Williams Lake Seniors Village, Community Update, June 9 2020

Dear Families,

We hope you are all staying safe and healthy!
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.

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 post these community updates on our website every Tuesday and Friday, following the emails to you. Please feel free to share the link below with other family members so they can also keep up to date with the most current information from our community.
http://www.retirementconcepts.com/category/williams-lake-seniors-village/

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 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.
We have been hosting social distancing activities in our Bistro Courtyard in groups of 5 or less for residents in our Assisted Living program. 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 excited to be doing.

We have started small group therapeutic recreation activities in Long Term Care. 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. We are excited to start activities such as exercise, charades, name that tune etc. with our residents in Long Term Care!

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 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”.

Their contact information is www.nicenet.ca or 1 (844) 529-7292.

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 1st. 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 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 – Friday between 8:00am and 3:30pm. Items dropped off on weekends or after hours will NOT be accepted and will be left outside until the designated time listed above.
PLEASE NOTE THAT OUR DROP OFF HOURS HAVE CHANGED. Due to high volumes of items being dropped off we have changed our drop off hours in order 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. Please DO NOT drop off deliveries on the weekend. 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.

Thank You

Your Team at the Williams Lake Seniors Village