Visitor Policy – Long Term Care (Menno Home and Menno Hospital) and Assisted Living (Terrace East) – from BCCDC.ca

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Visitor Policy – Long Term Care (Menno Home and Menno Hospital) and Assisted Living (Terrace East) – July 8, 2020

On June 30, 2020, Dr. Bonnie Henry, BC Public Health Officer announced that visits for residents in long term care and assisted living will resume.

These visits will be according to the guidelines provided by the BC Public Health Officer and the Regional Health Authorities. Visits will begin in July and guidelines will be reassessed in August.

* General visitor protocols will include:

  • Do not visit if you are sick or have symptoms of COVID-19 or you are self-isolating because you may have been exposed or recently travelled.
  • Only one designated person is allowed to visit.
  • Visits must be booked in advance.
  • Visitors will be screened for signs and symptoms of illness, including COVID-19, prior to every visit.
  • All visitors are required to bring and wear their own mask.
  • Visitors must clean hands before and after visit.
  • Cough or sneeze into your elbow and do not touch your face.
  • Visits will take place in specific “visiting areas,” which will be organized by each residence.
  • Visits with seniors who have mobility challenges will be assessed individually.
  • Visitors should maintain a distance of two meters or two arm lengths from others.
  • Visits are not allowed if there is an active COVID-19 outbreak at the residence.

We await the funding to ensure safe visits.
We await communication from Fraser Health to receive the additional funds promised June 30th by Adrian Dix, BC Minister of Health to hire three full-time equivalent staff in each Menno Home, Menno Hospital and Terrace East. These additional staff will:

  • schedule visits
  • transport residents to and from the designated visitation area
  • be dedicated to ensuring infection prevention and control measures for COVID-19 are followed to support safe visitation
  • screen visitors to make sure visitors do not enter the building if they are sick,
  • ensure visitors wash their hands before and after the visit and practice respiratory (cough, sneeze) etiquette
  • ensure visitors maintain a safe physical distance of at least two meters from residents and staff, and
  • support monitoring the heightened cleaning protocols that will need to be followed between visits

Menno Place is working on the specific instructions for spouses, family members and friends for visiting at Menno Home, Menno Hospital and Terrace East. Our first priority will be for spouses to visit their husband/wife. There are 63 spouses of residents in our care homes, eight of whom live on the campus-of-care in Menno Apartments. It is imperative that all visitors understand that these are no-touch visits with a social distance of at least two meters between the resident and visitor at all times. In order to protect our vulnerable residents and staff, we are taking a cautious and phased approach to resuming social visits.

*Source: BCCDC.ca  | BC Centre for Disease Control | Ministry of Health, British Columbia

FROM THE BC CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL WEBSITE – CLICK HERE