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Daughters' campus opens cautiously

(7/29) The Daughters of Charity campus facilities have slowly begun to re-open. George Brenton, Campus Coordinator and Director of Facilities, said "like most of the country, we spent part of March and into April closed down, (but that) for the most part (included) just our business offices and our archives as well as the Shrine of Elizabeth Ann Seton."

The campus consists of several facilities, including: the Daughters of Charity Ministries, which houses retired and active sisters; St. Catherine’s, which offers lay and skilled nursing and rehabilitative care and the Seton Shrine. Combined, the complex employs about 320 workers, including nurses, nurse assistants, dietary staff, maintenance, housekeeping, clerical, administrative, and care givers.

The facility reopening process has been in accordance with state guidelines, but out of caution, has been lagging a couple of weeks behind what the state allowed "in an abundance of caution" Brenton said, "because we do have over 150 people living in the building who are over the age of 65, so they're in the high risk category, so we want to make sure that we're doing all we can to assure their safety." None of the residents have tested positive for COVID-19 through the pandemic crisis. "Our hope is to keep it that way," Brenton added.

The campus reopening began with some administrative staff coming in, but some are working out of their homes to keep the (human) traffic down in the buildings.

The Seton Shrine began operation in June and began holding outdoor Mass for a couple of weeks and now has regular daily Mass in the Basilica. The Shrine’s museum is now opened with limited numbers allowed in, along with other precautions. Tours of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton's House have also resumed. Site visitors are also free to walk around the open grounds.

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