State Legislation

Society employees, volunteers or contracted health professionals may not knowingly participate in or facilitate physician-assisted suicide. This includes but is not limited to the provision of information intended to promote physician-assisted suicide; patient assessment for the purposes of eligibility; prescribing, procuring, providing or administering a lethal prescription; or presence when the medication is ingested.

We're committed to helping our senior communities and the people we serve feel safe and see their loved ones. All of our care settings have safety precautions and vaccination opportunities in place to protect residents, clients, employees and our communities. Our Florida communities include:

• Good Samaritan Society - Kissimmee Village in Kissimmee, FL

With dedicated staff and safety measures you can trust, rest assured knowing it’s safe to receive care, housing and services at the Good Samaritan Society.

Learn more about our COVID-19 resources and vaccination efforts.

How to safely visit a Society resident

We allow outdoor and indoor visits for all residents.

Please wear a mask and keep your distance around staff, other residents and in common areas of the building. We recommend wearing a mask during your visit with a resident, especially if you or your loved one is unvaccinated or COVID-19 is widespread in the community.

Safe visit requirements:

• Before each visit, guests are screened for symptoms and potential exposure to COVID-19.
• Visitors are required to wash or sanitize their hands before their visit.
• Our preferred option is to hold visits outside.
• We recommend getting tested for COVID-19 two to three days before visiting a Society location.

If you would like to visit a location but can't follow these requirements, we ask that you please schedule a virtual visit or window visit. Learn more about visitation and safe outing guidelines at the Good Samaritan Society.

Safety precautions for our locations and home-based services

Vaccines

We’ve worked to give our residents and staff convenient access to the COVID-19 vaccines. All employees are now required to receive their COVID-19 and flu vaccines, and we continue to encourage residents to get vaccinated.

COVID-19 testing

We work closely with state and local health departments to follow guidelines for testing residents and employees.

Staff precautions

Staff members are screened daily, monitor their health and stay home if they feel sick or have symptoms. We are following CDC guidelines for using personal protective equipment and require face masks. When possible, we designate staff to work in one area of a building to reduce the risk of spreading the virus.

Cohorting

We’ve designed a system to help our staff know the health status of each resident in our locations. This allows staff to follow proper precautions for symptom-free residents and those who are being tested for or infected with COVID-19.

Infection control

Our locations are taking extra precautions and following infection control protocols from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). These guidelines include practicing good hand hygiene, wearing face masks, using alcohol-based sanitizer and frequently cleaning surfaces.

Group gatherings and outings

For outings, we're following state and local guidance to keep residents safe. We encourage residents to wear masks and practice physical distancing when participating in group activities with the general public or if the group is not fully vaccinated.

Tours and moving in

We’re staggering tours and move-in dates and times to maintain physical distancing. We also offer virtual tours as a contact-free alternative.

Home-based services

In addition to following the relevant precautions listed above, our home-based staff delivers care and services at a distance of six feet when possible. We follow CDC guidelines for using personal protective equipment and organize staff work schedules to ensure there is little to no risk of virus transmission between staff and clients.

There are no restrictions on length of visits allowed or the number of visitors permitted at any Good Samaritan Society location. Our goal is to maintain the highest level of safety for our residents, staff, and visitors. We ask that you consider your current health situation, that of additional visitors, and of your loved one in our care before coming for a visit. In addition, we do not restrict any resident from physical contact with visitors. We do ask all visitors to screen for COVID-19 and perform proper hand hygiene before the visit commences.

Please direct any questions or concerns to our administrator or assisted living manager as they are responsible to maintain all policies and procedures in place to protect residents, staff, and visitors. The DNS and/or Nursing Leadership is responsible for monitoring/enforcing these practices.

All South Dakota Good Samaritan Society Assisted Living locations recognize that each resident has a right to receive visitors of their own choosing at the time of their own choosing, provided the visitation does not impose upon the rights of another resident.

Residents’ families, relatives, friends, and associates are all welcome to visit residents. If visitation must be limited or restricted during a health emergency, the assisted living will electronically inform each resident and their designated family member of the rationale and reason for limitations and restrictions as well as the period of time these limitations and restrictions are to remain in effect.

Please note that assisted living locations accessed through a long term care facility may have ongoing limits to visitation due to regulations governing the long term care setting.

A copy of the Good Samaritan Policy and Procedure regarding Resident Visitation Rights in SD Assisted Living is posted in each Assisted Living building and copies are available upon request.

During a health emergency, this website will contain a link to the most recent visitation guidance documents provided from or through the SD Department of Health.

In compliance with House Bill 3961 (87th Texas Legislature, Regular Session, 2021), The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society has three locations in Texas that meet the criteria of the Texas Long-term Care Ombudsman Program:

• Good Samaritan Society - Denton Village in Denton, TX
• Good Samaritan Society - Lake Forest Village in Denton, TX
• Good Samaritan Society - White Acres in El Paso, TX

"A long-term care ombudsman helps residents of a nursing facility and residents of an assisted living facility resolve complaints. Help provided by an ombudsman is confidential and free of charge. To speak with an ombudsman, a person may call the toll-free number 1-800-252-2412."