Hello Everyone!

Welcome to our latest updates at Kamloops Seniors Village! We first to wish everyone a Happy Easter this weekend! A lot has happened this past week! First, the announcement of changes to the visiting parameters, second, we had our third winter with high winds and blowing snow, and lastly, our KSV Chicks hatched yesterday on March 31!

With current Covid 19 numbers, some restrictions will remain in effect for our tenants, residents and families.  We will be continuing to follow the direction of our provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, and our general NO VISITOR policy remains in place.

However, Dr. Bonnie Henry’s recent announcement has new visitation guidelines in effect as of April 1, 2021. The team at Kamloops Seniors Village (KSV) is aligning with new parameters set out by the Provincial Health Officer and the Interior Health Authority (IHA):

• All residents will be allowed regular, frequent, and routine opportunities for social visitation
• Visits must allow for a minimum of 60 minutes (they still must be booked in advance). This means visits cannot be scheduled less than one hour before the closing of visiting hours. If visiting hours end at 8pm, the last booking available will be 7pm.
• We would ask that during the initial stage of this re-opening, you consider other families and residents trying to book visits as well and limit the on-site visits to one per week.
• Number of visits per day to the community will be designed to continue to meet operational health and safety requirements in keeping with the sanitization and screening guidelines.
• We encourage families to be considerate about the duration to allow capacity for more residents to have visits in the community
• Visits will be scheduled in one hour blocks
• Visitors are permitted to bring pets. If possible we do suggest these to be outside visits for the enjoyment of both the resident as well as the pet.
• The “single designated social visitor” restriction will be removed, allowing additional family and friends to visit
• The number of visitors will be expanded, allowing up to two visitors, plus a child (defined as 18 or younger) at any one time;
• Visits will be supported in the resident’s room, a designated visiting space, or on outings with no requirement for isolation afterwards. On outings, residents will be offered a mask before exiting
• Visitors will be asked only to visit with one resident at a time, and to limit their group activities.
• Physical contact—including hugging—will be allowed, provided visitors wear a mask and follow proper infection control procedures (e.g. hand hygiene and cough etiquette)

• Removing physical distancing requirements between residents
• Resuming resident communal dining and small group social or recreational activities for residents, within a facility unit or floor
• Removing requirement for 14-day isolation for admissions into the facility, and providing immunizations if needed

We ask families and residents to keep in mind the following requirements:

• Social visitation will continue to require advanced booking, screening of visitors, use of medical masks, and practicing frequent hand hygiene. A new mask and hand sanitizer will be provided at the entrance and visitors must don a mask and perform hand hygiene.
• Social visitation will be suspended during outbreaks and enhanced monitoring periods
• Essential and compassionate visitation remains in place and any resident who requires this is supported
• Strict adherence to Infection Prevention & Control practices are essential. We encourage you to sanitize your hands, belongings, and gathering spaces frequently
• Visitors are asked to stay home if they are feeling unwell. Please don’t come if you’re not feeling well
• Regular screening of residents, visitors and staff for signs of illness will continue to be performed. If there are any concerns in regards to COVID-19 symptoms the visitor may not be permitted.
• Once the visitor is in a resident space they MUST keep their mask on at all times while in the building throughout the entirety of their visit and are asked to frequently perform hand hygiene
• Please consider limiting your visits to one care home per day to ensure limited cross contamination
• The Medical Health Order further states to stay in your home community & limit travel for medical and essential travel only
• As there will be a significantly higher amount of people in our building, we ask that you arrive no earlier than 5 minutes prior to your visit.
• For those on Complex Care, if you would like to take your loved one out of the building we request a minimum of 2 hours’ notice to ensure that your loved one is set up for success for their outing. Please contact the nurse on your loved one’s floor to arrange the outing.
• Escorts to and from visits are still required. If you would like to leave prior to the end of your 60 minute visit we will provide you with contact information upon arrival to connect with the screeners to ensure you have an escort out of the building.
• Visits will not be permitted in common spaces such as the dining room, Bistro, on the back deck or in any other common resident spaces.

Protecting our communities and their loved ones is our top priority at Kamloops Seniors Village.  The benefits of this social interaction are said to currently outweigh the risks of COVID-19 and we are thrilled to be able to see families together again. Please understand there are still risks associated with this and our guidelines and protocols are in place to do all we can to keep our community safe. We ask families and friends to practice safety and caution in order to keep all of our residents and team members safe and healthy during this time.

Lastly, we encourage everyone to keep within the provincial guidelines in your daily lives. As restrictions ease, your loved ones safety is also in your hands. Performing hand hygiene, proper PPE, self-monitoring for symptoms and enhanced sanitization in your day to day is now more important than ever.

A few scheduling reminders:

• The April 2021 Visit Schedule is already underway. Visits can still be scheduled every 7-10 days depending on availability. Email is the preferred method for these reservations. Please submit visitor requests to Carollyn Anderson at canderson@retirementconcepts.com.
• We must know 48 hours prior to the scheduled visit, the names of all persons who will be attending that visit. We ask that you contact Carollyn to confirm this information.
• The monthly schedule opens on the 15^th of each month for the following month. Email Carollyn with requested date(s) for visitation which are filled on a ‘first come, first served’ basis and allow 72 hours for reply. A waitlist will be set up for cancellations.
• At this time, time slots will be booked in one hour time slots to operationally support the safe visit parameters.
• Should you need to cancel your visit, please let us know, as we have a waitlist for most dates
• We ask that our resident/tenant families give your very best effort in reducing community outings 14 days prior to your scheduled visit and be mindful & aware of your immediate bubble to keep your loved ones safe
• New Screening Process: There is a new form to be completed at the time of every visit. I have attached a copy of the form should you have a printer and would like to print out a copy and prefill your specific information this will help speed up your screening process.  If you do not have a printer we will gladly provide a copy for you at the door.
  • We will check and document your temperature upon arrival. The reason for the additional information is due to contact tracing now that we have more onsite visitors.  Every individual visiting, aside from young children must complete the screening questionnaire.  Small children can be added to one of the adult’s forms.

You, as family members play a key role in the continuing success of this Visitation Plan.  As we all work together to closely follow Health Authority protocols, should any family member not adhere to the safety parameters that we have in place, they will be asked to leave.

With the warming weather, Window Visits are a great alternative for larger family visits. Window Visits are continuing with the same following guidelines:

1. Please plan visits with a limit of up to 6 people (Window Visits only)
2. No open windows, please use telephones
3. For all residents in Complex Care, window visits can still be safely scheduled and supported through the care staff. Contact your loved one’s nurse to facilitate the window visit.

Recreation Program

Our Annual “Hatch a Chicken” Eggs have now hatched and we are transitioning them out of the incubator to their bedding and feed!  Next week, we will take them on field trips to our Complex Care neighborhoods so our residents can enjoy them!

Throughout the holiday weekend, our tenants and residents will be enjoying several activities. Easter Church services will streamed for all to enjoy, our culinary team will be serving a traditional ham Easter Sunday dinner with Hot Cross buns for dessert, and Easter Socials with tea and carrot cake will be enjoyed on Easter Monday. Plus everyone will receive a Carrot shaped goody bag with treats to enjoy!

We are continuing to provide scheduled virtual visits for residents & tenants. Please reach out to Erica Buckingham, Recreation Manager by e-mail at ebuckingham@retirementconcepts.com or call 250.571.2958 to set up a time via Skype or FaceTime. We will be happy to confirm a date and time to connect you with your loved-one.

Deliveries and Drop-offs:

All deliveries will continue to be received at the front desk and will be sanitized, bagged and we will call the tenants &/or resident care staff to come and pick up their items right away.  Please ensure you label all items with a name and room number to ensure all packages are received as quickly as possible.

For floral deliveries, please ensure there are no LILIES in the arrangement for allergy precautions.

Reminders for your loved one to Stay Safe:

Please help us by reminding each resident daily of the following four items:

1. Practice social/physical distancing (6 feet apart) when required
2. Perform proper Hand Hygiene (Wash hands frequently for 20 seconds with the alcohol-based sanitizer or soap and hot water) 20 seconds or greater is so important.
3. Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth
4. If exhibiting any symptoms (fever, cough and difficulty breathing) please alert staff immediately.

 We ask that families share this information with all parties you believe will be in contact with your loved one. We have all worked so hard together over the last year to keep COVID out of our building. Please remain diligent in your current practice to help keep our home a safe place.

Thank you all for your support and patience as we roll out this new visitation process.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out.