May 25th, 2020
Hello Everyone,
We continue to appreciate all that you and your loved ones are doing to heed the precautions put in place to alleviate risk of exposure to COVID-19.
I am relieved to tell you that there are no cases of reported outbreak nor signs nor symptoms of COVID-19 in any of our residents or staff here at Summerland Seniors’ Village.
As the Province begins the transition that will see some of the rules relaxed, a gentle reminder that we continue to following the direction of our provincial Health Officer, Bonnie Henry, and access to our building has not changed.
We have removed the codes from all the doors, as we had some folks accessing the building using their loved ones’ codes to get in the building. This is why anyone coming in must use the intercom system to gain access to the building. Any outside access continues to be limited to essential services only such as groceries (AL side), mandatory medical appointments, etc. The seriousness of this illness and what this might mean for our community is not to be taken lightly.
I would also ask that folks do not pick their loved ones up for a visit, and then return them to the Community shortly afterwards. Likewise, please do not visit with your loved over the fence. By not respecting these wishes, you could be placing us all at risk. Summerland Seniors Village is complying with the order that was sent out Provincially.
The only exception to that is the Recreation door visits for LTC.
Communication
We understand that communicating during this time with your loved ones is very important. We would like to encourage face time visits, phone calls and for LTC recreation door visits. We will be reducing visits to ensure that programming is still being completed with your loved ones, as this is also essential. This may mean dropping from a face time visit and a door visit per week, to either or once per week.
Recreation
The recreation team is spending close to 75% of their time accommodating face time and door visits (LTC). It is also very important that we be able to offer activities and programs to the residents so they are busy and occupied as much as possible. Due to this, we are asking you to please consider your preference of visitation and reduce that to once per week. You can choose if this is Facetime or Door visit.
Meals
The Assisted Living Dining room will re-open as soon as we receive confirmation from Interior Health that our dining rooms may re-open with social distancing in mind. We have already staged the dining room and taped off the areas to ensure social distancing is in play. The Bistro will remain closed until further notice. We may need to look at 3 services instead of 2 to accommodate, so there may be some changes in mealtimes for your loved ones.
General store
The general store remains open, however; we are not permitting more than one person in the store at a time. The store remains well stocked and available for some treats and little necessities.
Deliveries
We ask that any deliveries come through the front door for sanitization. This is for both AL and LTC. For LTC, we are asking that only small items in single wrapping and single serving sizes are brought to LTC that may also be sanitized by wiping down. We are again reminding folks to please not leave things on the carts after 4:30 p.m.
I do understand that you are all really feeling this separation from your loved ones. The team here at SSV appreciates thank you for your patience and understanding while we hopefully safely transition to this new phase.
Stay Safe everyone,
Sincerely,
Christy Baker
General Manager