Allentown family ‘elated’ to reunite at nursing home
Stacey Beltz of Allentown spent five months wondering if she’d ever again be able to hug her mother, Sandra Beltz, a resident at Phoebe Health Care Center in Allentown.
Stacey Beltz and her sister, Melissa Beltz-Kochanasz, hadn’t been able to touch their mother since March 18, shortly before Phoebe and other nursing homes began prohibiting in-house visits due to the coronavirus pandemic. Like many families, the sisters would visit by standing outside of Phoebe’s West Turner Street building, with their mother looking out from a window, or online via Zoom, which is hard for their mother to understand.
Then, on Aug. 13, Stacey Beltz saw on Phoebe’s website that the facility was going to allow visits in person. It was the first time since March that Phoebe had been free of any employee or resident cases of the coronavirus for more than the 14 days, which is required before visits are allowed.
“I was elated to have more than just a Zoom or window visit with my mom again, but at the same time I was nervous because it could change in a heartbeat if Phoebe discovered another COVID case in their facility,” Beltz said.
Wheelchair-bound, Sandra Beltz has Pick’s and Parkinson’s diseases, degenerative conditions that affect her brain and central nervous system. Though she’s fully alert and aware of her surroundings, her ability to verbally communicate or move certain parts of her body is very limited.
On July 25, family and friends celebrated Sandra Beltz’s 80th birthday on Phoebe’s lawn, holding signs and singing to her as she looked out from a secondfloor window.
“It’s such a challenge to not be able to have physical contact with your loved one,” Stacey Beltz said. “And it’s been heartbreaking for our mom. She’s lost so much weight from being sad at not being able to see her children up close and in person like she could before the pandemic. And the sadness is worsening her condition.
“I told the staff at Phoebe I’d rather she die from COVID-19 or some other medical condition than from a broken heart,” she said.
The in-person visits began Monday, when BeltzKochanasz went to Phoebe. On Wednesday’s it was Stacey Beltz’s turn.
The visits take place for 15 to 20 minutes on Phoebe’s porch.
“Everyone wears masks,” Beltz said. “There are four booths spaced apart from each other for social distancing. There’s a glass between you and the person you’re visiting, like in a prison, but that’s how it has to be.”
An emotional moment came when Beltz placed her hand on the glass, inviting her mother to do the same on the other side.
“Pick’s disease has completely immobilized my mom’s right arm,” Beltz said. “She can move her left arm, but it shakes from Parkinson’s disease. It took her a few minutes to raise her left hand to her side of the glass, but she did it. That’s how determined she was. I think all of the staff were crying along with me when she did it.”
Visitors are allowed to hug their loved ones, but only through a plastic curtain with long sheaths into which they place both arms.
“It’s not the same as before, but this is an amazing accommodation Phoebe has made for us and other visitors,” Beltz said.
“I can’t help but be very impressed with how Phoebe has handled everything during this pandemic,” she said. “They’ve done an amazing job, given that I doubt they realized how much of a challenge this would be with residents in a nursing home. No one knew things would get this crazy with all these restrictions.”
More than 20,000 residents and about 4,300 employees at Pennsylvania nursing or personal care homes have contracted the virus, according to the state Health Department. Nursing home deaths account for 68% of the state’s total from the coronavirus.
Morning Call reporter Andrew Scott can be reached at 610-820-6508 or ascott@mcall.com.