As you are aware, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is responding to an outbreak of respiratory disease caused by a novel (new) coronavirus that was first detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China and which has now been detected in many locations internationally, including cases in the United States. The virus has been named “SARS-CoV-2” and the disease it causes has been named “coronavirus disease 2019” (abbreviated “COVID-19”). The PA Department of Health report that there is a total of 14 presumed cases of COVID-19 and 2 confirmed cases for a total of 16 cases. (PA Counties impacted to date include: Bucks (2); Delaware (1); Monroe (2); Montgomery (9) Philadelphia (1) and Wayne (1).
Considering the global spread of COVID-19, we wanted to reassure you that Preferred Management Associates AAMC is taking precautions to protect the health and safety of our employees as well as the residents of the Associations that we serve.
While the situation continues to evolve and the final impact remains unknown, we have proactively reviewed our business continuity and response plans and do not anticipate any scenario that would impede our ability to continue to provide the service you have come to expect from Preferred Management. Our management team continually reviews the most current guidance from CDC, World Health Organization (WHO), and state and local authorities and will be able to make proactive adjustments to our plans.
In addition, we have established a company-wide reporting process to assist us in identifying any employee that may have emerging symptoms consistent with the flu or COVID-19 and will take immediate actions to reduce exposure to other employees and therefore the residents of the Associations that we serve.
Serving the needs of our customers is of utmost importance. As many of you may or may not be aware, Preferred Management has numerous digital initiatives. By leveraging these secure digital technologies, we have enabled employees serving critical functions to work remotely if necessary, to ensure continuous, uninterrupted service to our customers. We have also maintained consistent contact with many of the contracted vendors that may service our many communities (i.e. security contractors) who have also assured us that they too are continually monitoring the Covid-19 situation on a state by state basis and have business continuity planning measures in place that could evolve as the situation escalates or de-escalates.
If you are visiting the Preferred Management office or the onsite Office of your Association, please know we are open for business. However, we request that visitors who have had flu-like symptoms or traveled to certain locations (such as China, Iran, South Korea and Italy) in the 14 days prior to visiting these offices, please refrain from any in-person visits. Most Association matters can be addressed and resolved over the phone and through email. Assessment payments can also be made over the phone using a credit or debit card and most of our Associations have advised that they will waive the 3% credit or debit card courtesy fee during this time.
While we respect the uncertainties inherent in the coronavirus outbreak, we believe we are well prepared to respond to the possible impact with operational redundancies, customer-focused employees, and current business continuity plans and resources.
At Preferred Management Associates, we are committed to protecting the health and well-being of our employees and our customers. Please be assured that we continue to monitor new developments and guidance issued by the CDC, WHO and other regulatory agencies related to the coronavirus outbreak.
Thank you for your cooperation as we take important steps to ensure the safety of our employees and customers.
For the most current COVID-19 information please visit: https://www.health.pa.gov/Pages/default.aspx