Hello Everyone!

Share your voice:

The Office of the Seniors Advocate wants to hear your story in your words about the impact of living with the visit restrictions in long-term care and assisted living that have been required in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We would like to extend their invite to you to take their survey online at www.carehomevisits.ca. The survey is available until September 30, 2020. https://www.seniorsadvocatebc.ca/ for more information. www.carehomevisits.ca for the survey link.

There continues to be no signs or symptoms of COVID-19 in any of our residents/tenants or staff here at Rosemary Heights Seniors Village, and for that we are very grateful. Should the status of our Community change in any respect, please know that we will immediately contact families.

We are mindfully taking all precautions to minimize risks as we approach flu season and amongst Covid 19 infection control.

As there has been a Special air quality warning in our area due to the forest fires in the near by States, all visitations will be indoors until the air quality improves.  Any recreation program that was to be outdoors will be revised to ensure safety of all residents.

We would like to thank those of you who have had a chance to visit loved ones, for following our protocols to help maintain everyone’s safety. Residents and families have all felt the effects of the difficult changes we have had to make, especially the reduced visits and activities. Our staff put kindness and care into their work every day. They feel the difficulties of our residents and do their best to provide comfort and ease anxiety. We here at Rosemary really do appreciate the co-operation and understanding we have received from everyone involved.

Please provide any feedback/suggestions regarding the visits directly to Maggie Amirani, GM at mamirani@retirementconcepts.com.  Thank you to ones who have already provided us great feedback on the visits.  It has allowed us to improve and make positive changes.

Just a reminder as per the health authority, these visits are physically distanced and there can be no touching, hugging or close contact of any kind for the safety of our residents & team members. If any safety protocol of the in person visits (see below) is violated your visits will be cancelled right away and/or terminated indefinitely.

We will continue to offer scheduled video calls for those families who live out of town or are unable to come in for any reason. Please connect with Jaylene Smillie in our recreation department by emailing jsmillie@retirementconcepts.com or by calling 778-545-5000 ext. 1007

Designated Visitor schedules are working smoothly in our designated meeting areas. There is no change in Mandate of number of visitors as per Health Authority – protocols remain as is:

• Each tenant and/or resident will be allotted one assigned family member for their visitations.
• Our priority is protecting the residents/tenants. Family/social visits are limited to a maximum of one designated family member or friend at a time (we are not permitted to have alternative visitors per the Provincial Health Officers).
• All visitors will be required to bring a mask and wear for the duration of the visit
• To request  visit times/dates email this address  rhsv-familyvisits@retirementconcepts.com  for visitation. Please include your name, contact telephone number, and name of resident your email.  Allow 48-72 hours for reply. Keep in mind that we will initially hold monthly visits only in order to accommodate everyone.
• We ask families and friends to self-screen prior to your scheduled visit for any signs or symptoms of illness. If you are feeling unwell we ask you to please reschedule your visit.
• Please arrive a maximum of 5 minutes before visitation appointment to complete pre-screening requirements
• Outside visits will be held “weather permitting”. They may be changed to an indoor visit if we have enough staff and space to accommodate.
• Visits will be 30 minutes and will not be able to accommodate extended times. Please adhere to social distancing and sanitization protocol at all times.  Do not bring items for your loved one to your visit.
• AND PLEASE NOTE: Should the community have any type of outbreak, visits will cease immediately

Protocols

With strict compliance to the direction and protocols of our public health officials, we remain seriously committed to full enhanced preventative & precaution infection control protocols. We continue to monitor residents & staff closely and adhere to the following protocols:

• restricting ALL visitors except designated visitor or compassionate visit
• ensuring no staff member is working in multiple communities
• staff are working strictly within an assigned neighborhood floor
• staff are removing outside clothing and footwear before entering the premises
• staff are pre-screened for their temperature & health indicators upon entrance to the building and midway through their shift
• social distancing is occurring among residents in each neighborhood, including during mealtimes
• appropriate application and removal of personal protective equipment (PPE), and the use of individual slings (cloth component of a personal lift)
• ensuring ongoing, enhanced environmental cleaning and increased frequency of high touch surfaces in order to break the chain of infection
• staff and residents are committed to regular/proper hand hygiene to break the chain of infection, by washing their hands with soap and water and applying hand sanitizer
• ongoing education to adapt and ensure current compliances are met, questions answered and team confidence in enhanced care protocol

Recreation:

The recreation team are preparing activities to ensure residents can have fun, exercise and socialize safely with each other in our community. Arts and crafts, active games, brain games, table games and music programs are just some of the programs that we are enjoying. Please remind and motivate your loved ones to participate in these smaller group activities.

Deliveries and Drop-offs: 

All deliveries will be sanitized and delivered directly to the resident’s suites.   Delivery times are below

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

1. Please use plastic bags, no reusable bags.
2. Make sure to label all bags with resident name and room number.  No heavy deliveries
3. Try to limit drop offs to essential items – as we are inundated with drop-offs.

Please do not drop off items after hours, we do not have staff to be able to accept it and may be left outside until the designated time listed, if you do, you will be taking your chances & we will not be responsible for anything that is left after hours.

Stay Safe, stay calm, & stay kind.

A big thank you to everyone for working so hard to keep Rosemary Heights safe and healthy, as well as for the kindness, understanding and support you share during these ever-changing circumstances

– Your team at Rosemary Heights Seniors Village (RHSV)