Today marked the day of the reopening of the beloved dining room at Prairie Ridge of Galena. Residents walked into the restaurant-style served dining space to a room full of colorful balloons and fresh flowers celebrating the occasion. Since mid-November, the dining room has been closed due to Covid-19 protocol. Like many of the practices put in place as a result of the virus, no one knew just how long this closure would last. The dining room is the hub of the community and is an activity in itself as it provides socialization and conversation amongst neighbors and friends.
“It was a special day to say the least. I walked into the building and heard laughter, music and saw smiles in the dining room for breakfast. It’s been something residents and staff have been looking forward to and I’m so happy to see everyone enjoying each other’s company again!”
- Kelsey Mackey, Sales and Marketing Director
“The importance of the dining room opening up fully is key to making the community a community. It’s a family sitting down together and sharing life.”
- John Cooke, Chairman and Resident
“At last! It’s wonderful to have the dining room back open to the way it was when I moved in. That’s the way it should be.”
- Leonard Newman, Resident
With nearly all staff and over 98% residents fully vaccinated, Prairie Ridge will move forward with its plan of reopening its doors in gradual yet necessary steps. It all begins with the dining room reopening at a maximum of 25% capacity. Then starting next week, Prairie Ridge will begin allowing limited visitors inside the building for scheduled visits with residents in a designated area of the building. The combination of vaccination, repeated negative Covid-19 tests and low level of virus spread in the local community is allowing the senior living facility to crack the doors open a bit with the end result of fully reopening its doors to the public in the future.