Keohane Funeral Home

Keohane Funeral Home in Phase III of the Governor’s Plan during COVID-19

July 15, 2020

The entire Keohane Funeral Home team has worked persistently to both care for families and protect the public health in the face of the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. As we have implemented the guidelines of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and created our own adaptations and initiatives, we remain steadfast in our commitment to providing safe and meaningful rituals for the families we serve.

“When faced with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Keohane Funeral Home team really proved that teamwork makes the dream work,” said Joe Reardon, Vice President for Community Development and Advance Planning. “The entire team recommitted themselves to caring for families and each other.”

Technology Brings Families Together

Technology has become the foundation upon which we have been able to build our strategy for caring for families during the pandemic. By livestreaming ceremonies, offering videoconferencing and electronic document signing we have been able to offer families safe opportunities for them to navigate the entire process and invite others to join with them even though they could not be present in person.

Keohane is pleased to offer the following initiatives to help families fully participate while
aiding in the reduction of virus transmission and social isolation:

• Remote funeral planning meetings by videoconference.

• Live streaming and recording of funeral ceremonies.

• Electronic and/or courier document processing.

• Public memorial ceremonies for those required to have private funeral ceremonies.

• Enhanced obituaries written by published authors.

• Tribute videos honoring the deceased posted on www.keohane.com.

• Active encouragement of electronic condolence messages to comfort families.
• South Shore COVID-19 Neighbor Network, a Facebook group where people can connect and support one another during the pandemic.

Keohane Funeral Home started the South Shore COVID-19 Neighbor Network as a way to connect people during the pandemic. “Our goal was to try to overcome the loneliness and isolation of the quarantine by creating a forum where people could share COVID-19 information, ways to stay busy while in quarantine and a vehicle through which people could ask for help if needed,” said Reardon.

Keeping You Safe

Since the early days of the pandemic, we have maintained strict standards and protocols for the cleanliness of our facilities and for safety practices such as the use of masks, hand sanitizer and social distancing markers. We will continue to do so as long as COVID-19 remains a threat to our community. Currently, the use of our facilities is limited to one ceremony at a time at no more than 40% of capacity with strict observance of proper social distancing measures. Our team remains diligent in the intense monitoring needed to ensure the safety of families and guests.

In response to the most recent public health directives given by local, state and federal governments, Keohane has instituted the following safeguards:

• Social Distancing will be maintained at all times. Team members will make verbal reminders of this and signage has been posted.

• Keohane has limited funeral services to one private gathering at a time at no more than 40% capacity.

• Facility hygiene will be constantly monitored to prevent virus transmission. This includes disinfection of conference rooms, equipment, workspaces and especially family gathering areas.

• Bottled water only will be offered. Use of water coolers/fountains is discontinued.
• Team members caring for a deceased person will continue to use universal precautions, will observe social distancing and will increase facility and equipment hygiene to reduce the likelihood of virus transmission with particular sensitivity to situations where a person has died at home.

As we implement Phase III of the governor’s plan, our team remains committed to caring for those who have died and, just as importantly, those who survive them. If you need additional information or wish to leave condolence messages, visit www.keohane.com. For more urgent needs or questions, call 1-800-KEOHANE.