Dear residents, family members and friends,
We are happy to report there are no current cases of COVID-19 in our residents or staff here at Maple Ridge Seniors Village.
Changes to COVID-19 Guidelines
As most of you have done, we also watched Bonnie Henry’s recent update outlining the changes to the PHO guidelines as of July 1st. As of right now we have not received any new information from Fraser Health Authority and Public Health regarding the COVID-19 guidelines, mask-wearing and visitation restrictions in Assisted Living and Long Term Care. We continue to operate as we have done the last few months. As soon as we receive new information from Fraser Heath, we will let all of you know right away.
Heat Wave
In response to the heat wave impacting our region, we have put several measures in place as part of our emergency preparedness plan, to ensure the health and safety of our residents/tenants.
As such, we are closely working with Fraser Health leadership to address heat-related challenges and access support and resources, including relief staff and air conditioning devices.
To protect our residents/tenants, we are proactively monitoring them for signs of heat-related conditions and mitigating their risk in the following ways:
To prevent heat exhaustion among our staff, staff mask and eye protection requirements may be temporarily relaxed given the extreme heat.
The risk of heat-related dangers to older adults at this time is more imminent than COVID-19 transmission. Thus, sites not experiencing an outbreak can relax certain COVID-19 restrictions at their site, such as grouping residents/tenants in cooling spaces and using fans/air conditioning devices. The relaxation of these restrictions is possible because of the protection residents/tenants/staff have received through widespread vaccination in long-term care and assisted living sites, and the decreased risk of COVID-19 transmission in our community.
Once the heat warning has ended, we will work with Fraser Health leadership to re-evaluate our approach.
If you have any specific questions about your resident/tenant, please contact Kristine Hipol, Director of Care at 604-476-4312 or khipol@retirementconcepts.com.
Resident Outings
For families that might plan to take residents out for Canada day celebration/ over the weekend, we encourage limited sun exposure outdoors, especially between 10:00 AM and 4:00PM. If outing cannot be postponed, please encourage the donning of light- colored, loose clothing, and a hat outdoors. Please pay close attention to how you and the resident, and those around you, feel.
Watch for symptoms of heat illness, which include:
If you experience any of these symptoms during hot weather, immediately move to a cool place and drink liquids. Water is best.
WHAT’S NEW AT MRSV
Charity Committee
Our Resident Charity Committee took a bus trip last week to the Intergenerational Garden, June’s recipient of our 50/50 draw proceeds. They met with Garden Coordinator, Makenna, took a tour of the garden and gave her our donation. It was a hot day but the residents enjoyed being able to see exactly where our donation will be used.
Residential Care Family Council Meeting – 3rd Thursday of Each Month @ 7:00PM
We would like to remind everyone of the monthly Family Council Meeting for any Residential Care family members or friends. These meetings are currently being held via Zoom.
PURPOSE: A Family Council provides families and friends of residents with a way to support one another as caregivers, with a place to gather, to share information, and to address concerns in a formal and timely fashion; while being involved in helping to improve and maintain the quality of care and quality of life of the residents living within the facility.
For further information, or to receive the Zoom link, please contact Susanne Sloboda, President, at susanne.sloboda@gmail.com or Reg Manning, Vice President, at regmanning@shaw.ca.
COVID-19 GUIDELINES:
Visits
All visits and outings must be scheduled in advance through our Recreation Department, ideally 24 hours’ notice. Please make your request to mrsv-recreation@retirementconcepts.com or 604-476-4320 and they will respond in the order in which the requests are received.
Visitation times and frequencies are not limited, however, we request that families consider a reasonable limit to their visitation allowing other residents to also have visits booked.
For indoor visits we are limited to two (2) adults and one (1) child under the age of 18 per visit. Outdoor visits can be held in keeping up with provincial guidelines.
During your Visit
Please remember that all visits must take place in the resident’s room/suite, or the designated visiting area, which is our Boardroom. Visitors are not to be in lounge areas, dining rooms or in any common areas where they may have contact with another resident. If the resident is unable to stay in their room, please do your best to redirect them back into their room or move to one of our outdoor spaces.
While here for your visit you are able to take the resident for a walk or to one of our courtyards or balconies. Please ensure you maintain a social distance from others at all times. Residential Care residents must be signed out at the Nursing Station before leaving the floor.
To keep our residents and staff safe, the Screener will provide each of you a sanitizing kit when you are signing in. Please use this at the end of the visit to clean every surface that you touched during your visit.
Food and Beverage
Visitors must wear their mask at all times during the visit and therefore cannot consume food or drinks. You can absolutely bring in a treat or beverage for the resident to enjoy while you are there.
Outings
Residential Care:
If you would like to take a resident out, you must still schedule this in advance. Please give us as much notice as possible, preferably by the day prior, so we can inform the staff appropriately. Please specify if you would like the resident to be brought down to meet you at the main entrance, or if you would like to go to the resident’s room and bring them down yourself. Please note each resident has a list of people who are authorized to take them out of the community. If you are unsure if you are on this list, please confirm this with the primary contact of the resident as they would need to update our nursing team.
If the resident will be out for an extended period of time, you must arrange with the Nurse to have medications ready to take with you on the outing. To reach the Nurse please call 604-466-3053. First Floor is extension 1901, second floor is extension 1902 and third floor is extension 1903.
Independent/Assisted Living:
You do not need to schedule an outing for our IL/AL residents because they are able to meet you out front or at the door. Please arrange this directly with the resident. If you need to come up to the suite to assist the resident prior to the outing then a scheduled visit is required.
Building Access
Access to our building is either by using an issued building access card or by pressing the intercom button at the parkade gate. Please note only 1 building access card is issued per resident, on the date of admission.
Please see Reception during business hours of 9AM to 5PM if you do not yet have your building access card. We can issue this to you and show you how to access the building for future visits.
Entry Locations
This is a reminder that we have two entrances and Screener Desks. Visitors for our Residential Care are to enter via the basement/parkade entrance. Visitors of our Independent/Assisted Living are to enter via the main lobby.
Deliveries
All deliveries will be received at the Screener desk. This includes groceries, medications, and gifts. All items will be sanitized and delivered directly to the resident’s suite.
Dropping off items
We would ask that families please follow these guidelines to ensure your parent or loved one receives their delivery in a timely manner:
If you are dropping off valuable items, including money, do not leave this at the Screener desk. This must be given directly to the resident, or a member of our Leadership Team.
Connecting Families
Our team is dedicated to ensuring our residents are able to connect to their families and loved ones. We are continuing to offer assistance with virtual visits via FaceTime, Skype, Messenger, and WeChat and we can arrange for phone calls with your loved ones.
For more information contact our Recreation Department at mrsv-recreation@retirementconcepts.com or call 604-476-4320.
How to Reach Us
For Clinical/Care-related concerns in Residential Care, please contact Kristine Hipol, Director of Care at 604-476-4312 or khipol@retirementconcepts.com.
For Care/Support-related concerns in Assisted Living, please contact Arianna Fleet, AL Clinical Lead, at 604-476-4306 or afleet@retirementconcepts.com.
For Recreation questions, please contact Kim Knudsen, Manager of Recreation & Volunteer Services at 604-476-4320 or kknudsen@retirementconcepts.com.
For invoice or billing inquiries, please contact Anne Moncer, Admin Coordinator, at 604-476-4305 or amoncer@retirementconcepts.com.
In case of emergency, please contact Bianca Goldberg, General Manager, at 604-760-2209 or bgoldberg@retirementconcepts.com.
Once again, A BIG THANK YOU to everyone for working so hard to keep us safe and healthy, as well as for the kindness, understanding and support you share.
Sincerely,
The Maple Ridge Seniors Village (MRSV) Leadership Team and Staff