To all Residents in Independent Living / Assisted Living and their Families,
I would like to start by thanking you for participating in all of the measures we have been taking and helping us to prevent any cases of COVID-19 in our Villages. These are uncharted waters, our staff are working tirelessly to keep your families safe and their effort is commendable. Our efforts are working and to date we have had no cases of COVID-19 in any of our Villages.
On Friday, we asked that families reduce the frequency of deliveries to limit exposure to residents and staff. As of today we have been advised by the Provincial Health Officer to no longer accept any gifts, or deliveries of any non-essential items in Long Term Care as each item that comes into our building from an outside source introduces risk. In order to extend that safety measure into our Independent Living and Assisted Living Villages we are doing our best to provide safer ways to receive essential deliveries to reduce any chances of cross contamination.
1.) Opt in to breakfast and lunch programs:
Benefits
- Guaranteed three meals a day, overseen by a corporate dietitian
- Check ins with loved ones throughout the day including medical checkups / temperature checks when requested
- Short social visit with staff
- Zero risk of cross-contamination
- Price is steady and reasonable and will not increase like groceries have been
2.) Order essentials from our safe food supplier
Benefits
- Family does not have to risk any virus exposure by going shopping
- Guaranteed stock, no need to worry if the grocery store is out
- Less cross-contamination risk for residents, our supplier minimizes touch points, uses packaging that is easier to sanitize as we receive it on site.
- Regular weekly delivery
- Item lists will be available for Resident’s weekly at their request.
3.) Limited family deliveries and local grocery deliveries.
These deliveries will be limited to certain items to be safe for residents
- Food items in safe packaging: Removed from cardboard boxes, (may be placed in a clean Tupperware for delivery) so we can sanitize exterior; plastic wrapped, in a can, a bottle, or glass; items not permeable to alcohol based sanitizer which we will be using on all deliveries.
- Alcohol
- Pharmacy Items
- Toiletries
- Deliveries will be limited to one day per week to ensure staff are available for sanitization.
We know that these packages for many families was your way of reaching out to your loved ones, especially during the religious holidays happening over this season. For those wishing to reach out to their families we have sent out a fleet of tablets so that you can have a virtual visit. Many of these tablets have arrived at our Villages and many are still on their way but will be delivered for the long weekend. Please contact your Village to arrange one of these visits once they arrive.
We do not take these measures easily, we know this may change your plans to deliver care packages for the holiday, but for the health of all we must come together to keep COVID-19 out of our Villages.
Warm Regards,
Celeste Mullin
Vice President