To our valued AOC Family,

As we continue to feel the increased impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19), we will be keeping our clients at the heart of our protocols and decisions. At Angels of Care, we strive to provide exceptional care to our clients and that is what we plan to continue to safely do. We want to ensure that we are taking every precaution necessary. We want to ensure that we safely support those that continue to provide medically necessary care to the clients we serve while protecting our field staff and other team members.

Please be assured that we are working closely with the CDC and local public health officials in each community we serve to monitor this situation closely. As healthcare providers, we are required to continue to provide all medically necessary care while at the same time protecting our clients.

If any of our nurses or therapists are experiencing any symptoms or have been exposed to someone with symptoms, it is imperative that you notify us immediately and prior to reporting to any scheduled visits with our client(s) or to your branch office. We are requiring any employee who is symptomatic to be tested and implementing a self-quarantine policy for those employees who have been exposed within the last 14 days. If you are symptomatic it is very important that you inform your PCP that you work with immunocompromised children and that you must be tested for COVID-19.

We are working with our supply vendors to provide additional personal protective equipment (PPE) as necessary for clinicians to use when treating clients who are symptomatic (please note that there is an increased demand for PPE and we are being informed by the CDC that there is a shortage and PPE may not be available). We are working with HHSC and CMS to encourage policy changes surrounding in home visit requirements. At this time, no policy changes have been made. This means that our clients will be continuing to depend on in home assessments for recertifications. Our clinicians will be adhering to precautions that will aid in the prevention of the spread of COVID-19.

As the situation evolves, we will continue to implement any additional preventative measures to ensure all employees and clients wellbeing.

Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding as we navigate this challenging situation one day at a time and determine how best to continue serving our clients, while maintaining our focus where it belongs: on our clients, who are the heart of everything we do!

What Your Guardian Angels Want You To Know

• Symptoms: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html
• Info for those with Medical Confiditions: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/high-risk/high-risk-complications.html
• How to Protect Your Family: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prepare/index.html

To our valued AOC Family,

Our efforts to monitor the Coronavirus outbreak continue. At this time, we have temporarily moved all office employees who are not required to be in the office to complete their job to a work from home environment to reduce the risk of spread. You can still reach your AOC team members through our phone system. We will continue to hire new nurses and therapists in our office settings. Cleaning protocols have been implemented in all our locations to ensure nurses and therapists entering the building are not being exposed as well.

We understand that in this time of uncertainty your priority is the safety and wellbeing of your child and family. Several families have asked our opinion about continuing to allow clinicians in their homes.

We encourage you to make the decisions that are best for your family but would also like to provide you with information related to this decision. We are preparing our clinicians to continue to provide excellent care to our clients during this time. We are specifically asking clinicians to limit their exposure to people and to self-quarantine when not at work. Clinicians are equipped with knowledge and tools to prevent the spread of infection. We have reminded and will continue to remind our clinicians of the expectations while providing care to prevent the spread of all diseases and infections.

As most of you know our clinicians need to work during this time as they are depending on this to financially meet their family’s needs. We are doing everything we can to prevent the loss of clinicians during this time to hospitals and other healthcare facilities. You can help with this effort by allowing clinicians to continue to work. Enforcing strict policies related to hand washing and distancing as much as possible is highly recommended. We encourage you to assume that all individuals living in your home or entering your home have been exposed to the Coronavirus and to protect your child as if this is true.

As always, our clients are the heart of everything we do and we will get through this together. Our clinical teams are on standby to discuss your concerns and to help you identify ways to protect the health and wellbeing of your family.

Best Regards,

Jessica Riggs, RN CEO

Our Heart of the Day is Isabella from Princeton!

Bella was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (born with only half of a heart) and was diagnosed at 2 days old. She is her family’s “miracle baby” and has already undergone 2 open-heart surgeries and will have another one around the age of 4. She has 2 amazing big brothers that love her to pieces and has such a BIG bubbly personality that her family calls her their “firecracker”! Bella is a social butterfly who will talk to anyone always waving and telling everyone “Hi” and “Bye”. She enjoys singing Cocomelon, or “COCO” as she calls it, enjoys being read to or reading by herself, and dancing! In fact, anytime she hears music she will approach you and say “dance!”. Bella is a die-hard daddy’s girl and has a big family that loves and cares for her very much! #HALOS #heart

Our Heart of the Day is Raxton from Odessa!

Raxton was born with a rare genetic disorder called X-linked Myotubular Myopathy. He is truly a miracle child and he’s such a joyful kid. Raxton is incredibly sweet and loves Woody from Toy Story! #RaxtonStrong

Our Heart of the Day is Adam from Midland! Adam is absolutely hilarious and has a great sense of humor. He loves joking and playing around, keeping everyone lucky enough to know him on their toes! His family adores him and so do we!!  #HALOS