Williams Lake Seniors Village, Community Update, June 19 2020

Dear Families, 

We hope you are all staying safe and healthy!

There are NO cases of reported outbreak nor signs nor symptoms of COVID-19 in any of our residents or staff here at Williams Lake Seniors Village.

As the Province begins the transition that will see some of the rules relaxed, a gentle reminder that we continue to follow the direction of our provincial Health Officer, Bonnie Henry, and our no visitor policy remains in place. We understand your eagerness to come and visit your loved ones but at this time our no visitor policy remains the same.  We continue to follow the direction of our public health officials to the letter and have full infection prevention and control precautions in place. Staff continue to monitor residents closely and are ensuring the following protocols are being adhered to.

We continue to appreciate all that you and your loved ones are doing to heed the precautions put in place to alleviate risk of exposure to COVID-19. We understand that at this time families may be feeling discouraged with the regulations put in place by our Provincial Health Officer, please do not disregard the guidelines as they are here to keep your loved one safe. Our expectation is that these guidelines are followed and to PLEASE be respectful and kind to our staff who are doing everything they can to keep your loved ones safe.

Please be gentle and kind to our staff even when feeling frustrated, we are all in this together.

Father’s Day

On Sunday we are honoured and excited to celebrate all Father’s living in our community. On Sunday we will be doing a mobile Father’s Day Brunch, our serving teams and chef are preparing eggs benedict, hash browns, bacon and an assortment of sweets and juices that will be delivered to your loved ones apartments on June 21^st in honour of all the amazing men and father’s that live in our community. Our Recreation team has also decided to continue on the celebration by delivering gourmet cupcakes and homemade cards to all Father’s.

If you have gifts to drop off please be sure they are on the white cart, located at our main entrance, by no later than 3:30PM on Friday June 19^th. Our teams are happy to deliver them to their suite after our sanitization process has been completed.

Protocols 

We are following the direction of our public health officials to the letter and have full infection prevention and control precautions in place. Staff continue to monitor residents closely and are ensuring the following protocols are being adhered to:

• Restricting ALL visitors from the premises
• Ensuring no staff member is working in multiple facilities
• Staff are working strictly within an assigned unit and not multiple units
• Staff are removing outside clothing and footwear upon entering the premises. They are bringing their work clothes in a sealed bag as a precautionary measure.
• Staff are screened for their temperature upon entrance to the building, and midway through their shift
• Social distancing is occurring among residents in each facility, 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, 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 frequently.

Recreation Program

The Recreation staff are continuing to conduct one-on-one activities and small group activities while using best physical distancing practices. The Recreation staff are also going room-to-room each day to check on each resident and to drop off activities to keep resident minds sharp. Again, please remind and motivate your loved ones to participate in these activities.

In Assisted Living our Recreation Aide Jolene will be reaching out to schedule these activities directly with your loved one, and each resident will be prescreened before participating. All events will be facilitated by Jolene to make sure all precautionary measures are met. Bingo, Fitness, News and Views, etc. are among the list of activities we are hosting in our Bistro Courtyard while enjoying fresh air and sunshine!

In Long Term Care our Recreation Aides have begun small group therapeutic recreation activities. These activities will be hosted by our LTC Recreation Aides and will be adhering to all precautionary measures such as prescreening questions, social distancing, and thorough sanitization of the activity space before and after each activity. Residents have been so happy to have activities such as exercise, charades, music, darts, etc. back and ready for them to participate in each day!

To the extent staff are able to facilitate Facetime, Skype and window visits for residents they are doing so, amidst their other duties. Please reach out to Andrea, our Therapeutic Recreation Manager’s e-mail at ahodgetts@retirementconcepts.com or call 250-305-3314 to set up a schedule. We will be happy to confirm a date and time to connect you with your loved-one.

At this time, we are asking to please visit with your loved one over the phone or via Skype/Face Time only. At NO time is visiting in our main lobby or outside an option. You will be asked to leave immediately if these precautionary measures are not followed. Thank you for your understanding and helping put your family members and our staff’s health and safety first.

Just a friendly reminder that LPNS on care units will do their best to take phone calls from family members who call to speak to their loved ones however, at times you may be asked to call back or wait for a different time to talk to your loved one. Our residents’ care and needs come first and there are times when the LPN and Care Aides are providing care and cannot accommodate a phone call at the same time. Thank you for your understanding and support in being flexible about phone call times.

Friendly Outreach Support Program

A volunteer from an organization known as NICE (National Initiative for the Care of the Elderly) has reached out to our community to offer their free services to our residents and their loved ones during this difficult time.

This organization responds to the issue of social isolation among older adults and persons with disabilities.

Over the phone, they offer free, friendly outreach and brief counselling services. They are a team of social workers and social work students that are trying to address the isolation and loneliness that are too commonly experienced across the country. The initiative is called “TALK2NICE”.

Please reach out to www.nicenet.ca or 1 (844) 529-7292 if you would like to connect with them.

Main Dining Room

We are currently delivering all meals to individuals in their rooms. For lunch this delivery starts at approximately 12:00 and dinner at 5:00. Our servers will be wearing gloves and a mask. All meals will be delivered in disposable contains that may be tossed after the resident is finished enjoying their meal.

We have started to offer alternative choices back on our menu for our Assisted Living residents as of June 1^st. Our Support Services Manager Kirstyn has worked diligently to create a safe way to gather resident’s preferences and have those selections delivered to their suites for mealtimes. Servers have gone suite to suite handing out menus. We are asking that each resident circle their preference for lunch and dinner for the 4-week period. Our staff have been to their suite to collect their selections or and are available to assist if help is needed.

If Required:

All deliveries will be received at the front door. This includes groceries, medications, flowers, and gifts. All will be sanitized and delivered directly to the resident’s suites.

Dropping items off: We would ask that families please follow these guidelines as I am sure you want your parent or loved-one to get their deliveries in a timely manner.

1. Please use plastic bags, no reusable bags
2. Make sure to label all bags with resident full name and room number
3. Try to limit drop offs to essential items. There are days when staff are overwhelmed trying to keep up
4. Please sanitize, if possible, the items before dropping off. We will re-sanitize as well to be safe
5. Please leave all items on the white cart label “DROP OFF LOCATION” outside the Front Door. Our staff will receive the items once you are back in your vehicle.
6. Items may be dropped off Monday – Fridaybetween 8:00am and 3:30pm.Please DO NOT drop off items on the weekends or after hours, they will not be accepted and will be left outside until the designated time listed above.  Due to high volumes of items being dropped off our drop off hours are set to accommodate thorough sanitization processes and timely deliveries to your loved one’s suite while we are fully staffed. We ask that ALL deliveries be dropped off on the white cart by 3:30pm Monday-Friday.Thank you for your understanding and cooperation during this time.

Reminders for your loved-one to Stay Safe: Again, the following four points are so critical to discuss with your loved ones. Please help us by reminding each resident daily of the following four items:

1. Practice social distancing (6 feet apart)
2. Perform proper Hand Hygiene (Wash hands frequently for 20 seconds with the alcohol-based sanitizer or soap and  hot water) 20 second or greater is so important.
3. Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth
4. If exhibiting any symptoms (fever, cough and difficulty breathing) please alert staff immediately.

We want to thank everyone for their cooperation and patience during this difficult period.

Please note; effective next week and for the duration of the summer months, we will be moving to a weekly family email update schedule.

Thank You

Your Team at the Williams Lake Seniors Village