JUNE 24, 2021 – INDEPENDENT LIVING: PRIMROSE GARDENS, PAVILION, TERRACE WEST – CHANGE TO SOCIAL VISITS

JUNE 24, 2021 – INDEPENDENT LIVING: PRIMROSE GARDENS, PAVILION, TERRACE WEST – CHANGE TO SOCIAL VISITS

This memo was delivered to residents of Independent Living buildings on June 23, 2021

MEMO

Date:         June 18, 2021
To:              All Primrose Gardens, Terrace West and Pavilion Residents
Re:             New Guidelines and More Ways to Visit
________________________________________________________________________

Dear Residents of Primrose Gardens, Terrace West and Pavilion,

We are delighted to share that almost all residents have now received both of their COVID vaccines. In Pavilion and Terrace West 94% of residents have had both vaccines and in Primrose Gardens it’s 91%. This is great news and it means that we can open up some new guidelines and ways to visit.

  1. Masks for Residents – Residents in independent living are strongly recommended to wear their mask in common areas (hallways, elevators, lobbies, stairwell, laundry). Stay safe, the COVID variant can be fatal for the elderly, even to those who have double-dose vaccination.
  2. Masks for Visitors: Non-residents MUST wear masks in all common spaces in all apartment buildings. If you go out into the community you still need to follow the current Public Health Orders. Masks are required in all public buildings.
  3. Visiting other Residents – Starting today you can visit up to three residents in one suite. Keep your group consistent. Terrace East, Menno Home, Menno Hospital require pre-booked visits and all visitors to those buildings must wear a mask at all times.
  4. Booking a visit in Terrace East – Visitors to Terrace East are required to book their visit 48-hours in advance. You can book your visit online at MennoPlaceLife.com or by phone with Diana at (604) 853-2411 extension 2466.

Thank you for working with us to keep everyone safe!
Sincerely,

Cheryl Dawes
Manager of Community Enrichment

Fire Safety Education Week for The Apartments

MEMO: INDEPENDENT LIVING: PRIMROSE GARDENS – PAVING NOTICE

Special Note to Family and Friends of Primrose Gardens:

Please plan ahead if you plan to visit or pick up your loved one at Primrose Gardens as parking availability will be limited to street parking on Primrose St and the small bit on Brundige Ave. You may find parking takes a bit longer to find or a further walk to and from the building for your loved one when picking them up. Please take care when walking in the Primrose area.

UPDATE JUNE 21, 2021: The driveway around Primrose Gardens will likely be blocked off for Wednesday, June 23 as well. Please plan accordingly.

 

MEMO was handed out to Primrose Gardens residents on Friday, June 18th.


Date: June 18, 2021
To:              Primrose Gardens Residents
Re:             RE-PAVING OF PRIMROSE DRIVEWAY

 

Dear Primrose Gardens Residents,

On Tuesday, June 22nd we will have a work crew here to re-pave the Primrose Gardens front driveway from the east entrance on Primrose St, down and around to the north exit on Brundige Ave. This is to fix the pot holes and uneven areas in the asphalt. Your safety is our top priority and we want to make this area safe to walk on.

The plan at this time is to have the main entrance still in use, using the sidewalk portion to get to and from Brundige Ave. No Vehicles will have access to the driveway for the whole day but can do quick pick-ups and drop-offs along Brundige Ave (north side of Primrose Gardens).

Please use caution when walking in this work area.

If you have any concerns or questions, please call the Primrose Reception Desk – 604 851 4000

 

Bas Kervel

Manager of Environmental Services & Material Management

JUNE 7, 2021 – INDEPENDENT LIVING: PRIMROSE GARDENS & PAVILION – VACCINATION CLINIC RESCHEDULED

JUNE 7, 2021 – INDEPENDENT LIVING: PRIMROSE GARDENS & PAVILION – VACCINATION CLINIC RESCHEDULED

This memo was brought door to door to residents of Primrose Gardens and Pavilion on June 7th morning.

MEMO

Date:   June 7, 2021
To:       Primrose Gardens & Pavilion
Re:       Vaccination Clinic Rescheduled
________________________________________________________________________

Dear Residents of Primrose Gardens and Pavilion,

Fraser Health has rescheduled the vaccination clinics in Primrose Gardens AND Pavilion to TOMORROW, TUESDAY, JUNE 8TH.

The Dining Rooms will be open for lunch today, MONDAY. Please join us.

YOU WILL BE SERVED LUNCH IN YOUR SUITE, TUESDAY, JUNE 8TH DURING THE VACCINATION CLINIC.

All the same details in the former memo apply for Tuesday’s vaccination clinic.

Reminder: What do you need to bring?

  • Photo ID AND Health Care Card/BC Services Card (whatever card has your Personal Health Number on it)
  • Please wear your mask the whole time.
  • Wear a short sleeve shirt

 

Thank you for your patience and understanding,

Cheryl Dawes,

Manager of Community Enrichment

JUNE 4, 2021 – INDEPENDENT LIVING: PRIMROSE GARDENS & PAVILION – DETAILS FOR VACCINATION CLINIC

JUNE 4, 2021 – INDEPENDENT LIVING: PRIMROSE GARDENS & PAVILION – DETAILS FOR VACCINATION CLINIC

This memo was delivered to residents Friday, June 4th afternoon giving details on the following Monday Vaccination Clinic for 2nd COVID-19 vaccine doses.

Date:   June 4, 2021
To:       Primrose Gardens & Pavilion
Re:       COVID -19 2nd Dose Vaccination Clinic
________________________________________________________________________

Dear Residents of Primrose Gardens and Pavilion,

Fraser Health will be on campus Monday, June 7th in Primrose Gardens and Pavilion Dining Rooms giving vaccinations.

Staff will come to your door and let you know when it is time for you to come down for your vaccine. Please be patient and do not come down early. We will not miss anyone. We expect to get started between 9:30/10am and will move through each building floor by floor. This clinic will last until mid-afternoon in Primrose due to the quantity of residents.

PRIMROSE & PAVILION RESIDENTS: YOU WILL BE SERVED LUNCH IN YOUR SUITE FOR MONDAY ONLY so the clinic can continue to operate with no interruptions.

We have your completed consent forms and your vaccination cards and will give them to you just before you get your vaccine.

What do you need to bring?

  • Photo ID AND Health Care Card/BC Services Card (whatever card has your Personal Health Number on it)
  • Please wear your mask the whole time.
  • Wear a short sleeve shirt

You will be asked to wait for 15 minutes after you get your vaccine to monitor for any adverse reactions. You will be told when you can go back to your suite.

We will hold on to the small vaccination cards and laminate them for you. Staff will hand them back to you in the coming week after the clinic.

At this time, Fraser Health has told us that they will be bringing the Pfizer vaccine.

With Excitement,

Cheryl Dawes, Manager of Community Enrichment

 

MEMO: INDEPENDENT LIVING: PRIMROSE GARDENS, TERRACE WEST, PAVILION – SPRING REMINDERS

MAY 31, 2021: INDEPENDENT LIVING: PRIMROSE GARDENS, TERRACE WEST, PAVILION – SPRING NOTES & REMINDERS

This memo was handed out to Independent Living residents on June 1, 2021.

MEMO

Date:        May 31, 2021
To:            All Tenants of Terrace West, Pavilion, Primrose Gardens and Their Families and Friends
Re:            Spring Reminders
________________________________________________________________________

Dear Residents & Families of Terrace West, Pavilion and Primrose Gardens,

As we head into the warmer weather we wanted to give you a couple of reminders:

  1. Spring Cleaning – It’s a great time of year to take a look around the suite and see if there is any winter clothing to be packed away or any clutter that can be cleared. Family and friends can come in and assist residents in getting ready for spring and summer.
  2. Food items – During your visit ensure expired food from fridge, cupboards and counters are disposed of in garbage. Clean fridge as necessary.

 

  1. No More Grocery Deliveries – Families will deliver groceries and other items when they visit or residents can come and get them from the door.
  2. Air conditioners – All air conditioners must be installed by Menno Place staff. Call Brenda 604 851-4000 (Primrose Gardens & Pavilion) or Claire 604 851-4004 (Terrace West) to request installation.
  3. Wear Sunscreen – Enjoy these sunny days but remember to wear sunscreen to protect your skin. Add a hat for even better protection and don’t forget to drink lots of water if you’re out in the heat.

Cheryl Dawes
Manager of Community Enrichment

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

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

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

Mask Wearing at Menno Place

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.