Outdoor Group Gatherings – Book for Menno Home, Menno Hospital

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Booking a Group Visit – Outdoors – Menno Home, Menno Hospital

Families and Friends of residents can book an outdoor gathering (up to 10 people) through Reception.

Menno Home, call 604.853.2411

Menno Hospital, call 604.859.7631

Visits will be booked for the large tent in the central courtyard. There are 2 available time slots each day, seven days per week (14 times in total per week): 10am-12pm and 1pm-4pm. The location is covered making gatherings on a rainy day a possibility.

These gatherings follow the BCCDC Guidelines that were provided to Long-Term Care providers April 1st.

This states that:

Bookings for outdoor visits must align with the current PHO guidance on outdoor gatherings for the public.

Application:

  1. Current Public Health Officer guidance, and site capacity will inform safe outdoor group visitation. A number of factors should be considered including staffing levels, space layout, the ability to maintain safe social distances and provide adequate PPE.
    For Menno Home and Hospital: One large location is available for bookings twice per day, seven days per week. The available hours coincide with the Visitation Host schedules. The Visitation Hosts will provide entrance to the gathering area. This location is under the large tent in the central courtyard. Visitors must remain inside the central courtyard for the duration of their visit as the courtyard is a locked, secure location for residents. Do not admit or let out any person who is not a part of your visitor group, including staff or others.
    https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/covid-19/info/restart
  2. A visitor list should be maintained to manage social visits and allow for contract tracing if necessary.
    For Menno Home and Hospital: All visitors will be screened by the Visitation Host prior to entering the central courtyard. Contact information will be required at the time of screening. Visitors will be required to perform hand hygiene and safe physical distancing from all who are outside of their visitor group. Physical contact with resident make take place if hand hygiene is performed, mask is worn, vaccination (desired) and any other recommended precautions / layers of protection.
    Medical Masks are required for outdoor visits. Visitors will be instructed on appropriate use of outdoor space and all required Infection Prevention and Control practices.
  3. For Menno Home and Hospital: Medical masks are provided at the time of screening by the Visitation Hosts. Visitors may not remove their mask while visiting which means no eating or drinking while visiting.
  4. Visitor access to washrooms and other amenities inside the facility will be provided as required. For Menno Home and Hospital: There are restrooms available at the main entrance of Menno Hospital. Visitors may not enter resident spaces to use the restroom. There is a port-a-potty available at the courtyard gate as an alternate restroom that is in close proximity to the tent in the central courtyard.
  5. Outdoor gatherings will be booked in advance. For Menno Home and Hospital: Bookings must take place 48 hours in advance (minimum). Receptionists are available Monday – Friday from 8am – 4pm. Nursing does not book these gatherings.
  6. Visitors will clean and disinfect the surfaces of furniture in the gathering area at the end of each visit.
    For Menno Home and Hospital: The Visitation Host will provide you with cloths and cleaner to do the disinfecting of all surfaces at the end of your gathering.
  7. Gatherings will cease immediately if an outbreak or enhanced monitoring is declared for the unit in which your loved one resides.
  8. One or two social visitors will be given entrance to the unit in order to transport your loved one to the large tent in the courtyard.
  9. Visitors are expected to remain within the large tent space in the courtyard and not walk throughout the courtyard. This is a resident space.
  10. No smoking on the Menno Place campus. Residents do have a smoking area provided. This is not for visitor use.
  11. A table will be provided if you wish your loved one to have a space to sit or place a birthday cake or snacks for your loved one. There is no eating or drinking allowed at this time by visitors.

JUNE 1, 2021 – MENNO HOSPITAL EAST 2 OFF ISOLATION

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COVID UPDATE – June 1, 2021

NEW COVID POSITIVE CASES  = 0 (0 residents / 1 staff)

TOTAL COVID POSITIVE CASES = 1 (0 residents/ 1 staff)

Menno Hospital E2 is OFF enhanced monitoring, effective immediately.

Social visits to resume June 2, 2021.

Staff, residents, family members and visitors encouraged to wear orange May 31 – June 4

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Menno Place is calling on all staff, residents and visitors to wear orange from May 31 – June 4 as a form of recognition of trauma and reconciliation with Indigenous people. The Canadian flag will be flying at half-mast at the front of Menno Place.

The remains of 215 children were found buried at a former residential school in Kamloops, BC. See News Story. Menno Place acknowledges that there are those who live and serve at Menno Place who will be in mourning this week and whose families will feel the intergenerational trauma once again. We wish to recognize and honour those in all generations who have experienced this trauma and its ongoing impact, especially in light of the news of this recent discovery.

The Mennonite Central Committee, Canada, responded to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action #48 and #49, acknowledging the long, complex history and current relationships between MCC, as an institution and its workers, and the Indigenous people of what we now call Canada – Click Here to Read the MCC Response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action.

 

MAY 28, 2021 – INDEPENDENT LIVING: PRIMROSE GARDENS & PAVILION – VACCINATION CLINIC JUNE 7TH

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COVID-19 UPDATE – INDEPENDENT LIVING: PRIMROSE GARDENS & PAVILION – MAY 28, 2021

This memo with great news about the 2nd vaccine was distributed to residents of Primrose Gardens and Pavilion.

Hello Residents,

We have great news! We have just got the call today that all Primrose and Pavilion residents that need their 2nd dose of the COVID-19 vaccine will have it on MONDAY, JUNE 7th. We will organize a vaccination clinic just like the first dose.

In preparation for the vaccination clinic, we will need to have every consenting resident’s CONSENT FORM filled out and ready to go.

You will have received a 2nd paper with this memo; that is your CONSENT FORM. Please fill out the top “Client Demographics” section, or have a loved one help you. This includes:

  • Last name, first name, middle name
  • BC Personal Health Number, Date of Birth, Email (if applicable)
  • Male or Female, Home Phone Number

We have filled out the address areas for you. You will give verbal consent for your vaccine at the clinic in person. No other areas of the form needed to be completed.

Please bring your completed vaccine consent form to the DINING ROOM of your building on Monday , May 31 or Tuesday, June 1st. Staff will be there to collect. Tuesday, June 1st is the deadline to hand in your consents. If you need help with your consent form, please ask a loved one, or Reception at the number below.

If you have:

  1. Changed your mind and wish to still get your FIRST VACCINE DOSE
  2. Do not want to get the 2nd vaccination
  3. Have already received your 2nd dose through a community booking

Please contact Cheryl Dawes at 604 851 4020 as soon as possible.

We will send out a memo with any further vaccination clinic details closer to clinic date. The clinic will be in the dining rooms of each respective building.

Any questions, please contact Brenda at Reception 604 851 4000

MAY 27, 2021 – INDEPENDENT LIVING APARTMENTS: PAVILION, TERRACE WEST, PRIMROSE GARDENS

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COVID UPDATE – INDEPENDENT LIVING – PAVILION, TERRACE WEST, PRIMROSE GARDENS – MAY 27, 2021

Effective immediately, we have ended the Registered Visitor program at Pavilion, Terrace West and Primrose Gardens.

Since March 2020, the Registered Visitor program has successfully provided support to the 250 residents of these apartments during a global pandemic. There have been NO instances of COVID exposure by visitors through this program. This effective program has kept our residents safe from this deadly virus that is most dangerous for those over 80 years old, particularly those with multiple health issues. It is with incredible gratitude that we retire this effective safety support program.

The Independent Living Apartments residents and their visitors will now be expected to follow the BC Restart Plan:
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/covid-19/info/restartRecreation, spiritual and social activities for Independent Living residents will follow this plan as well. As you know, the plan will move forward in four steps under the direction of BC’s public health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry. These steps are dependent on: the percentage of vaccinated individuals over 18 years of age, number of COVID cases, number of hospitalizations.

Residents in these three apartment buildings will be receiving a memo today notifying them of this change.

  • The primary change today is that up to 5 people from different households can visit their loved one in their apartment.
  • Also, one household at a time (up to 7 people living at the same address) can come to celebrate a birthday.

We expect visitors to continue their vigilance in Infection Control Protocols, including mask-wearing in the building, hand-hygiene and social distancing. Please go directly to and from your loved one’s apartment suite and do not move around the apartment building. At this time, we have not opened the guest suites or guests to join in meals.

We anticipate that the 2nd dose vaccination clinic for Primrose Gardens and Pavilion residents will take place the last week of June. We will keep you posted on this. Terrace West has already had the 2nd dose vaccination clinic as they are in physical proximity to our Assisted Living apartment, Terrace East. If you wish to register your loved one through the BC Vaccination Registration, you may do that as well: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/covid-19/vaccine/register

It is with gratitude that we thank the individuals who are responsible for the effective Registered Visitor program – thank you to Nik Van Egdom, Brenda Mertke and Leonard Klassen for implementing this plan to keep our residents safe. Thank you to Cheryl Dawes and Sharon Simpson for creating and implementing this program early into the pandemic. We know that there have been many sleepless nights, particularly at the beginning of the pandemic and recently as community prevalence / variants became a concern. We have prayed that COVID would not enter nor spread in our apartment buildings. With the layers of protection, including social distancing, mask-wearing and vaccination practiced throughout our community, we are grateful that we can end this program.

Thank you to God for His protection, to the residents for their endurance and vigilance during this time, to the families for your care and diligence, to the staff for your faithful practices of infection prevention and to the team who made this amazing safety program possible.

We have been waiting for a change that moves us back to “normal” and this is the first step in that direction. It’s a good day for us all! Please continue to be safe!

Please send any words of encouragement or gratitude to the Menno Place team to Sharon.Simpson@Mennoplace.ca. They will be passed along to these amazing staff!

 

What about Terrace East Assisted Living Apartments? We have not, yet, heard any update in protocols from Fraser Health. We will post them when we are made aware. Until then, we continue with social visits for families. Book your social visit: www.MennoPlaceLife.com

MAY 22, 2021 – MENNO HOME W2 – Covid Positive – Total = 1 staff

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COVID UPDATE – May 22, 2021 – Home W2

W2 HOME IS OFF ENHANCED MONITORING!

  • No residents on isolation
  • Social visits resume
  • Essential visits continue
  • Communal activities resume – dining together and recreation

NEW COVID POSITIVE CASES  = 0

TOTAL COVID POSITIVE CASES = 1 (0 resident/ 1 staff)

MAY 22, 2021 – MENNO HOSPITAL EAST 2 – COVID positive = 1 STAFF

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COVID UPDATE – MAY 22, 2021

NEW COVID POSITIVE CASES  = 0 (0 residents / 1 staff)

TOTAL COVID POSITIVE CASES = 1 (0 residents/ 1 staff)

Menno Hospital E2 is on enhanced monitoring as one staff member is COVID positive.

23 resident swabs completed and all returned negative

6 staff swabs returned negative; 4 pending

The residents on S wing on Isolation/Droplet Precautions:

  • Meals served in their rooms
  • No group activities
  • No social visits
  • Essential visits allowed

The residents on D wing:

  • No isolation for residents
  • Communal services to resume – dining in dining room, recreation
  • Social visits and essential visits to continue as before

MAP OF HOSPITAL E2 – D-Wing is the north end of the unit / S-Wing is the south end of the unit

MAY 20, 2021 – MENNO HOSPITAL EAST 2 – COVID positive = 1 STAFF

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NEW COVID POSITIVE CASES  = 1 (0 residents / 1 staff)

TOTAL COVID POSITIVE CASES = 1 (0 residents/ 1 staff)

Menno Hospital E2 is on enhanced monitoring as one staff member is COVID positive.

The residents on S wing and one resident on D wing are on droplet precautions. This means:

  • Meals served in their rooms
  • No group activities
  • No social visits
  • Essential visits allowed
  • Point prevalence testing (covid swab) for these residents on May 21

The residents on D wing:

  • No isolation for residents except for one resident (see above)
  • Communal services to resume – dining in dining room, recreation
  • Social visits and essential visits to continue as before

STAFF

  • All staff affected will be swabbed for COVID
  • All staff are cohorted to work only in this unit
  • All staff will use a separate entrance to enter the unit

MAP OF HOSPITAL E2 – D-Wing is the north end of the unit / S-Wing is the south end of the unit

 

Mask Wearing at Menno Place

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Can you explain about mask-wearing at Menno Place?

There was a comment about mask wearing and we provided an explanation – here it is for those of you who may have missed it in the other discussion.
The reality of mask wearing is going to be a bit complex at Menno Place as we have varying levels of care on our campus of care. Our requirements for mask wearing are according to the expectations of the BC Public Health Orders and the Fraser Health requirements for Long-Term Care Homes (Menno Home, Menno Hospital) and Assisted Living (Terrace East).

1. In long-term care and assisted living – all social visitors (if you booked using the online calendar) and essential visitors are expected to wear a mask at all times. This includes when you are out on a patio or outside area for your visit. If you enter through the building door or were screened by the Visitation host to have your visit, you are under these Fraser Health orders to keep your mask on at all times. There are other expectations to mitigate risk of COVID transmission to your loved one, the other residents and staff such as being actively screened at entrance.

2. In long-term care and assisted living – no mask wearing by residents. This is not required under any circumstance, including while on isolation. Residents may choose to wear a mask if they wish. This is stated in Fraser Health’s orders.

3. Inside independent living – Primrose Gardens, Terrace West, Pavilion: no mask wearing required by any resident. This is optional for residents and should be evaluated by the resident based on their risk (such as medical issues and vaccination status). We are asking residents to wear a mask when they gather for meals – en route to and from the dining room and when they are not eating. This is because they will encounter so many more people during this activity and the risk of COVID transmission increases. Masks are required by Registered Visitors at all times, including within the apartment suite.

4. The outside spaces of Menno Place alongside the Apartments such as Living Waters Gazebo, patios at Primrose Gardens, Terrace East, Pavilion – masks are not required. Anyone visiting in these areas is guided by the Public Health Orders for outside gatherings. The Public Health Orders remind us to use our layers of protection which may include mask wearing but it is not required. The orders state that up to 10 people can gather in an outside space – do not gather with new groups of people, stick to the same people (see link below). Both independent living residents and assisted living residents make use of these spaces for outside visits.

For Terrace East, (Assisted Living) an outdoor visit is not booked through the social visitor program/online calendar. You may arrange an outside visit with your loved one directly where they meet you outside without you entering the building. If you need to enter the building, you must book an online social visit using the booking calendar. If a resident needs assistance to meet you outside due to their mobility, you must arrange this with Cheryl Dawes, Manager, Community Enrichment – 604.851.4020.

5. Staff must wear masks. All staff are required to wear both mask and goggles when they are within resident spaces in long-term care and assisted living. Why these different rules? The logic here involves the fragility of the residents in these various levels of care. Those in long-term care often have more complex medical issues and are in close proximity to each other most of the time which makes the spread of COVID more likely. Those of us coming in from outside of the building are always the source of COVID exposure. For this reason, ALL efforts are made to reduce the risk when we enter and spend time in the long-term/assisted living resident space.

Those living in Independent Living apartments are living under the same regulations as the rest of us in the public – the Public Health Officer’s restrictions for all British Columbians. These are found here: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/…/con…/covid-19/info/restrictions

The additional layer of protection that Menno Place has put in place for residents in Independent Living is the Registered Visitor program. We are waiting for the residents to have their 2nd dose and also to see the community prevalence reduced before assessing the necessity of this additional layer of protection. Unlike regular apartment buildings in the community, our independent living residents are gathering together for meals and (soon) social activities. These gatherings bring a higher level of risk for COVID transmission. We are mitigating this additional risk with the Registered Visitor program (extremely successful – thank you!). We are also audited by Fraser Health on our infection control protocols in the Independent Living buildings, so we put other measures in place as well including sanitizing stations, enhanced cleaning, etc. that are not required in community apartment buildings. These are some of the differences between an apartment building in the community and our independent living apartments.

Outside gathering restrictions for British Columbians are listed on the link above. It says “continue to use layers of protection and maintain physical distancing”. Those layers involve visiting in a bubble/core household, mask wearing, social distancing, vaccination. We do not supervise the layers that families/friends choose with their loved ones in Independent Living or outside visits for Assisted Living. We expect that visitors who are visiting their loved ones are putting in place layers of safety that will not bring harm. This has proven to be the case as we have not had an instance of a visitor bringing a COVID exposure to residents in Independent Living.

Dr. Bonnie Henry has repeatedly shared that outside is safer than inside – the mask requirement from the PHO is for inside spaces only, such as stores, at this time. It is not a requirement for outside visits.

In summary, there are stricter restrictions for inside visits (versus outside visits) AND there are stricter restrictions for inside visits for residents living in long-term care and assisted living.

MAY 12, 2021 – MENNO HOME EAST 2 – COVID positive = 1 STAFF

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COVID UPDATE – May 12, 2021 – Menno Home E2

NEW COVID POSITIVE CASES  = 0 (0 residents / 0 staff)

TOTAL COVID POSITIVE CASES = 1 (0 residents/ 1 staff)

Menno Home E2 was removed off of enhanced monitoring today! Good work, Team! Social visits to resume!