Feb. 3, 2021 – Letter to Parents & Guardians of Bridgewell Day Programs

February 3, 2021

Dear Bridgewell Family Members and Guardians,

We are so glad that people who attend and staff who work in our day programs will soon have the opportunity to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in this first phase of the MA vaccine rollout plan. COVID-19 infection rates and hospitalizations seem to be on a gradual decline – a trend that we hope will continue – but many of the cities and towns in which Bridgewell has programs are still showing higher than average rates of infection.

We have been asked if our day programs will be able to operate at pre-COVID capacity levels after people have been vaccinated. Unfortunately, we will not be able to increase the number of people we serve through our day programs until the MA Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) changes the square footage capacity guidelines. Even after our vaccination clinics have been held, the state guidelines will still limit the number of people we can serve in day programs – and we do not expect significant changes to these guidelines for the foreseeable future. We also know that people who are vaccinated are still able to transmit and potentially contract COVID-19 to and from others, so we will continue to operate with an abundance of caution to ensure the health and safety of those we serve and the staff who work with them.

I know we are all ready to move on from restrictions like these. However, our efforts to keep Bridgewell programs as free from COVID-19 risk as possible must continue. We will continue following strict protocols around wearing masks, hand washing, social distancing, and cleaning of our facilities. We are eager to get our day programs operating at pre-COVID capacity levels as soon as it is possible to do this safely, but that will require our continued collective efforts with all of these protocols.

Thank you for your understanding and your cooperation in ensuring the health and safety of all at Bridgewell.

Sincerely,

Christopher Tuttle

President and CEO

Cc:  Kelly Lawless, Jennifer Killeen, Bonnie Hungler, Tom Marshall, Michelle Vercellone, Karen Seck, Danielle Sheehan