talk with you regarding any concerns.  The primary number to the facility is 731-642-5700.