Monday November 9th

Hello Family and Friends of Rosemary Heights:

Due to the new orders from the Provincial Health Officer that were released on the weekend, visitations at all Long Term Care and Assisted Living sites will need to be put on hold for the next two weeks. Clarification from our Licensing officer today is that no one should be leaving the building on any social visits and non-essential outings.  Only essential medical appointments are still able to proceed.

At this time, Rosemary Heights remains with no new staff or residents with COVID 19 symptoms. We want to thank our families for their kind words and patience getting to this point. While we are cleared of active cases in the building, we are still under strict Outbreak Precautions to ensure no new cases arise.

The staff member that had expressed they had flu like symptoms has been cleared and tested negative for COVID. We continue to cohort staff to work only on their designated floors and units to avoid cross contamination. All 2^nd floor residents remain isolated in their rooms where meals are delivered, and they are monitored closely.

We have commenced the readiness checklist from Fraser health to be able to enter the Step Down Phase by Wednesday Nov 11^th as long as no further residents or staff show symptoms related to COVID.

Our long term care dining room remains closed, family visitations are cancelled – and all group activities are paused. Unfortunately, we will not be able to permit family visits during step down. After the outbreak is declared over in 14 days, we will resume these visits with precautions.

The Step Down Phase doesn’t mean our Outbreak is over, but it means that Fraser Health Authority will allow us to hopefully remove the droplet precautions from all our residents who tested negative. Residents will continue to isolate in their suites for another week or so per Fraser Health, as long as there are no more symptomatic residents, until the Outbreak is officially declared over by Fraser Health Authority.

If your loved one becomes symptomatic or needs to be swabbed, we will call the family and inform them of what’s transpired.

For your knowledge, here is an example of what would happen if a resident becomes symptomatic over the next two weeks:

1) Resident will be isolated to their suite and placed on droplet precautions.

2) Resident will be swabbed for Covid-19 as well as the Flu, and family will be informed.

3) Resident will have cohorted care.

4) If the results are negative, the resident will be lifted off droplet precautions as long as their symptoms resolve.

5) If the results are positive, we will begin our 28-day Outbreak Protocol and follow the directives of Public Health in order to minimize and contain the spread.

For those inquiring, Flu shots cannot commence until after the Outbreak has been declared over. We do have the vaccines already at the community and will administer the flu shots to all residents once we get the approval to do so.  Please be assured that intense safety precautions will be implemented to keep everyone safe and healthy.

Communication

We will continue to communicate with all families via email on a daily basis.

In the event of a positive Covid-19 test result for a staff member or resident, we will provide all families of residents with a daily email update that will also be posted under Retirement Concepts COVID 19 updates on our website. We also phone the families of residents if their loved one has tested positive.  Should the condition of any specific resident change, their family and loved ones will be notified immediately.

Protocols

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

Monday – Friday 10am-2pm, and Saturday 1-3pm only, closed to all Sunday deliveries

All deliveries for all resident floors will be received at the lobby entrance vestibule. This includes medication deliveries from pharmacies, other gifts and mail. All items will be sanitized and delivered directly to the residents’ suite.  Deliveries for all areas including Long term care 1^st & 2^nd floors along with Independent/Assisted Living can now 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 know this continues to be an anxious time for everyone.  We would like to close this communication by thanking families for their tremendous support and patience during this difficult period.

We also wish to acknowledge all the staff, who continue to go above and beyond.

Stay Safe, stay calm, & stay kind.

– Your team at Rosemary Heights Seniors Village (RHSV)