Prevention Plan for the COVID-19 Virus Update 4 - April 3, 2020

We are sharing regular updates with our residents, clients, families, members, staff and our community about the measures in place at KinVillage in light of the COVID-19 threat. We continue to strongly focus on prevention and follow the guidance and direction we regularly receive, primarily at this time from the Provincial Health Officer and Fraser Health.

• Highlights as of today:
• There are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 at KinVillage. The Day Program for Older Adults and the Community Centre remain closed and Volunteers are not working at KinVillage until further notice.
• In West Court (Care Home) and South Court (Assisted Living Residence):
• Visitor restrictions continue. No visitors are allowed except one essential adult visitor per day who passes screening and is visiting a resident who is actively dying.
• Residents are strongly advised to not leave the building, limiting outings to essential medical appointments only. Residents who must leave are actively screened upon return.
• Building entry is via a single entrance. Anyone entering, including every staff member, is subject to an active screening process.
• Deliveries of food, bouquets and personal items are not allowed into the Care Home due to the risk of transmitting the virus inside the home of our most at-risk residents. Deliveries of food (e.g. breakfast items) and personal care items for Assisted Living residents are permitted however we ask that these be infrequent (e.g. maximum weekly) and limited to essentials. Staff will receive deliveries outside the front door, sanitize anything they have to touch, and deliver items to individual suites. While our staff normally appreciate chocolates and such gifts, unfortunately at this time we are not able to accept them into our Care Home or Assisted Living Residence. (We will however take a “rain check” for when the COVID-19 threat is behind us!)

Staff

• Our dedicated staff are healthy and our daily staff complements are at or exceed normal levels.

• We are very pleased to have temporarily increased our recreation staffing beyond the usual levels in order to ensure wellness programs are available to all residents and, so important to all of us at KinVillage, to support social connections between residents and families in light of visiting restrictions. Staff are not to work if they have any COVID-19 symptoms or are otherwise feeling unwell. If a staff member has symptoms, they are sent for the priority testing available for health care workers and must be cleared before returning to work.

• Late last week the Provincial Health Officer issued orders for the collection of information about those employed in care homes and assisted living residences, as well as other health-related organizations, setting the stage for potential restriction of health care workers to work at a single site. To date, Fraser Health’s Medical Health Officer has not issued such an order except at care homes that have confirmed COVID-19 cases. KinVillage will continue to follow directions received from public health officials.

• This week, additional precautions were implemented for staff working in resident care areas. At Fraser Health’s direction, staff now wear masks and eye protection. This added level of precaution will help prevent the spread of the virus from someone who is asymptomatic, particularly when care is being provided and contact between staff and residents is necessarily close.

• Residents are regularly monitored for any symptoms indicating possible infection. Testing is done promptly and, per our standard infection prevention and control practices, any resident who has symptoms must remain in their suite until results indicate they do not have an infection.

• Admissions of new residents from the community have been suspended, except in circumstances of intolerable risk. Admissions directly from hospital still occur following thorough screening and monitoring processes that apply as well to current residents returning from hospital.

• Wellness programs continue and have been adapted to support physical distancing with smaller groups in large enough spaces.

• Technology is increasingly being used in our wellness programs, to support care, and to enable social connections between residents and family members. This past week, several care conferences for Care Home residents were completed using conference calling, successfully allowing family members, doctors, and our pharmacist to speak with on-site care staff. Staff are increasingly able to help Care Home residents connect with their loved ones via phone, Skype, Facetime and WhatsApp. Any and all ideas of how we can help support these vital connections between residents and their families are most welcome.

Meals:

• Assisted Living residents are being served noon and evening meals in their suites, to support physical distancing as the South Court dining room unfortunately does not provide space sufficient to enable this.

• Community dining continues in the Care Home. Physical distancing requirements are met with additional space available in the Day Program and Family rooms.

In Vidal and North Courts (homes of independent living and seniors’ supportive housing residents):

• Resident lounges are closed.
• No new residents are moving in.
• Visitors are still allowed though asked not to visit if they are experiencing respiratory symptoms and/or have travelled recently.
• Maintenance repairs and inspections, particularly in-suite, are limited to those considered essential. Residents can continue to advise staff about non-essential repairs and these will be addressed when BC Housing advises that this preventative measure is no longer warranted.
• In line with the provincial moratorium on evictions, any resident unable to pay their full-rent on April 1st will not be faced with potential eviction. Any unpaid rent will be considered arrears and payment of rent arrears will be required when the provincial moratorium is lifted. If a resident has suffered a loss in income, s/he is encouraged to contact Masoud Arbabi, Assistant Manager of Housing, to determine if their rent (based on their income) can be reduced.

In all four residential buildings:

Enhanced cleaning of frequent/high touch surfaces (e.g. door handles, railings, elevator buttons etc.) continues daily. Everyone in our four residential buildings is reminded to practice meticulous hand hygiene (there are several hand sanitizing stations) and coughing etiquette to help “stop the spread”.

Sincere thanks this week to our community:

• Canadian Tire Tsawwassen Commons for its generous donation of N95 masks for use by our care staff.
• Chevron (Parkland) for its kind offer to our care staff of $10 off per fill.
• MacDonald’s for a gift of a free medium coffee for any of our staff members.

We so appreciate your acknowledgement of the important care and services our staff provide every day!

Information Sources & Communication

Care Home - Resident Families: If you have not already added your e-mail address to our contact file, please call 604- 943-0155 ext. 221. In the event of a COVID-19 outbreak, KinVillage will provide a daily information release via e-mail and via internal postings.

Care Home - Resident Information - For regular inquiries about resident care, please continue to contact nursing staff. If there is a change in a resident’s health status, the Primary Contact will be notified by the nurse, as per our normal procedure.

Care Home – Connecting with Residents (Skype, Facetime, WhatsApp)
Bettina Salini - Director Wellness: 604-943-0155 ext 250 or bsalini@kinvillage.org

Care Home – General Issues or Concerns
Nadine Brown - Director of Care: 604-943-0155 ext 226 or nbrown@kinvillage.org

Assisted Living
General concerns:
Carol Howard - Director of Housing: 604-943-4805 ext 401 or choward@kinvillage.org

Clinical concerns:
Assisted Living Nurse: 604-943-4805 ext 412

General Concerns
Cynthia Langenberg - Director of Health Services: 604-943-0155 ext 32 or clangenberg@kinvillage.org

Donna Ellis – CEO: 604-306-2775 or dellis@kinvillage.org
Sources of Additional Information:

We recommend the following links for current, accurate updates on the extent of the COVID-19 situation in our province.
www.bccdc.ca/health-info/diseases-conditions/coronavirus-(novel)
www.News.gov.bc.ca – Ministry Updates
www.healthlink.bc.ca - HealthLink BC