September 16, 2021

Dear Families and Residents of Kamloops Seniors Village,

We appreciate your support as we know these are trying and uncertain times.

Our staff are working hard to keep your loved ones safe. We value our contact with families, however, a large volume of phone calls may detract from the staff’s focus on the residents’ immediate care needs. As always, any specific incidents or changes in a resident’s condition will continue to be communicated directly to the family contact, by either a staff member or by the doctor.

COMMUNICATION PLAN: 1B & 1C NEIGHBOURHOODS

 VIRTUAL VIDEO & PHONE CALL VISITS

Our recreation team continues to support resident families by assisting with Virtual Video and Phone Call Visits with your loved one.

Please contact ksv-rec@retirementconcepts.com or 250-571-1806 to book your virtual visit or phone call. Time slots are structured to minimize traffic and movement.

CARE TEAM SUPPORT

Our care team is here to support the families. Our Director of Care, Deena Aspinall and the care team will be available for scheduled phone calls to answer your questions, concerns, or to get an update on your loved one. Please email Deena at daspinall@retirementconcepts.com or call 250-571-1805 to book your care team support call.

We hope this will provide greater assurance to families and ensure you remain part of the care approach.

If you have any other questions or concerns please reach out to Cara Haughton, our Community Relations Manager at 250-574-0037, or via email, chaughton@retirementconcepts.com and she will look into your inquiry or request.

TODAY’S UPDATES

Our last positive case was on Friday, September 10, 2021, therefore, in accordance with the 28- day timeline, if there are no further positive cases in either unit, we expect the outbreak period to end in 22 days.

 As of today, Thursday, September 16th, 2021, there has been no further developments since yesterday. We have had zero (0) further resident cases, therefore, our resident cases to date remain at ten (10), with only one (1) case still active.

We have zero (0) further staff member cases. Therefore, our staff case count to date is nine (9) cases, with only three (3) cases still active.

Therefore, our home’s total number of cases to date remains at nineteen (19), with only four (4) still active. Sadly we have had one (1) COVID-19 related death.

On September 14, 2021, per the Medical Health Officer, we rapid tested all 1B & 1C Residents and all came back negative. We are also rapid testing all staff on the 1B & 1C Neighborhoods, and all completed tests have come back negative as well. The Health Authority is permitting rapid tests for residents to decrease their discomfort.

As of today, September 16, 2021, the Medical Health Officer has directed that droplet precautions (Full PPE in between resident suites) can be reduced to the standard PPE. Full Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) protocols will remain in place for only symptomatic residents moving forward.

We are still continuing with low threshold testing in the event residents are showing any minor changes from their standard baseline behavior (i.e decreased appetite, lethargic etc). You will be contacted by phone if your loved one is to be tested.

What Does The Outbreak Mean?

Per the Interior Health and Medical Health Officer, the following Control Measures are in place:

• Per Interior Health Outbreak Protocols, 1B & 1C Neighbourhood Residents are considered exposed with positive resident cases, therefore we continue to sequester residents to their room to the best of our ability. For Meals, residents are having tray service & meal assistance in their suites since the 1B & 1C dining rooms are closed as directed by the Medical Health Officer
• All group recreation programming throughout all Complex Care neighbourhoods has been proactively cancelled and transitioned to 1:1 Visits with recreation aides until directed by the Medical Health Officer
• Social Visitations continue to be cancelled on 1B & 1C Neighbourhoods
  • Social visitation continues on other remaining Complex Care neighbourhoods, as well as Independent-Assisted Living with standard screening protocols in place
  • Visitors must continue to wear their medical grade mask to/from the suite through common areas & visits are only permitted in their loved ones suites or designated spaces (RC Courtyard, Front Gazebo Garden). The Assisted-Living Bistro and Patio are currently tenant spaces only and cannot be used for visits.
  • As per the July 2021 Provincial Medical Health Order changes, ONLY fully vaccinated visitors can take their mask off while in their loved one’s suite; unvaccinated visitors must keep their mask on at all times while in the building
  • Per the Interior Health Authority, if your loved one is unvaccinated, then masks must be worn at all times regardless of the visitor’s vaccination status
• Essential Visitation (per the BC CDC Guidelines) is permitted on the 1B & 1C Neighbourhoods for ONLY Fully Vaccinated Essential Visitors. They must follow full PPE parameters (gowns/mask/face shield). There is an approval process through the MHO, who will determine if a visit is essential.
• Palliative Visitation is permitted on the 1B & 1C Neighbourhoods, but visitors must follow full PPE parameters (gowns/mask/face shield) within the neighbourhood. Unvaccinated visitors must isolate 10 days from the date of the most recent visit date.
•  Urgent Appointments for 1B & 1C Neighbourhoods can continue, but must be approved/deemed urgent by their Medical Practitioner.

• This outbreak DOES NOT affect our Independent & Assisted Living Apartment side of the building, nor the remaining 1A, 2A, 2B, & 2C Complex Care Neighbourhoods at this time. This may change upon future developments.

 OUTBREAK RESPONSE

• Our staff continue to diligently monitor our remaining residents for symptoms. All residents are continued to be screened twice daily for COVID-19 symptoms including their temperature.
• Our Clinical Team continues to have routine calls three (3) times per week with the Interior Health and Medical Health Officer to review our outbreak response plan & to communicate further developments.
• Our staff continue to wear appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in all the right places.
• We continue to be attentive to our hand hygiene practices. Hand washing, hand washing, and hand washing.
• Our housekeeping team continue to perform enhanced cleaning through the community including using our handheld electrostatic disinfection system throughout common areas & resident rooms as its able to spray larger surfaces more efficiently.

VACCINATION PASSPORTS

 Recently, the Provincial Health Officer announced a mandate requiring the new vaccination passport to access certain non-essential services. Residents and tenants will need their own cards in the event families or companions wish to take their loved one to these applicable non-essential services as listed on the BC Government Website. To register for the BC Vaccine Passport you need the Date of Birth, Personal Health Number and one of the vaccine dose dates. Since most residents received their vaccines at KSV, we have the dose information to assist in generating the passport.

Therefore, for Complex Care Residents, please reach out to  Finance Coordinator, Kristine O’Connor, koconnor@retirementconcepts.com to provide you the necessary information for generating your Resident’s passport.

For Assisted and Independent Living tenants, that received their shots at KSV, the original vaccine cards have been provided to the tenants &/or designate. Therefore, we first recommend tenants to seek family assistance to generate their own passport for printing, but if it’s not feasible, the tenants or families can reach out to Amy Suerink, Clinical Lead, at asuerink@retirementconcepts.com to assist in printing passports as well.

All updates will continue to be communicated to you in daily communications such as this, which will also be posted to the Community Update Section of our Website after it is sent out to you.  If you have other family or friends who would like to be updated, please feel free to direct them to www.retirementconcepts.com.

Deliveries

All deliveries continue to be received.  All items will be sanitized and delivered directly to the resident’s suites.

Sincerely,

The Kamloops Team