Hello Everyone!
Welcome to our latest updates at Kamloops Seniors Village! Where did the month of November & the first week of December go? The holiday spirit is in full swing here at KSV with decorations throughout & Christmas Carols playing in the background! And with our first snow falls here in Kamloops, its feeling a lot like December. From our family to yours, we wish everyone Happy Holidays!
Secondly, we extend our deepest thoughts, prayers and condolences to the residents of Merritt, Princeton and the Fraser Valley who have been impacted by the recent November floods. Our KSV Family resides far and wide & we want you to know we are thinking about you.
In addition, thank you again to everyone for their support and assistance as we navigated through our outbreaks this fall. The staff sure appreciated it. With the new variant now circulating, just a reminder to remain diligent with protecting yourself and your family member by wearing the proper PPE and hand hygiene throughout the holiday season and into the New Year!
Current Events: Recreation & Dining Programs
November was a busy month full of entertainment and activities. We had a great turn out for our Remembrance Day ceremony with our KSV Veterans in attendance. We thank them and all the veterans for their service. We also resumed our spiritual services last month with Catholic Mass. We are coordinating with other denominations to offer additional faith services too.
We also are happy to report that our Complex Care residents received both their Flu Shot & Booster Shots on Wednesday, November 10. Our Assisted-Independent Living tenants received their flu shots on November 3, with their COVID Booster following on November 10.
If you have any questions about your family member’s immunizations, please reach out to the respective Clinical Contact. For Complex Care, reach out to their neighbourhood’s nurse and for Assisted-Independent Living, contact Amy Suerink, AL Clinical Manager – 250-571-1803.
December is full of holiday cheer! We have had our December birthday party with Bob Iverson last week on December 2, and the “Bells of Note” performance this past Monday. In addition to our weekly Pub Nights on Wednesdays & neighbourhood activities, upcoming holiday entertainment includes the following:
December 8th – Christmas around the world
December 9th – Christmas Carols with Marion Owens
December 13th – 16th –Christmas Light Drives in the evening
December 14th – Christmas Music with Jody Paton
December 17th – Christmas sing along with Jesse Jones
December 17th – Christmas Performance at Sagebrush Theatre
December 21st – James Murray Story Teller Christmas Edition
December 24th – Christmas Carols with Linda Fenrich
Our Assisted-Independent Living hallways are looking very festive as well with holiday décor for our annual Door Decorating Contest – judging will take place on Monday, December 13, 2021. We will definitely share some pictures of the tenants’ creativity. Our annual Assisted-Independent Living Holiday Winter Gala dinner is also coming up on Monday, December 20, 2021 with a delicious holiday menu, of roast beef with all the fixings, or a seafood lasagna.
On Christmas Day, Residents & Tenants will enjoy a traditional Turkey Dinner or Ham.
On December 2, we took some fantastic Holiday photos of our Complex-Care residents. Each of them will receive a printed copy on Christmas Day. However, families are welcome to request a digital copy to share with your relatives. Please email Kiara Janzen, our Therapeutic Recreation Manager at kjanzen@retirementconcepts.com to request your copy.
Our Assisted-Independent Living tenants will have an opportunity to get their holiday photos taken with our festive photo booth on December 21, as part of our 12 Days of Festivities.
KSV is also collecting a few items for the Christmas Season. We recently had a Fundraiser Breakfast where we collected $350 for the Kamloops Food Bank. We also are having our annual Granny Socks & Toque Drive for the Canadian Mental Health Association, as well as collecting unwrapped toys and food for Christmas Amalgamated hampers.
Families are more than welcome to contribute to these great causes as well if you are able. For the Socks & Toque Drive, new socks, toques, scarfs, mittens, or blankets can be placed in the (2) bins in the lobby by Friday, December 17, 2021, and the Christmas Hamper is in the RC 1st Floor Foyer under the Christmas tree until December 16, 2021.
LICENSING & ACCREDITATION UPDATES
For Complex Care, we recently had our annual licensing inspection from the Health Authority and we are happy to say that we received another Low Risk Rating. The report is available on our licensing board in our 1st Floor Complex Care Foyer.
We also had our Annual Quality Review visit from the Health Authority which assesses/reviews risk and quality of resident care in Long Term Care settings. We received excellent feedback and praise on our improvement initiatives, especially in the current pandemic environment.
As a licensed Complex Care community with Interior Health, we have to be accredited by a national accreditation body with certain standards of care that we must meet. In 2018, KSV was Accredited with Commendation by Accreditation Canada. In February 2022, we are being accredited by CARF-Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities. Therefore, our KSV Leadership teams are busy preparing for this to ensure we meet their standards for quality of care. Surveyors will be visiting our community in February 2022! I have attached our information poster.
For Assisted-Independent Living, we are going through a similar process through BCSLA – BC Seniors Living Association to receive a Seal of Approval for our standards of care & services. We are just waiting on the surveyors to come to KSV to conduct their evaluation.
EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENTS
You will see a new addition in our parking lot as we are happy to share that Santa brought us an early Christmas present, a new Recreation Bus! It’s a welcome addition to our recreation department where it has a safe and accessible ramp/lift at the front of the bus (similar to the Handi-Dart busses), so it safe for all mobility’s with no stairs!
Another new change you will see in our Complex Care Neighbourhoods in the new year is some new signage! With input & voting from our Complex Care Residents, we have named the neighbourhoods, instead of just A, B & C! But we kept the same letter theme, but with a twist! It will be a learning curve for everyone, but here is a sneak peak of the new names:
First Floor | Second Floor |
1A = Alder Lane | 2A = Aspen Grove |
1B = Beech Lane | 2B = Birch Grove |
1C = Cottonwood Lane | 2C = Cedar Grove |
VISITATION REMINDERS
The Provincial Health Office has provided additional guidance surrounding vaccinations:
When being screened, every visitor will be asked to show proof of full COVID-19 immunization for both doses every time you come to KSV, so please get in the habit of always carrying your Vaccine Passport or Vaccine Card. Showing either the immunization record card or your digital immunization card through Health Gateway.
We have attached the screening form that you can print out prior to your visit and then the screeners will need to view and confirm your immunization details upon arrival.
VIRTUAL VISITS
We are continuing to provide scheduled virtual visits for residents & tenants with families from afar upon availability. Please reach out to our recreation team by e-mail at ksv-rec@retirementconcepts.com or call 250.571.1806 to set up a time via Skype or FaceTime. We will be happy to confirm a date and time to connect you with your family member.
SOCIAL OUTINGS & SIGNING OUT:
Complex Care Family Council
Kamloops Seniors Village’s Family Council is made available to Family Members of Complex Care residents. We invite new resident’s families to join the council, participate in the meeting, and provide a voice for your loved one! Meetings are held on the 4th Monday of every month via ZOOM during COVID, excluding December July and August. The Zoom link and minutes are sent out the week prior. The meetings are self-directed by the families with KSV Leadership present for support. Our next meeting is in on January 24, 2022 at 6 PM.
Deliveries and Drop-offs:
All deliveries will continue to be received at the front desk and will be sanitized, bagged and we will call the tenants &/or resident care staff to come and pick up their items right away. Please ensure you label all items with a name and room number to ensure all packages are received as quickly as possible.
For floral deliveries, please ensure there are no LILIES in the arrangement for allergy precautions.
Reminders for your loved one to Stay Safe:
Please help us by reminding each resident daily of the following four items:
Cheers,
The KSV Team