To all Family Members:

We hope you are all staying safe and healthy! We are happy to report there continues to be no signs or symptoms of COVID-19 in any of our residents or staff at Dufferin Care Centre, and for that we are very grateful.

Our Finance Manager has issued Tax receipts and is mailing them out to the responsible person by the end of the week. If you receive statements by email you will receive a separate email with your Tax receipt.

Save the date! On March 16^th from 6-730 pm we will be hosting the Alzheimers Society in a Zoom workshop on Caregiving during COVID-19”. We will be discussing; challenges of providing care during COVID-19 and how this affects you and the person you’re caring for. How to respond to changes in behaviour and communicate in a meaningful way and the importance of practicing self-care during this time and what that might look like. In the past our families have found these workshops very meaningful. Please RSVP to mtoth@retirementconcepts.com or by calling 604-351-2200. We will email you the Zoom information, once you have registered.

Thank you to all those who attended our first Family Council Meeting. After each meeting we will send out the meeting minutes. We have decided to continue these meetings every 3^rd Thursday of the month at 6 pm.

Communication

We will continue to provide families with a weekly email update that will also be posted under COVID updates on our Retirement Concepts website.

Visitor Policy Reminder

• We continue to follow Dr. Bonnie Henry’s direction of ONE designated visitor (we are not permitted to have alternative visitors per the Provincial Health Orders)
• We continue to schedule visits for families 7 days a week. To request Facetime, Window, or In-Person visit times/dates, email this address dcc-familyvisits@retirementconcepts.com or call 604-472-4151 for visitation. Please include your name, contact telephone number, and name of resident in your email. Allow 24-48 hours for reply.
• Please arrive 15 minutes before visitation appointment to complete pre-screening requirements
• AND PLEASE NOTE: Should the community have any type of outbreak, visits will cease immediately

Recreation:

The recreation team continue to provide activities to ensure residents can have fun, exercise and socialize with each other in our community. Arts and crafts, exercise, and manicures are just some of the programs that we are enjoying in smaller group activities.

Protocols

Aside from the single visitor policy, we are following the direction of our public health officials 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/only those who have been deemed essential may enter the building at this time
• Ensuring no staff member is working in multiple facilities
• Staff are screened for their temperature upon entrance to the building, and midway through their shift. Also residents are screened for the temperature twice daily.
• Ensuring ongoing, environmental cleaning and increased frequency of high touch surface cleaning in order to break the chain of infection
• Staff and residents are committed to regular/proper hand hygiene to break the chain of infection, and wash their hands with soap and water and apply hand sanitizer frequently.

We will continue to act upon their latest advice, and will adapt our operations as necessary and recommended.

Deliveries

**Delivery hours are between 9 am-4 pm Monday-Saturday**

All deliveries will be received at the lobby entrance. All items will be sanitized and delivered directly to the residents’ suite.

1. Please use plastic bags, not reusable bags;
2. Please label all bags with the resident’s name, suite number, and date it was packaged;
3. If you are dropping off food for your loved one, according to Fraser Health’s directive the items must be non-perishable ONLY (must be consumed immediately, we cannot store any non-dried goods).
4. If possible, please sanitize the items before dropping off. We will re-sanitize as well to be safe.