NEW ORLEANS — Keeping the residents healthy at the Vista Shores Assisted Living and Memory Care facility healthy is the responsibility of Zoe Tobias, the Director of Wellness there.
It’s a tough job on any day, but when the Covid-19 pandemic hit the New Orleans area, Tobias’ job became even more difficult.
“We were on the ball pretty quickly,” Tobias told WGNO.
The facility initially started limiting access to the center then banned all visitors later, even family members. Also, the much in demand PPE, masks and gloves, was an essential for workers and also residents outside of their rooms.
“We had more than some of the hospitals had,” she says.
But people did get sick there, and after their first round of testing at the facility, Tobias new the illnesses would follow.
Some residents required hospitalization.
“I would hear from the hospital, oh they’re not doing well; they’re not going to make it when they come back,” she said. But perhaps Vista Shores could do more to help the residents than medical professionals believed.
“But when they came back, and they saw a familiar face, they started eating again. So it did something. They were home; they were back home.”
For her work, Tobias is a Health Care Hero of the Day, sponsored by Schonberg Care.
