RESIDENT INFO: INDEPENDENT LIVING – CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS, GIFTS, VISITING

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This memo will be handed out to Independent Living on December 15, 2020.

MEMO

Date: December 15, 2020
To: Menno Place PAVILION, TERRACE WEST, PRIMROSE GARDENS Independent Living Apartment Residents, Family & Friends
Re: New Infection Control Guidelines for the Holiday Season 2020 in effect until at least January 8, 2021

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The holiday season this year will be challenging for all of us as we face unprecedented COVID-19 positive case numbers in our community. Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, has released infection control guidelines for this season, until at least January 8th. As you live in a congregate living environment, we have outlined some additional protocols that will serve to keep you safe.

How does this affect you, a resident of Pavilion, Terrace West & Primrose Gardens?

  1. Essential Outings Only
    Essential outings do not include: visiting family homes, shopping, going out to restaurants or cafes, attending church, or receiving external salon services (the TE hairdresser and on-site foot care are still be available). They do include essential medical appointments. This is NOT the time to be out and about.
  1. Essential Medical Appointments Only
    If a medical appointment could prevent an eventual visit to the ER, it is considered essential. An example of a non-essential medical appointment is a regular visit to the dentist.
  1. Groceries delivered Registered Visitors
    Groceries can to be delivered through the Registered Visitor. Residents may leave the Menno Place campus for essential supplies. i.e. to pick up medications that cannot be delivered. Groceries can also be ordered online and delivered through a Grocery Delivery Service.
  1. Walks Off-Campus are Permitted
    If you go for a walk with someone else, remember to wear your mask and stay 6-feet apart.
  1. Christmas Celebrations – Christmas dinner can be brought to you by your Registered Visitor(s). It should be in a wipeable container. They may join you for your Christmas meal. You are asked to stay in your apartment suite with your Registered Visitor(s) as your household bubble. Wear masks when you aren’t eating. Sit 6 feet apart when you are eating together.
  1. If you go to a family home over Christmas, you will be required to self-isolate in your apartment for 14 days upon your return to your Independent Living Suite. [su_highlight]THIS IS HIGH RISK and not recommended by the Provincial Health Officer.[/su_highlight]
    You will be billed for the isolation process and required Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
  1. Christmas gifts and decorations can be brought in by the Registered Visitor. All gifts will need to be quarantined for 48-hours.
  1. Hospital Visits and Returning to 14-Day Isolation – All residents who go to hospital will be on 14-day isolation upon returning to their apartment suite. This includes day procedures, ER visits, overnight stays. There is no minimum time in the hospital visit to qualify for 14-day isolation.

What continues?

  • The regular meal rotation in the dining room will continue.
  • The Terrace East hairdresser and Pavilion are still open.
  • Foot care is still available – three footcare nurses.
  • Flower deliveries are being received as long as they are in a wipeable container.
    Orders can be made through Buckets Fresh Flower Market in Abbotsford at abbotsfordflorist.com

What is the process if a resident has been in contact with a COVID positive person?

As the prevalence of COVID in the Abbotsford community grows, so does the risk that a resident in the Menno Apartments will be infected with COVID. Since August, we have three instances of a COVID positive person entering our Independent Living apartment buildings. Two were Fraser Health Home Support workers and one was a Registered Visitor.

What happens after we discover that a visitor to an apartment suite is COVID positive?

  1. Enhanced Cleaning: We continue our enhanced cleaning around the apartment buildings – high-touch points (elevator buttons, door handles, railings, smash bars on the doors) are being cleaned multiple times per day.
  2. Isolation for 14 Days: The resident in isolation must stay in their suite for 14 days while they MIGHT be infectious.
  3. Isolation Cart: We immediately put an isolation cart outside the apartment suite of the resident who has been in contact with a COVID positive person.
  4. COVID Swab Test: If they have any symptoms, they will be swabbed. For independent living residents, the registered visitor will take them to the COVID testing site for the swab.
  5. Rely on Registered Visitors: Registered Visitors play THE primary role in supporting a resident who is in isolation. They may enter the suite in full PPE to provide essential services for the resident. The Registered Visitor supports the resident with food, daily active screening for symptoms and social contact. If they develop symptoms that require additional support (vomitting or diahrrea) these are supported by the Registered Visitors or Home Support (privately contracted by the resident or Fraser Health Home Support contracted through Home Health). Menno Place does not have the staff to provide care, laundry or housekeeping support for those who are not already clients.
  6. Full PPE to enter the suite: Any entrance into the apartment suite during isolation (symptoms or not) MUST be done in full PPE. The PPE is in the isolation cart beside the apartment door with donning and doffing instructions (gown, gloves, mask, goggles).
  7. Appropriate Disclosure to keep all safe: If there is a COVID positive in the apartment building, we will share this with the residents in the apartment building, staff who work in that apartment building and all of the Menno Place campus (staff, residents, families). We protect the privacy of the individual, so we don’t communicate the name of the COVID-positive individual to those who do not need to know.

Keep yourself and others safe this holiday season! Remember to wear a mask over your mouth and nose outside of your apartment. Stay 6 feet apart from others. Use hand sanitizer or wash your hands with soap and hot water regularly. Do not touch your face. Practice proper respiratory etiquette.

If you have any questions regarding this information, please contact Cheryl Dawes, Manager of Community Enrichment for Apartments at Cheryl.Dawes@mennoplace.ca or 604-851-4020.

RESIDENT MEMO: TERRACE EAST – ASSISTED LIVING

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This memo has been handed out to residents of the Terrace East Assisted Living Apartments as of 2:30pm, December 11, 2020

MEMO

Date: December 10, 2020
To: Menno Place TERRACE EAST ASSISTED LIVING Apartment Residents, Family & Friends
Re: New Infection Control Guidelines for the Holiday Season 2020

________________________________________________________________________

The holiday season this year will be challenging for all of us as we face unprecedented COVID-19 positive case numbers in our community. Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, has released safer protocols for all of those living in Assisted Living facilities in B.C.

How does this affect you, a resident of Menno Place Terrace East Assisted Living?

  1. Essential Outings Only
    Essential outings do not include: visiting family homes, shopping, going out to restaurants or cafes, attending church, or receiving external salon services (the TE hairdresser and on-site foot care will still be available).
  1. Essential Medical Appointments Only
    If a medical appointment could prevent an eventual visit to the ER, it is considered essential. An example of a non-essential medical appointment is a regular visit to the dentist.
  2. Grocery Deliveries Continue
    Groceries can to be delivered to Terrace East Reception 9:00am-11:30 am, seven days a week. Residents may leave the Menno Place campus for essential supplies. i.e. to pick up medications that cannot be delivered.
  3. Walks Off-Campus are Permitted

If you go for a walk with someone else, remember to wear your mask and stay 6-feet apart.

  1. If you go to a family home over Christmas, you will need to self-isolate in your apartment for 14 days upon your return to Terrace East. [su_highlight]THIS IS HIGH RISK and not recommended by the Provincial Health Officer.[/su_highlight]

You will be billed for the isolation process and required Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

  1. Christmas gifts can be delivered to Terrace East Reception beginning Dec 10 until Dec 21 in order to be quarantined for 48-hours. Deliveries can be made Every day from 9:00am to 11:30am. Gifts will be delivered to residents

What continues?

  • The regular meal rotation in the dining room will continue.
  • Physically distanced activities led by the Menno Place Recreation Team continue (no singing).
  • The Terrace East hairdresser is open.
  • Foot care is still available.
  • Safe Social Visits with your one Designated Visitor continue in the Terrace East Lounge Sunday through Friday between 11:15am and 6:15pm (except STAT holidays). All Designated Visitors have received links to make bookings.
  • Flower deliveries are being received as long as they are in a wipeable container. Orders can be made through Buckets Fresh Flower Market in Abbotsford at abbotsfordflorist.com

Keep yourself and others safe this holiday season! Remember to wear a mask over your mouth and nose outside of your apartment. Stay 6 feet apart from others. Use hand sanitizer or wash your hands with soap and hot water regularly. Do not touch your face. Practice proper respiratory etiquette.

If you have any questions regarding this information, please contact Cheryl Dawes, Manager of Community Enrichment for Apartments at Cheryl.Dawes@mennoplace.ca or 604-851-4020.

Send a Christmas gift to your loved one at Menno Place!

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Here’s how you can safely deliver a Christmas gift to your loved one this year.

Read more

Bring your Christmas Cheer – we need you – come decorate!

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**Would you like to encourage the Menno Place staff and residents? **

We have an idea… maybe it’s a bit “out there”, but we think it will feel joyful and wonderful and encouraging. We need some cheer – and so do you!
These are strange times and we need a boost of hope and joy and love and peace. Our staff need a boost of encouragement and energy and smiles. Our residents need a boost, knowing that the community is cheering them on.

So, what’s our big idea?

We are inviting the people who love and care for seniors and Menno Place to come here and decorate any of our trees and shrubs around the campus. We are asking you to come to us and show your support by making our trees and bushes alive with joy and love and strength and community support.
We welcome you with your ornaments and your ribbons and your dangly-doos and your happy sounds. Bring your instruments, your voices, your prayers and your good will as you decorate. Bring your banners and signs and glitter and ribbons. We welcome it all! Cut loose and bring us the cheer of Christmas – and cheer us on!
Bring your families and school cohorts. Be safe, and come and bring your joy! We want you here. We want to see you cheering us on. We need you.
We don’t have plugins, so electrical displays are not an option, but we welcome everything else that beautifies.
There’s a familiar Christmas story that many of us watch every year – it’s all about how a Grinch tried to steal Christmas from the good people of Whoville. Nothing could stop Christmas – nothing.
Even when every part of traditional Christmas was taken from them, the Who’s in Whoville sang:
Christmas day will always be
Just so long as we have we.
We need you. Will come and bring the Christmas love and cheer? Nothing, even COVID, can stop the love and togetherness that we have as a community. Will you show us your support?

Water Shutdown – Primrose Gardens – Dec. 3, 8am – 12pm

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Water Shut Down – Primrose Gardens only– December 3, 8am – 12pm

Maintenance is replacing the Primrose Gardens hot water tanks on Thursday of this week. the project will take approximately 4 hours, but could take longer if there are unexpected issues.
Please be prepared by filling up water containers for drinking, cooking, hand washing and flushing the toilet.

Send your thanks to Nik Van Egdom as he starts a new adventure

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In 2017, we created a new role, Life Enrichment Coordinator and sought a person who would be the ultimate liasion for residents of The Apartments at Menno Place. Nik van Edgom was the first to take on this position and he has done it with great joy, energy and compassion. Nik is about to embark on a new adventure – following his life passion for baking, he is the new owner of a Cobb’s Bread franchise in Mission, BC. Previous to working at Menno Place, Nik was a cook and a manager of several Cobb’s stores. We wish Nik well in his new adventure and thank him for all of his kindness and help over the past 3 years that he has served in the Apartments.

Would you like to add your thanks to ours?

Please fill out the form below before December 8th to have your words added to ours at Nik’s virtual going-away party.

Fill out my online form.

Encourage the Frontline Workers

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Encourage the Frontline Workers

You sent 18 messages through the Encourage our Frontline workers form and it brought some of our staff to tears. Your words go straight to the heart in and rejuvenate our team. Here are some samples of what you sent directly to the staff:
“You are all so appreciated. I know this is the hardest thing you have ever had to do. I know you are worried about your own families, your own selves. Thank you for taking care of our loved ones. There really aren’t words that can express the appreciation. I can’t fathom what you experience every day but I am with you and I am always sending positivity your way. Xoxo”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you for taking such excellent care of our mother. We appreciate every staff person working on E2. Please know that we lift you and your familes up in our prayers to our gracious Heavenly Father. He sees your loving service. Great will be your reward. We are indebted to you all.”
“Thank you so very much to all of you. We love you and send hope, peace and love ❤ for all you do as you work and support in Spirit you colleagues throughout the Menno Place campus.”
“Thank you, thank you!! So much hope, peace and strength is being prayed for you right now. You are all doing good and important work! From W and M, children of GK”
“Thank you for your continuing support of caring for my husband and others in Menno. I am grateful for your dedication and caring hours of service. Keep Safe. God Bless”
“Thank you so much for caring for my Mom, and all the residents. Thank you especially to those who are helping Mom eat these days. You are special people and we appreciate you and pray for your strength.”
“My dad is GD in TW. From our family to yours we pray for you each day to be safe, healthy and that your spirits stay strong. We appreciate every smile, your kindness and your hard work. You are all so amazing and we can’t thank you enough for all that you are doing. Blessings to all of you.”
“For each & every one who works at Menno Place – Bless you for the extraordinary work you do! The challenges of this virus has impacted your lives in unimaginable ways. May God give you the strength & health to forge ahead. Like the hummingbirds who winter here, wings in constant motion, defying the odds of nature, seeking the nectar to sustain them, you bring happiness & hope to all you serve. Thank you all for this commitment to care for those who need you. May you all be safe. With Appreciation, S”
“Thank you, thank you, for all your compassion and care for our dad, PG!! May you be strengthened as you know and realize how much we appreciate you all. Praying our God will keep you healthy and strong, God is your strength!! This too shall pass. love you all. The G family.”
“As always, we are so grateful to all of you ????especially now in these incredibly tough conditions, there are not words to thank you.”
Your beautiful thoughts and prayers go straight to the nurses – a tool that they can use for the encouragement of their teams.
Thank you for making this possible for them. Today is day 9 in Menno Home and some are weary and some are afraid and some are bold and some are brave. We all need each other because all of us will be all of these things.
If you would like to add to the thoughts and prayers, you can fill out this form online: CLICK HERE

Purchase Medical Grade Masks – The Apartments

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We have ordered 40 boxes of medical grade masks. We are offering this initially to residents and Registered Visitors from Primrose Gardens, Terrace WEST and Pavilion.
Place your order here
Menno Place supplies medical grade masks to Designated Visitors in the Safe Visit program (Home, Hospital, Terrace East) and to the residents in Terrace East. We supply medical grade masks at the entrances of Primrose Gardens, Terrace West and Pavilion, however, Regsitered Visitors and Residents may wish to purchase their own box.

Frequently Asked Questions:

  1. How much does a box cost? $20
  2. How many masks are in a box? 50
  3. How many boxes can I order? 2 boxes per order
  4. Who can purchase these? Residents and Registered Visitors in Primrose Gardens, Terrace West and Pavilion
  5. How are they delivered? To the resident’s apartment suite
  6. How are they paid for? On the resident’s monthly billing statement
  7. What if you run out and I’ve put in an order? We either re-order or let you know that we can’t provide them to you
  8. Does this program mean that nurses and care aides won’t have proper PPE in another part of Menno Place? No. These masks are from a different supplier.
  9. What is a medical-grade mask? Click here to go to the BCCDC website to learn more
  10. If I have a special reason to purchase and my loved one lives in Terrace East, Menno Home or Menno Hospital, what can I do? Reach out to Garry.Janzen@MennoPlace.ca

Prayer for the Light of God’s Presence at Menno Place

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From Menno Home Chaplain, Ingrid Schultz (written while on isolation):

PRAYER FOR THE LIGHT OF GOD’S PRESENCE AT MENNO PLACE

The news of COVID 19 at Menno Home came in the midst of Diwali, the 5 day festival of lights, celebrated by many of our staff.  Diwali signifies light overcoming darkness.  Next Sunday, November 29, is the beginning of Advent, the 4 weeks before Christmas, when we remember God’s light coming into the world in Jesus, whose arrival is foreshadowed by these words:

By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 1:78-79)

We need that light and peace at Menno Place right now.  As we pray for Menno Home East 2 residents and staff and for our whole campus of care, let us pray for God’s healing light overcoming COVID 19.  Let us also pray that we can be bearers of God’s light and peace as we care for residents, their families and fellow staff.

Please join me in this prayer for Menno Place (adapted from a prayer by Carol Penner):

Great God, you are our light and our peace, an ever-present help in times of trouble, and that’s why we’re praying now.

We are troubled by COVID 19 coming to Menno Home East 2 and we’re worried things are going to get more troubling as cases of the virus are increasing in care homes across BC.

We pray the light of your presence with our front line staff who care for residents on East 2, and across our campus of care.

Protect them and grant them the peace, wisdom and courage to do their work.

Keep them safe.  

Be with our leadership team and Fraser Health officials, with Dr. Bonnie Henry and Adrian Dix as they make decisions for the common good.

We pray for your healing light, comfort and peace for our residents and their families in this worrying time.

Help us all to be kind to one another and to be calm as anxious times can make us snappy.

Thank you that your love is also contagious and stronger than any virus.

Thank you that in this Advent season we remember that Jesus came to bring us the light of your love in the midst of darkness, hope in the midst of despair and peace in the midst of anxious and unsetting times.

Help us all to be bearers of your light, love, hope and peace at Menno Place.

Amen.

Update – Visits at Menno Place

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Update: VISITS

We are very sad that we’ve had to make some changes to the visits in Menno Home – we know how important these are to family.
You may wish to use the Send a Message of Love. We will print and deliver to any resident: CLICK HERE

Menno Home E2 – COVID positive unit (outbreak) – Long Term Care

  • All visits are cancelled during the outbreak
  • Actively dying (COVID related or not), nursing will call the family to be with their loved one
  • Essential deliveries only with the exception of cards

Menno Home W1, W2, E1 – Long Term Care

  • Zoom Calls – continue as normal
  • Essential Visits – temporarily suspended while we are on full droplet precaution
  • Window Visits – temporarily suspended while we are on full droplet precaution
  • Actively dying – nursing will call the family to be with their loved one
  • Safe Visits – cancelled for 2 weeks, we will keep you informed
  • Essential deliveries only with the exception of cards

Menno Hospital – Long Term Care

  • All visits continue
  • Deliveries continue, including “extras” (eg: snacks)

Terrace East – Assisted Living

  • All Safe Visits continue
  • Deliveries continue, including “extras” (eg: snacks)
  • Residents have been advised to stay in their suites and limit outings to essential outings only

Primrose Gardens, Terrace West, Pavilion – Independent Living

  • Registered Visitor program continues
  • Residents have been advised to stay in their suites and limit outings to essential outings only