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 8^th – Christmas around the world

December 9^th – Christmas Carols with Marion Owens

December 13^th – 16^th –Christmas Light Drives in the evening

December 14^th – Christmas Music with Jody Paton

December 17^th – Christmas sing along with Jesse Jones

December 17^th – Christmas Performance at Sagebrush Theatre

December 21^st – James Murray Story Teller Christmas Edition

December 24^th – 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 1^st 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 1^st 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:

VISITATION REMINDERS

• As of October 26, 2021, ALL visitors to long-term care, assisted living, and acute care facilities will need to show proof that they are fully vaccinated with two doses of COVID-19 vaccine (excluding children under 12 years or those with an approved medical exemption).
• All visitors will no longer need to schedule or book in advance to visit loved ones
• KSV Visiting hours are from 8AM-9PM daily, with all visitors exiting the building by 9 PM
• All visitors will be screened for signs and symptoms at the main entrance and be required to practice hand hygiene before and after their visit, wear a medical face mask and physical distancing when in common areas.
• A new medical face mask will be provided at the entrance for all visitors.
• Fully immunized visitors can visit with residents without wearing a mask when inside the resident’s room.
• Indoor gatherings may now include residents and staff across various neighbourhoods (not family/friends) for activities and entertainment.
• A Reminder that visits must be in your loved one’s suite. Visits are currently still prohibited in common indoor spaces and outdoor Tenant Spaces including the Outdoor AL-IL Patio

The Provincial Health Office has provided additional guidance surrounding vaccinations:

• It is strongly recommended that visitors age 12 and older be fully immunized against COVID-19 with two doses of vaccine and provide proof vaccination status prior to entry.
• Staff, Volunteers, contractors, and personal service providers entering long term care and assisted living settings must be fully immunized.
• Each site will continue to maintain a sign in list for contact tracing purposes and actively promote adherence to all infection prevention and control protocols.

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:

• For those on Complex Care, if you would like to take your loved one out of the building we request:
  • A minimum of 2 hours’ notice to ensure that your loved one is set up for success for their outing.
  • Please contact the nurse on your loved one’s floor to arrange the outing, and then you can come into the building, be screened & personally take your loved one out.
  • A reminder that ANYTIME you take your loved one out of their Complex Care neighbourhood (for an outing or to the Courtyard/Balcony for your visit), please sign them out on the white board by the door to notify staff they are out of the area in the event we have an emergent situation
• For those on Independent-Assisted Living – remember tenants will need sign out prior to leaving for their outing; and for extended visits, inform the AL team in the event they need medications

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:

1. Practice social/physical distancing (6 feet apart) when required
2. Perform proper Hand Hygiene (Wash hands frequently for 20 seconds with the alcohol-based sanitizer or soap and hot water) 20 seconds 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.

 Cheers,

The KSV Team