A retired emergency medicine physician who answered the call of the governor and returned to work has a health update of his own.

WGN has been following Dr. Scott Altman, since mid-March. He was eager to jump back into action and help during the COVID-19 crisis. Along the way, hes shared updates from his post at Advocate Christ Medical Center in south suburban Oak Lawn.

Im working down at Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn on their strike team within their command center helping to process admissions, approving the testing for coronavirus because testing is so limited, helping manage patient flow, Altman said.

Then, on April 10, Altman woke up feeling a bit under the weather. He said he had a runny nose, itchy eyes and a cough.

What he thought was a bout with spring allergies, turned out to be the very virus he came out of retirement to help fight.

I had done three shifts that week, but I just felt more tired than I expected and I woke up Saturday morning and there was no question felt like I had been hit by a train, he said. Sore, achy, the worst part was the stomachache. I never had fever, never had much of a cough, never had shortness of breath the usual symptoms they tell you to watch out for.

After two or three days, Altman felt he was out of the woods. However, he said shortly after, the second wave of the sickness came. He said it was worse than the first. He said he was wheezing, coughing and could feel weight and heaviness in his chest.

Its something infectious disease doctors have described as they learn more about how COVI-19 behaves in the body a second wave of symptoms much stronger than the first.

And then yesterday morning, I woke up and it was over. Wow. As easily as I knew, last Saturday morning that I had it. When I woke up yesterday morning, it was gone, he said.

He said while he still had a lack of energy, he didnt have a fever and didnt have difficulty breathing.

The virus did spread throughout his household, but his wife and children are doing well. As he recovers at home, Altman said he hasnt put much thought into his journey from retiree, to someone back on the frontlines, to COVID-19 patient.

Health care workers, this is what we do, he said. We really dont go into health care with a sense that we are immune to what ails our patients.

Health care workers can be cleared to return to work if they are symptom-free after 72 hours. Altman is planning to go back on Wednesday.

LOS ANGELES Chipotle Mexican Grill agreed Tuesday to pay a record $25 million fine to resolve criminal charges that it served tainted food that sickened more than 1,100 people in the U.S. from 2015 to 2018, federal prosecutors said.

The fast food company was charged in Los Angeles federal court with two counts of violating the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act by serving adulterated food that sickened diners at its restaurant with norovirus, which causes diarrhea, vomiting and abdominal cramps.

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MADISON, Wis. Health officials in Wisconsin said they have identified at least seven people who appear to have contracted the coronavirus from participating in the April 7 election, the first such cases following in-person voting that was held despite widespread concern about the public health risks.

The cases involve six voters and one poll worker in Milwaukee, where difficulty finding poll workers forced the city to pare nearly 200 voting locations back to just five, and where voters some in masks, some with no protection were forced to wait in long linesfor hours.

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CHICAGO Gov. JB Pritzker says testing will increase in nursing homes as COVID-19 cases spread fast in those facilities.

Nearly a quarter of all deaths due to the virus can be traced back to nursing homes or long-term health care facilities in the state, according to state of Illinois numbers.

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Doctor who came out of retirement to help amid COVID-19 pandemic develops illness himself - WGN TV Chicago

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Reta Lancaster worries a lot that she or her husband, Richard, will be stricken by the new coronavirus. But the retired Indianapolis couple havent had a moments worry about paying their bills.

The couple, who spent careers in teaching and nonprofits, proved to themselves during two bear markets since 2000 that a large cash stash and whats known as a bucket strategy would get them through the cruelest of markets. And it seems to be working again during the markets abrupt turn from near record highs to a nearly 35% drop at one point in recent weeks.

We really are feeling fortunate, said the 88-year-old Reta, contrasting her peace of mind with retirees whose savings have been savaged during the coronavirus crisis.

A typical iteration of the Lancasters strategy includes three buckets designed to give retirees long-term growth potential as well as a stash of cash and liquid investments that can be drawn upon for living expenses and as a bulwark from having to sell stocks in a market downturn.

In the first bucket, a retiree typically has at least two years of cash for any expenses no matter what the stock market does.

A second bucket, containing primarily bonds, provides another safeguarda stash to get through a stock-market beating as Treasuries typically act as a haven when equities are tumbling. As time goes on, bond income via interest or through maturity replenishes cash thats been spent from the first bucket.

The third bucket is key: This is where stocks go to provide more long-term growth than bonds or cash, while also potentially yielding cash dividends for use in the first bucket. When a market downturn comes, however, this bucket can be left untouched until stocks rebound.

Christine Benz, director of personal finance for Morningstar, examined the impact of the market tumult on a prototypical bucket strategy in late March. Her conclusion: The third bucket made up of stocks was awful, but that was to be expected. The second bucket of bonds, which are supposed to be relatively safe, had been hit with some worrisome losses.

But investors were pacified by their cash, Benz said. Now is the bucket portfolios time to shine. Its giving people comfort, she said, and keeping people from bailing out of deep losses on the riskier stock investments they will need over time.

Benz contrasts this volatile period with times when stocks are steadily climbing. During long rising markets, Benz said, investors look at stock gains and question why they should keep two years of cash out of stocks and bonds. Some studies have questioned the strategy, too, because sizable cash stashes can deprive retirees of the growth they need to make portfolios last for 20 or 30 years.

Whats more, bonds have provided meager income in recent years and havent always performed as expected during recent downturns. In 2018, bonds were a disappointment and in March, safe Treasuries fell along with stocks at a certain point although they have been cushioning stock losses recently.

The long-held belief that bonds give you a hedge against a fall in stocks is not always true, said Patrick Leary, head of trading for InCapital.

While the bucket approach is used by many financial planners, the design of the buckets varies. Some financial planners in the first bucket want cash to last three years in case a long bear market occurs. Others are satisfied with one year. Advisors differ on investment choices, too: Some stick to federally insured savings accounts and certificates of deposit for cash, while some take on a little more risk with money-market funds and short-term bond funds.

We really are feeling fortunate.

In the second bucket, bonds and bond funds are key because they replenish cash as retirees spend the money they originally had stashed away in bucket one. But there is no universal prescription. Advisors usually pick a mixture of bond types, but some lean toward safe U.S. Treasury bonds and top-quality corporates, while others try to boost income with larger exposures to riskier corporate bonds and small allocations of dividend-paying stocks.

This second bucket has been a particular thorn in recent years for many financial planners, who say they have been struggling to hold relatively safe bonds that will provide enough income to replenish the cash retirees need. Ten-year Treasuries, for instance, were recently yielding around 0.70%, compared with 1.6% early this year.

Yet higher-yielding bondseverything from corporate bonds, to floating rate bank loans, mortgages and municipal bondshave been dicey as the coronavirus crisis has pummeled the economy. For example, the iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD), lost 21% between March 6 and March 19.

Meanwhile, financial planners say they are sticking with well-diversified portfolios and the security their clients have from large amounts of cash to ride out the coronavirus lockdown.

Most people have 10 or more years to ride out the storm, and during that time money comes to them virtually every month, said Marc Hadley, the Lancasters financial planner.

If this crisis goes on long enough, though, Long Island financial planner Larry Heller said he might need to suggest some clients reduce their spending. That happened in the financial crisis as the market fell 57% and people panicked and demanded an escape from stocks.

Yet retirees appear positioned well and no one has asked him to sell stocks, Heller says. They get a check every month so they dont worry, he said. They can sleep.

Write to us at retirement@barrons.com

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This Retirement Strategy Worked Like a Charm When the Stock Market Crashed. Heres Why. - Barron's

IRON MOUNTAIN, Mich. (WLUC) - The IRS says tens of millions Americans will get their coronavirus stimulus checks deposited in their bank accounts.

But for many, financial struggles will continue during the COVID-19 outbreak. As thousands of people aren't working right now, and possibly still waiting for unemployment benefits, finances can be tough, but there is still time.

"Stay on that roller coaster, to get to the final end because time is on your hand at this point, said Stephanie Nocerini, a LPL Financial Advisor.

Thats why financial planner Stephanie Nocerini also recommends to have 3 separate 'pots of money.

"Your first pot of money is the money used to pay your regular bills, she said.

She says the second is your savings account. With everything so uncertain during this time, Nocerini, says saving can be the best thing.

"You need to feel comfortable with the amount of savings that you have. Now, one person's savings account may not be the limit that somebody else's, said Nocerini.

The third pot of money, is the money you can put into retirement, or long-term.

"A contingency fund, where you can maybe invest that money, and know that it could lose value but it could gain value, and that's kind of the money you let time take care of that money, she said.

With everything uncertain, Nocerini wants to remind us, the money market will always go up and down.

"History has shown that this happens there are pullbacks, there are recessions, and there are times in the market where things have to re-balance."

And with stimulus checks coming, she says those may help.

"Some people are going to get this stimulus check, and they are going to have to use their money to pay their rent, pay their mortgage, said Nocerini.

She says if you are set with your bills, to save that money, until the market opens again.

"History has shown that it may take time, to do that, but it has always come back stronger after something like this happens, said Nocerini.

For more tips, visit https://banknib.com/lpl-financial-2/.

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Bills, savings and retirement: Having three 'pots' of money can help in tough times - UpperMichigansSource.com

Former New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski might not be done just yet.

Though Gronkowski retired and didnt play last season, he is still leaving the door open for a return to the NFL. So could he join his former quarterback, Tom Brady, in Tampa Bay?

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Gronkowski will be 31 years old when next season opens. Brady, of course, just left the Patriots for the Buccaneers in free agency.

Heres TMZ with more on the latest with Gronkowski:

Just call Rob Gronkowski the pancake man ... 'cause hes flipping AGAIN on retirement talk -- this time saying hes not totally done with football after all!!! The NFLs greatest-ever tight end has been in a tug-o-war almost since the day he quit the NFL in 2019 ... going back and forth on whether or not hes officially done.

The latest? Gronk told Andy Cohen this week on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen that a reunion with Tom Brady in Tampa Bay aint totally out of the question.

Im feeling good right now, the Patriots legend said. Im happy where Im at. You just never know, man. You just never know. You never know. Im not totally done.

Gronk says the only thing thats holding him back is a passion for the game ... adding, I like to stay in shape, but Ive gotta get that feeling back.

Rob retired in March 2019 ... and has said injuries -- including roughly 20 concussions -- played a big role in him calling it a career at the age of 29.

Gronkowski appeared on Cohens show to promote Survive & Thrive: COVID-19 Celebrity Challenge, which will be live streamed on the Facebook channel of the Arthritis Foundation on Wednesday at 8 p.m.

During the event, Gronkowski and other celebrities including Hall of Fame linebacker Brian Urlacher will face off in various physical and personal challenges that provide an authentic peek into the lives of celebrities as they adjust to a life in isolation.

Free to watch, the event will include both entertaining and educational culinary, athletic, and business challenges, along with challenges for the viewers with a chance to win special prizes for those who donate to the Arthritis Foundation.

Heres video of Gronkowskis interview with Cohen:

Get Giants text messages from reporters: Cut through the clutter of social media and text directly with the Giants beat writers. Plus, exclusive news and analysis every day. Sign up now for a free trial.

NFL analyst Darryl Slater may be reached at dslater@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DarrylSlater.

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NFL rumors: Will Patriots Rob Gronkowski come out of retirement to join Tom Brady on Buccaneers? (VIDEO) - NJ.com

Q. I was going to start withdrawing from my retirement savings after I turn 70 on June 15, 2020, but heard that the required age for withdrawals is now 72. I have $1,234 per month from Social Security. Should I let the retirement money grow?

Retired

A. Youre correct about the change in the age when you have to take Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) from your retirement accounts.

The SECURE Act, which stands for Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act, was enacted at the end of 2019.

It changed the date at which distributions must be taken from retirement accounts to age 72 from age 70 , said Claudia Mott, a certified financial planner with Epona Financial Solutions in Basking Ridge.

This includes traditional and rollover IRAs, 401(k)s, 403(b)s and 457 plans.

The withdrawals made from these accounts are typically considered taxable income and will be reported as such on your personal income tax return, she said. Roth IRAs do not have minimum age distribution requirements.

Mott said the decision about whether to take distributions now or delay until you reach age 72 depends in large part on whether you need the money now or can afford to hold off.

If you have income from sources other than Social Security and are able to meet your living expense needs comfortably, then the decision to wait may make sense, she said. Depending on how the account is invested, the additional time may enable the value to increase, especially in light of the decline the stock market has experienced thus far in 2020.

At age 72, a required distribution will be calculated based on the previous year-end value of the account, Mott said, but if you need of additional income, you can take any amount you wish from the account now bearing in mind that taxes should be withheld from the distribution to avoid an unwelcome tax bill when you file for 2020.

When you reach age 72, youll have to take at least the RMD.

Another factor to consider is how these distributions will impact your overall income picture as this could alter that amount you must pay for Medicare as well as your income tax bracket, Mott said.

She said Medicare uses a two-year look back to determine whether an additional premium will be paid by each individual and couple.

For 2020, the individual income limit based on 2018 tax data that will avoid an IRMAA Income Related Monthly Adjustment Amount is $87,000 and $174,000 for a married couple filing jointly, Mott said. Your tax professional should be able to provide guidance on the right amount of tax to withhold on your retirement account distributions, how the income will affect your tax rates and what your overall income picture may look like for future Medicare planning purposes.

Email your questions to Ask@NJMoneyHelp.com.

Karin Price Mueller writes the Bamboozled column for NJ Advance Media and is the founder of NJMoneyHelp.com. Follow NJMoneyHelp on Twitter @NJMoneyHelp. Find NJMoneyHelp on Facebook. Sign up for NJMoneyHelp.coms weekly e-newsletter.

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Should I wait before taking money from my retirement account? - NJ.com

ByHamish Preston,Associate Director, U.S. Equity Indices, Indexology Blog

One of the main risks for retirees is not having enoughinflation-adjustedincomein retirement to support their desired standard of living. The S&P STRIDE (S&P Shift to Retirement Income and Decumulation) Indices attempt to solve this problem byfocusing explicitly on reducing the volatility of income rather than reducing the volatility of returns.

In order to help market participants track the cost of a stream of inflation-adjusted retirement income, we recently published our firstCost of Retirement Income dashboard. (You can sign up for future editionshere.) The dashboard uses the same cost of retirement income measure as our STRIDE indices:the present value of an inflation-adjusted stream of cash flows equal to $1 per year, starting at various retirement dates (vintages) and ending 25 years later.

Exhibit 1 shows that the cost of retirement income increased for all but two S&P STRIDE vintages in the last three months. For example, the cost of 25 years of retirement income beginning in January 2025 increased from $23.05 to $24.54 in Q1 2020. Significant market drawdowns in Q1 2020, coupled with declines in U.S. Treasury yields, presented severe challenges for market participants looking to secure a desired level of inflation-adjusted retirement income.Pre-retirees were particularly impacted given the greater sensitivity of longer-dated vintages to real interest rates, which declined as the U.S. Federal Reserve cut its policy rate in response to the spread of COVID-19.

The dashboard also tracks the hypothetical distributions from post-retirement vintages of the S&P STRIDE indices (see Exhibit 2). For example, the annualized proportion of last months hypothetical distributions in terms of decumulation points to the indexs beginning value was 3.26%. Notably, the decumulation rate is higher than the S&P 500s 2.34% indicated dividend yield.

Finally, the dashboard reminds us that not all retirement strategies have an explicit focus on providing inflation-adjusted retirement income. Exhibit 3 shows that nearer-dated S&P STRIDE indices had significantly higher allocations to Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) than the consensus asset mix embodied in the S&P Target Date Indices. For example, the S&P STRIDE 2020 indexs TIPS allocation (77.2%) was 14 times higher than the S&P Target Date 2020 index (5.5%) at the end of March 2020. This is a result of the S&P STRIDE indices focus on income rather than return volatility, and it impacts asset allocations across the traditional glidepath approach.

For more information, please see theS&P STRIDE Index Series Methodologyand theS&P STRIDE Supplemental Data Guide.

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Tracking The Cost of Retirement Income - ETF Trends

Announced today, Austrian Airlines is to retire half of its Boeing 767 fleet as it deals with its post-pandemic future. The Lufthansa Group airline has been working out how to return from a complete grounding of scheduled services.

Earlier in April, we reported that the CEO of Austrian Airlines didnt think that passenger demand would return to normal until 2023 at the earliest. As a result, the airline has been working out how its post-pandemic future will look. Today, the airline revealed that aircraft would be retired to deal with the crisis. Lufthansa has already committed to retiring some of its aircraft.

To cope with the projected drop in demand, Austrian Airlines will be retiring half of its Boeing 767 fleet. Austrian Airlines is the only Lufthansa Group airline to operate the Boeing 767 still. The airline operates six such aircraft. Some of these are among the oldest aircraft in the entire Lufthansa group. Only 14 Lufthansa A320 aircraft are more aged than Austrians oldest 767s.

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Austrian is to retire three 767 jets. These are:

The retirements will leave Austrian with just three remaining Boeing 767s, according to Planespotters. These are:

As a result of the retirement, the average age of Austrians Boeing 767 fleet will drop from 24.2 years to 20.5 years old. Moreover, the average age of the airlines entire fleet will drop to 14.6 years.

By retiring aircraft, Austrian Airlines will be cutting its capacity by around 20%. Several smaller aircraft will also be withdrawn. The retirement will encompass the airlines entire fleet of seven Airbus A319 aircraft. Additionally, 18 Dash turboprops will be retired early.

The airline predicts that between 25% and 50% of its demand will be lost this year. It expects that traffic will have recovered to 75% of the pre-pandemic level by the end of next year. Demand will then, hopefully, increase to 100% by the end of 2023.

As such, during 2022, the airline expects to be operating with 60 aircraft, just three-quarters of its pre-crisis fleet. However, because the focus is on retiring smaller aircraft, only 20% of the airlines capacity will have been withdrawn. The airlines CCO, Andreas Otto, mentioned that Austrian will will part with the oldest and smallest aircraft for ecological reasons.

Austrian Airlines isnt the only airline in the Lufthansa group to be parting with aircraft. Its parent airline Lufthansa has already announced the immediate retirement of 18 aircraft. The figure includes seven Airbus A340-600s, six Airbus A380s, and five Boeing 747-400s. The airlines retired A340s are being sent to an aircraft graveyard in Teruel.

Will you miss Austrians retired aircraft? Let us know what you think and why in the comments!

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Austrian Airlines To Retire Half Of Its Boeing 767 Fleet - Simple Flying

Its been a rough couple of months for all investors, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -2.31% and S&P 500 SPX, -2.77% and Nasdaq Composite COMP, -3.14% indexes plunged more than 30% from their all-time highs before bouncing back nicely through last week. (They sold off again Monday, but were higher midday Tuesday.)

And no one was hurt more than the 73 million baby boomers, the generation born between 1946 and 1964, nearly half of whom already are retired, while millions more are right on the cusp. By some measures, Gen Xers, those born between 1964 and 1980, are in even worse shape. For both this marks the third wealth-destroying major bear market in the past 20 years, and some of us think we havent hit bottom yet.

One reason for this is that target-date retirement funds, which have become the retirement savings and investing vehicle of choice for many boomers and Gen Xers, have been hit hard in the recent bear market. Typically, these funds decrease their allocation to stocks as the funds get closer to the retirement target date. But some of the most popular funds that have a retirement target date of 2020 hold 50% or more of their assets in stocks.

Target-date funds now account for $1.8 trillion in assets, according to Sway Research, predominantly in workplace defined-contribution, or 401(k) plans. Vanguard Group is the leader with 37% of the market, while Fidelity and T. Rowe Price follow with around 12%-13% each. That means almost two of every three dollars in target-date funds are managed by the Big Three.

From Feb. 20 through March 20, which coincided with almost all of the recent market selloff, target-date 2020 funds from Fidelity FFFDX, -0.60%, Vanguard VTWNX, -0.78% and T. Rowe Price TRRBX, -0.94% lost 19%-22% of their value, according to Morningstar Inc. (After the recent rally, theyre 11%-14% off their highs.)

Vanguard had the lowest equity allocation50% domestic and international stockswhile T. Rowe Prices 2020 target fund had 58% in equities. These firms 2025 target funds had 59%-64% of their holdings in equities, according to the firms websites.

The rationale, of course, is that with increasing life expectancy, investors need to hold more stock to generate the growth theyll need over long retirements to keep from running out of money. But 50% in stocks has proven too risky for people who are retiring now, and investors should hold less stock or keep two to three years of retirement living expenses in cash as insurance. (The right kind of annuity can help, too.)

Americans in general have roughly 50% of their individual retirement accounts (IRAs) in equities, although the equity percentage of the balanced funds they own raises that past 55%. Stock holdings, however, drop when people turn 60, according to a study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), and hover between the high 40s and mid-50s for the rest of their lives.

Of course, just because everybodys doing it doesnt make it right. Ronald J. Surz, president of Target Date Solutions and of its parent company, PPCA, Inc., based in San Clemente, Calif., has long railed against the dominant industry practice of having 50% or more in stocks at the retirement target date. He believes that even five years before they retire, investors enter the risky zone, where they have to pay more attention to preserving than accumulating capital. Thats because sequence of returns riskdrawing down diminished retirement funds in the midst of a bear marketcan force retirees to tighten their belts way more than they expected.

So, weve got a lot of people in the risk zone, more than we ever had before, most of whom I think dont really realize that theyre taking more risks than they can afford, Surz told me in a telephone interview.

Instead, Surz recommends a different glide path to retirement and beyond, based on research by Wade D. Pfau and Michael Kitces, which found that reducing equity exposure to 20%-40% at retirement, then building it back up as retirement proceeds would maximize their level of sustainable retirement income, and/orreduce the potential magnitude of any shortfalls in adverse scenarios.

Surzs proprietary SMART Target Date Fund index, based on those concepts, lost only 2% in the selloff, although it did lag in the latter years of the recent long bull market. John Hancock also has some more conservative target-date funds which lost at least 5 percentage points less than Vanguard, Fidelity and T. Rowe Prices 2020 funds in the recent selloff. But as Surz points out, investors dont choose their target funds; theyre stuck with the 401(k) provider their employers pick for themand thats mostly the Big Three.

Target-date funds have a lot going for them, and theyre certainly better than the flawed judgment of individual investorsexcept when they get to retirement itself. Thats why I think the Big Three need to do a big rethink. Theres got to be a better way.

Howard R. Gold is a MarketWatch columnist. He owns target-date funds from Vanguard and Fidelity. Follow him on Twitter @howardrgold.

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Target-date funds are failing those on the cusp of retirement - MarketWatch

Phil Drake, Great Falls Tribune Published 10:49 a.m. MT April 21, 2020

HELENA Eric Feaver, longtime employee labor leader, has announced his retirement and Amanda Curtis, a former state lawmaker and Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate,will replace him as president, union officials said Tuesday.

Feaver announced his decision over the weekend at the third annual conference of the Montana Federation of Public Employees (MFPE) which was held online Friday and Saturday due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The MFPE is Montanas largest union with 23,000 members.

Eric Feaver(Photo: Courtesy Montana MEA-MFT)

Curtis, who had served as second vice president, was elected as MFPEs next president. First Vice President Bill Dwyer was re-elected, current MFPE Treasurer Rich Aarstad was elected second vice president, and Michelle Wheat was elected MFPE treasurer. They will take office June 15.

Feaver was a fixture at the state Capitol, often attending legislative meetings and sessions and letting lawmakers know what the union thought of proposals and decisions. He often found himself at odds with elected officials.

We are unique, we are diverse.In the Montana context, we are huge and we have a huge responsibility to see that the labor movement in this state goes forward, Feaver said, according to a news release. If we fail or if we are killed by the political processes by the things that have occurred in states like Iowa and Wisconsin and Michigan, the labor movement will die in Montana. It rests on our shoulders to bear the burden of the labor movement and to defend it.

The conference drew nearly 500 member leaders, a record number of attendees, organizers said. Members also voted on constitutional amendmentsand approved the years budget.

Amanda Curtis(Photo: STATE OF MONTANA)

Feaver became president of the Montana Education Association (MEA) in 1984 and guided its throughits merger with the Montana Federation of Teachers (MFT) in 2000, according to a news release.He was elected president of the newly formed MEA-MFT.

Then, in 2018, Feaver oversaw the merger of MEA-MFT with the MPEAto form the Montana Federation of Public Employees (MFPE).

Feaver discussed the merger with the Tribune in 2018.

I think numbers matter. I would like to be a union of this size than not, he said.Having a large number of employees paying dues for a union is a powerful statement, and we intend to show that.

One of the best things about my job is that there is always a reason to come to work, he said in that interview. It keeps the adrenaline pumping. Every now and then, when we lose, it makes us all the more anxious to win the next time.

Curtis is a Butte educator, former state legislator and nominee for U.S. Senate.

This union has a 138-year history and were going to continue for another 138 years and centuries after that regardless of whos in governance, she told MFPE delegates. Were going to keep protecting pensions, bargaining better pay, benefits, and working conditions, and getting our members elected to office.

Members include K-12 public school teachers and support staff; state, countyand municipal employees; higher education faculty and support staff; Head Start employeesand health care personnel.

Reporter Phil Drake is our eye on the state capitol. For tips, suggestions or comment, he can be reached at 406-231-9021 or pdrake@greatfallstribune.com.

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Feaver to retire from state's largest union, Curtis to take reins - Great Falls Tribune

Carveth Care Centre personal support workers Cherry Reyes and Cheryl Reston wear personal protective equipment before supporting residents at the Gananoque facility. (Supplied Photo) Submitted / Submitted Photo

KINGSTON With high rates of COVID-19 and subsequent deaths at retirement homes in Almonte, Bobcaygeon and other areas in the province, Kingston-area retirement and long-term care homes have pretty well managed to keep the coronavirus at bay.

According to Public Health Ontario, as of Sunday afternoon there were 114 outbreaks in Ontarios long-term care homes and 249 deaths among residents or patients at those homes. After not having any cases in the Kingston area for the past couple of weeks, Providence Manor in Kingston reported one new case on Monday.

Brett Gibson, the co-owner of Gibson Family Healthcare with his sister Lisa Burgess, said in an interview that at their two homes Carveth Care Centre in Gananoque and Helen Henderson Care Centre in Amherstview its mostly good preparation, but also a little bit of luck, that is keeping COVID-19 out.

Gibson, also the mens hockey coach for the Queens Gaels, sees similarities between coaching hockey and managing the coronavirus.

I think with coaching, this role is quite similar. My sister and I have put plans in place and you plan for the worst and hope for the best, and I think the plans that weve done have allowed our front-line staff to perform on demand, because weve communicated to them right from the beginning, he said.

From an early start date, theyve been very diligent, and with an early start date, theyve been sticking with the plan. Its very similar to coaching: You put plans in place and you hope your players stick to those plans, and the preparation is whats going to lead to the performance.

Carveth has 104 residents in its long-term care home and 38 in its retirement home, while Helen Henderson has 104 in its long-term care section and 65 in its retirement home.

Some of the mitigation controls at both facilities include one entrance in and out of the building, with no outside visitors. Everyone wears surgical masks inside the buildings, social distancing is being practised, and people visiting loved ones inside can no longer go up close to the window of their room. Theres now a painted line on the grass two metres away from the building.

Staff member Angela Ballantyne, a personal support worker at the Carveth Care Centre in Gananoque, checks on a resident in an undated photo. (Supplied Photo) Submitted / Submitted Photo

Our dining rooms are now spread out at both nursing homes, so theyre six feet apart when our residents are eating, and our recreation programs have gone down to a bare minimum, Gibson said.

Gibson knows the facilities he and his sister manage have been lucky with their mitigation techniques while some other homes have not.

There is luck involved. This virus is a deadly virus and I dont think anyone intentionally wanted to infect any of these homes, he said. There also is a lot of preparation, and I think that has a lot to do with the successes. You obviously have to have luck, but you can put a lot of measures in place to make sure youve earned that luck.

I think these (other) homes were prepared and they got unlucky some of them.

Gibson said he and his sister keep good lines of communication with residents and family members. Those measures include regular email updates.

They have a line where its directly coming from the top, Gibson said.

Dr. Ashok Chadha, the general manager and director of care at the Windsor Retirement Residence in Amherstview, said COVID-19 did not enter the facility due to the early lockdown and other safety protocols he put in place well before the government orders to do so came in mid-March.

We were the first in doing basically everything, Dr. Chadha said. We were way ahead of the authorities and government.

Chadha said he started educating residents of the 81-unit facility about COVID-19 in January.

They were well prepared. Were the first ones to talk about lockdown and the first ones to bring in screening guidelines and stayed ahead of things before they went widespread in the province, he said.

Chadha said staff members also had to stop working at other long-term care homes early in the outbreak to prevent the spread of the virus. He also banned outside agencies and contractors from coming into the Windsor.

Mitigation protocols include wearing masks throughout the facility and social distancing. Residents are allowed to walk outside in the private, fenced grounds as long as family members dont come on the property.

Chadha was also concerned about the residents anxiety and mental health during the new quarantine measures.

We were also very proactive in taking steps to talk to them more and give them breathing exercises, he said. Our residents are just not limited to stretching their arms on the balcony. They can go out and walk.

If this thing continues for a month or another two months, its going to take its toll on their mental health.

Despite the lockdown, residents have been able to keep up their recreational activities as long as social distancing is respected.

Our ultimate goal is their safety and well-being, Chadha said.

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Original post:
Local retirement homes determined to keep COVID-19 out of facilities - The Kingston Whig-Standard