Thanksgiving at the Iowa Veterans Home looks a lot different this year.

Commandant Timon Oujiri said there will not be a big communal meal, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, residents will not go without the traditional Thanksgiving spread – turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie and more.

“There will not be any big family gatherings this year and residents will dine in their rooms,” he said. “They can be in their doorways so they can visit with one another.”

Of course, Oujiri said people are disappointed in not being able to see their family members for the holiday. The staff is also sad to not visit with resident families again.

“The staff always have fun engaging with family members during the holidays because they get to know so many of them,” he said.

The lack of visitors is a big change for IVH, as Oujiri said staff normally feed an extra 200 to 300 people every year for Thanksgiving.

“We would get families bringing seven to nine people,” he said. “All those people was exciting in itself. Residents that did not have family coming were able to interact and see the excitement of people just enjoying one another’s company. It is always a highlight of the year.”

In lieu of visiting in person, Oujiri recommends family use phone calls, Facetime, Zoom meetings or the good, old-fashioned hand written letter.

“Those things that have been normal these past nine months,” he said. “Maybe make it two phone calls instead of one.”

The Iowa Veterans Home was placed this week on the Iowa Department of Public Health long-term outbreak list. Oujiri said two residents were tested positive on Thursday, and one of them died on Sunday. There is one resident left in the special COVID-19 unit set up on the campus. In total, Oujiri said there have been three residents who have died from COVID-19 since the pandemic began.

There have also been five staff who tested positive last week.

Since the rise of the COVID case rate in Iowa, no new procedures have been implemented at IVH. Oujiri said staff are tested twice each week and residents are tested whenever someone in their house is diagnosed.

“To date, we have had more than 10,000 tests of staff and residents,” he said. “We do more than 2,000 tests each week.”

The tests and the protocols in place have managed to keep the COVID-19 virus mostly at bay, with outbreaks occurring time-to-time, but not getting out of control.

“My staff has done a fantastic job,” Oujiri said. “They have banded together to keep COVID out. They have taken care of residents and each other, even during the spike in the community and in the schools. They also have a positive attitude about it. I could not be more proud of them.”

Contact Lana Bradstream at lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.