“The moment we have all been waiting for has finally arrived! Each of us at USS is happy to welcome our members back to our downtown center,” said Maureen Fagans, CEO of United Senior Services. “The new CDC guidance for fully vaccinated Americans is a welcome relief and signals that the safety precautions we have all lived with for so long are making a difference in the spread of the coronavirus.”
USS has decided to reopen as a result of the Ohio Department of Health orders being lifted as well as the relaxing of CDC guidance for those vaccinated, the release stated.
“Our priorities as we reopen are staff safety, client safety, and member safety. We are working hard to restart as many of our regularly scheduled activities as quickly as we can while providing a welcoming, safe environment for all,” Fagans said.
When the center reopens, they will require masks for all and follow the most recent CDC guidelines. Other policies and requirements can be viewed on the center’s website.
Drop-in activities will be the first to be added back to the schedule when the center reopens, including pickleball, chair volleyball, billiards and card groups, the release stated. The lap pool and fitness rooms will also be available, but instructor-led classes, lunch-and-learns and other activities will be added later this summer.
Fagans said all new and returning members should fill out the necessary forms for 2021 membership as soon as possible. She said the fee for returning members has been waived and is $15 for new members.
The Springfield location will be the first of the centers to reopen from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.
The center, which has been closed for in-person services since March 2020 due to the coronavirus, continued to provide essential services such as Meals on Wheels, transportation and in-home caregiving throughout the pandemic.
“Throughout this difficult time, the USS commitment and mission to serve older adults has not wavered. Our dedicated staff have been providing meals and rides and visiting homebound seniors in Clark County all along,” Fagans said. “Now it is finally time to welcome our members back to our center, and we could not be more excited for this first step in returning to normal routines!”
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