Dear Families of Summerland Seniors Village Residents;

The two Summerland Seniors Village employees tested for Covid-19 have had their results come back negative.

We traced contact between them, fellow staff as well as residents, and as a result, sent out two more swabs for testing, one for a resident and one for a staff member. The resident’s family has been contacted.

When we have the results from these swabs, we will update you.

If your loved one becomes symptomatic or is tested, please know you will have been contacted directly by phone.

We have notified Interior Health – our licensing body – and they are pleased with the steps that have been taken. Once they have determined our further course of action, we will communicate it to all residents and their families. Currently they have not declared us on “outbreak”, and so we remain in a “watch” mode, until all test results come back.

We have put in place a number of outbreak protocols with the goal of protecting our residents in the event the test results come back positive.

We have closed the dining room to reduce contact, as well as closed the store, bistro and common areas, and we have asked our residents to isolate themselves in their rooms, where dinners will be provided by tray service.

Unfortunately, we must also cancel all family visitations and pause any recreation or social activities.  Unless appointments are essential, we ask all residents to cancel any outside appointments.

We began a Daily Communications Update which will be posted to the Community Update Section of our Website after it is sent out to you.  If you have other family or friends who would like to be updated, please feel free to direct them to www.retirementconcepts.com

We would like to thank you in advance for all for your understanding, patience and support.

Please know that the care and safety of residents is our number one priority, and that we treat this situation very seriously.  If you would like any additional information on your family member, please contact Christy Baker at cbaker@retirementconcepts.com

Communication

If you would like to send cards, letters, pictures photos and notes, we would be happy to deliver them.  Hearing from family or friends right now would bring a smile, and reduce the stress your loved ones may be experiencing as we and they adjust to this situation.

We ask that you remain patient.  We may not be able to answer your calls or emails right way as our staff are focused on the safe care of our residents.

We encourage you to book a virtual visit (Face time or Skype) or arrange a phone call to keep connected with your loved ones.  We will do whatever we can to facilitate this, as it is very important and meaningful to keep in touch.  Please contact us at   250-404-4311 by phone and jberrisford@retirementconcepts.com by email.

Deliveries

All deliveries continue to be received.  All items are sanitized and delivered directly to the resident’s suites.

When dropping items off, we ask families to please follow the guidelines below in order to ensure that your loved one gets their deliveries in a timely manner:

1. Please use plastic bags, not reusable bags;
2. Please label all bags with resident’s name and room number;
3. Please limit drop-offs to essential items; and
4. If sending food or drinks, please send single serve disposable items, but no homemade food or fruit please.  Please do not send food that need to be refrigerated.

Teamwork 

We wish to thank staff, residents and families for their cooperation and understanding as we move through this.

Sincerely

The Summerland Seniors Village Team