December 15, 2020

Hello families and friends of Rosemary Heights Seniors Village

Today we were informed that a case of COVID-19 has been confirmed involving one staff member at Rosemary Heights Seniors Village. That staff member is currently home and in self-isolation and is showing no symptoms.

Their last day of work was Sunday Dec 13^th on the Long Term care unit, second floor of the east wing.  We have no other residents experiencing any symptoms.

The health authority & pubic health nurse has been contacted and we have started to place all residents on droplet precaution.

As of today Dec 15^th we began to implement our COVID outbreak protocols.

We have isolated 2^nd floor Long term care residents under droplet precautions as this is where the staff member had worked. We continue to monitor all residents for any symptoms.

As far as we are aware, there was no contact with our independent living or assisted living floors. At this time, Independent and assisted living residents are still able to come and go (no inside visitors) however that may change according to Fraser health’s protocols for outbreak communities. As soon as we are can confirm how this will impact these residents, we will let everyone know.

Any other residents or staff that are symptomatic will be swabbed and family members will be contacted directly via phone.

Please know that the care and safety of residents is our number one priority, and we are treating the situation very seriously.

At present, we are working to establish what level of contact may have occurred between the individual who tested positive, and fellow staff members and residents.

Staff will function as cohorts on specific floors, and not on a facility-wide basis.

Until further notice, family visitations have been cancelled and all group activities have been paused. This includes facetime, zoom, skype and window visits as staff work to ensure all isolated residents are monitored and cared for fully.

Communication

As a result of the one confirmed case of COVID-19, we will provide families with a daily email update that will also be posted under covid updates on our website. We will phone those who do not have emails. Should the condition of any resident change, their family will be notified by phone immediately.

Protocols

BC’s Medical Health Officer and CDC have been notified. We are following protocols established by the Health Authority, the Office of the Provincial Health Officer and BC Center for Disease Control.

We will continue to act upon their latest advice, and will adapt our operations as necessary and recommended. 

Deliveries

All deliveries will be received at the lobby entrance vestibule. This includes medication deliveries from pharmacies, other gifts and mail. All items will be held in isolation for 24 hours, sanitized and delivered directly to the residents’ suite.

Groceries for Independent and assisted living may still be delivered.

When dropping items off, we would ask that families please follow the following guidelines to ensure loved ones will receive their deliveries in a timely manner:

1. Please use plastic bags, not reusable bags;
2. Please label all bags with the resident’s name and suite number;
3. In consideration of staff-to-resident priorities as well as infection control, please try to limit drop offs to essential items; and.
4. If possible, please sanitize the items before dropping off. We will re-sanitize as well to be safe.

Acknowledgements

We wish to thank families and loved ones in advance for their anticipated patience and cooperation.   Emails or calls may not be returned as quickly as normal as we work with health authorities to ensure constant care for the residents.

A big thank you to everyone for your hard work, grace and persistence!

Stay Safe, stay calm, & stay kind.

– Your team at Rosemary Heights Seniors Village (RHSV)