February 1, 2022

Dear Friends and Family Members,

Happy Lunar New Year to everyone! We wish you all a very Happy Chinese New Year – it’s the year of the Tiger! Our tenants and residents will be enjoying a Chinese inspired meal for dinner tonight and various Arts & Crafts recreation activities this week!

February is also Therapeutic Recreation Month! We acknowledge & thank our recreation team for all their efforts! Fun activity bingos for staff and tenants are available to encourage new activity participation and to broaden horizons!

February has many other celebrations and events such as Groundhog Day, the Super Bowl, Valentine’s Day, Random Acts of Kindness Day, Pink Shirt Day for Anti-Bullying and of course Family Day! We look forward to everything our team has in store this month!

Our next communication will be on Friday, February 4, 2022 unless changes occur.

Assisted-Independent Living Update

We currently only have one (1) active Assisted-Independent Living case, however, it is unrelated to the original cases as it was from a Kamloops Community exposure.

Since there was no further transmission within the home, we were able to safely re-open the Assisted & Independent Living dining room for regular meal service as of lunchtime yesterday (Monday, January 31, 2022).

We continue with our precautionary measures with tenants requiring to wear their mask outside of their room and during recreation activities, as well as practice hand hygiene.

 We currently have zero (0) active staff COVID cases and there has been Zero (0) resident cases on Complex Care.

 Protocols

All actions to mitigate contagion and infection control are in place with enhanced cleaning continuing on our high touch areas. Affected tenants are currently isolated to their suite with tray service and symptoms monitored.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to any member of the leadership team.

COMPLEX CARE 2^ND FLOOR FOYER REFRESH

 Our Complex Care 2^nd Floor Foyer will be getting a refresh next week, starting on Monday, February 7, 2022. It is a 7 day flooring project and will be conducted in three phases. The existing carpet is getting replaced with a nice laminate flooring.

We have developed a health & safety plan to minimize disruption to residents, staff and families. The plan has been submitted to Interior Health’s Licensing so they are aware of the parameters. We request that visitors follow all signage and safety precautions when walking through the affected area.

During the project, we will be utilizing a disposal bin for the construction material. It will be placed in the parking spots next to our shipping bay. Our apologies for any inconvenience this will cause, however overflow parking spots are available in our parkade.

VISITATION INFORMATION

 We still have not received any parameters in writing regarding the Designated Visitor Program. We continue to reach out and request further direction, however without any further information or documentation from the Interior Health Authority, we are continuing with ONLY Essential Visitors still at this time.

The current visitation parameters only limit who enters the building, however tenants and Complex Care residents are permitted to be picked up and taken out of the building for outings.

As of January 1, 2022, only Essential Visitors are allowed in our ENTIRE Kamloops Seniors Village Community including both Complex/Long Term Care & Assisted/Independent Living sides of the home.  The restriction will be in place until we hear new updates from Interior Health.

As per the Interior Health Authority (IHA), all visits to our homewill be restricted to “essential visits” only. In this situation, IHA has defined “essential visits” as: visits for compassionate reasons (i.e.: end of life), or visits from care providers (who assist with essential Activities of Daily Living for our residents).

• The following are the same parameters directed by the Medical Health Officer during the early parts of the pandemic, therefore any existing essential visitors are permitted. The Local IHA Medical Health Officer or the KSV Director of Care/AL Clinical Lead will determine if any new visits/visitors are essential. Examples of essential visits include, but are not limited to:
  • Visits for compassionate care, including critical illness, palliative care, hospice care, end of life, and medical assistance in dying
  • Visits paramount to the patient/client’s physical care and mental well-being, including as follows:
    • Assistance with feeding, mobility, personal care or communication;
    • Assistance by designated representatives for persons with disabilities;
    • Visits for supported decision making;
    • Existing registered volunteers providing the services described above;
    • Visits required to move belonging in/out of a resident’s room;
    • Police, correctional officers and peace officers accompanying a patient/client for security reasons.

For Assisted & Independent Living Essential Visit requests, please contact Amy Suerink, AL Clinical Manager asuerink@retirementconcepts.com. For Complex Care Essential Visit requests, contact Deena Aspinall, Director of Care, daspinall@retirementconcepts.com.

Every visitor entering Kamloops Seniors Village will have a rapid test conducted per recent mandates by the Provincial Health Officer:

• Essential visitors will continue to be screened and provide proof of vaccination
• Medical Grade masks will continue to be handed out if needed
• We have set up an area in the main lobby for testing
• Essential visitors MUST wait the 15 minutes until results are ready prior to going to your family member’s suite; therefore please come at minimum 20 minutes early to be screened, tested, and wait for your results
• Long Term Care essential visitors will be provided Eye Protection by the screeners

MASK REMINDERS

 As directed by Interior Health, all visitors (ages 5 years and up) are now required to keep their mask on at ALL times while in the building, including while in their family member’s/friend’s private room, until further notice.

DESIGNATED VISITORS

 In preparation of when designated social visits can resume, we wanted to be proactive & request that families please update Carollyn Anderson, KSV Admin Payroll Coordinator, canderson@retirementconcepts.com with your family’s member ONE designated visitor so it can be a seamless transition as possible.

For existing residents prior to July 2021, if the designated social visitor remains the same, please still send the information as we will not assume it’s the same person.

For new KSV residents/tenants/families after July 1, 2021, please email Carollyn with:

• the name, email & contact phone number of the ONE designated social visitor that can come in to see the resident/tenant
• Tenant/Resident Name + Room Number

Acknowledgements

 We wish to thank families and loved ones in advance for their patience and cooperation.  We will continue to keep you updated as new information is available.

Sincerely, The KSV Team