Kamloops Seniors Village – 2^nd Floor Complex Care Exposure Event

 February 22, 2022

As of Friday, February 18, 2022, an exposure event is in place at Kamloops Seniors Village.

We currently have seventeen (17) active resident COVID-19 cases, and eleven (11) active staff cases. The majority of the active resident cases will be off their five (5) day isolation Wednesday evening (February 23) at midnight. At this time all our residents remain in good spirits.

In response to this event, we closed ALL visitations for precautionary purposes to only the 2^nd Floor Long Term/Complex Care Birch and Cedar Groves– formerly 2B & 2C Neighbourhoods including Essential Visitors.

We heard from the Medical Health Officer, and they informed us they are not declaring us on outbreak due to our high vaccination rate and mild symptoms residents are experiencing.

Therefore, effective Thursday, February 24, 2022, we will be re-opening visitation (single designated & essential visitors) to the 2^nd Floor Birch and Cedar Grove (2B & 2C) neighbourhoods. Essential and single designated visitors of Covid positive residents will be permitted, however visitors will be required to don & doff full Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) including isolation gowns, booties, and gloves in addition to masks and eyewear.

Communication

We know these times create concern and anxiety, but we request that families restrict their calls to the neighbourhood nurses for emergencies only. With the exposure event and the amount of residents in isolation, donning and doffing of full PPE is required for each isolated resident when doing care. Nurses cannot answer their phones while wearing their full PPE, and thus multiple phone calls are extending the time for care of your loved ones. Should the condition of any resident change, their family will be personally notified immediately. If a matter is urgent and you can’t get a hold of the nurse, please leave a message with reception and we will forward the message to the neighbourhood.

As a result of these COVID-19 cases, we will be providing families with email updates 2x per week, unless the situation changes. Our next update will be on Thursday, February 24, 2022.

Protocols

Kamloops Seniors Village is following our existing protocols established by Interior Health, the Office of the Provincial Health Officer and the BC Center for Disease Control.

At present, all the following existing actions to mitigate contagion and infection control are in place:

• ALL Visitations are on hold for 2nd Floor Birch & Cedar Groves (2B & 2C) through and including Wednesday, February 23, 2022.
  • Designated & Essential Visitors are permitted on First Floor & Aspen Grove (2A) Complex Care Neighbourhoods, in addition to Assisted & Independent Living
• 2x daily symptom monitoring for residents, with low threshold for testing
• Enhanced cleaning and sanitizing
• End of Life/palliative visits can continue
• Residents not fully vaccinated to be on isolation
• All Staff to wear masks & eye protection while on site
• No asymptomatic testing of residents in LTC, but maintain a low threshold for testing
• Daily Check In Calls with IHA

We will continue to act upon the latest advice of BC’s Health Ministry and will adapt our operations as necessary and recommended.

 Visitor Mask & Eye Protection Mandate

 Per 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.

Eye Wear protective equipment parameters, is also implemented for Long Term/Complex Care visitors only.

 Acknowledgements

 We wish to thank families and loved ones in advance for their patience and cooperation as we manage through this event.  We also ask that all friends and family do their part to stay safe with the increase number of COVID-19 cases in our province. We will continue to keep you updated as new information is available.

Sincerely,

The KSV Team