Our Response to COVID-19
June 19th, 2020
Current Status: No confirmed cases of COVID-19 in any Greenwood homes.
Last week, the Government made updates to Directive #3 and shared a “Reopening Retirement Homes” document. (https://files.ontario.ca/msaa-reopening-retirement-homes-en-2020-06-12.pdf)
We have been working through how best to start the resumption of visitors to our residences and how to safely support residents for short term absences. We have now developed a Visitor Policy and a Short Stay Absence Policy.
After almost 3 months of Ministry of Health restrictions on visitors, it feels like a quick jump to opening the doors, to residents heading out and visitors coming in. This is a risky turn of events for our loved ones, and we remain uncertain of how this may unfold.
Our residents have not experienced distanced line ups, curb side pickups, pre-booking for access and the difficult and sometimes long procedure of accessing the bank and other services. We have been educating our residents as to what the world outside retirement homes looks like, so they know what to expect. We want to ensure that they are prepared before they venture out. If you have a loved one who is eager to go off property on as of June 18th please encourage them to be safe and only go if absolutely necessary.
There have been some challenges in the phases of opening, some of our homes are in “phase II” regions, while others remain in “phase I”. There is still a great risk and therefore along with the reopening of the province, comes worry of seeing a second wave of infection spread.
Our new visitor policy outlines the very stringent guidelines required of visitors, it is important that you review the policy in full and understand the requirements outlined by the Chief Minister of Health. Please contact the residence directly to get a copy of their policy.
Here are some requirements for when you want to visit a loved one, in one of our homes.
- To access the building for an in-suite visit, you will have to have a negative COVID19 test. This must be your most recent test and it must have occurred in the last 14 days. Every fourteen days going forward, you will need to beretested.
- When you arrive for your indoor visit, you will need to provide your own surgical/medical mask.
- Outside visitors must wear a fabric mask for the duration of every visit. This is a government directive and although we are already adhering to the 6’ rule we ask you to adopt the fabric mask requirement going forward.
WE are not through this. With case numbers fluctuating as other areas of the province open, it is so important to make wise choices. Please support us by helping ensure that our residents adhere to masking and social distancing standards when outside of the building. We are working so extremely hard to keep COVID-19 out of our buildings and feel that the risk has now increased exponentially.
Let’s all work together to stay safe and healthy!
If you are looking for Residence specific information, please email the below addresses to be added to the communication fan out list.
Aberdeen Gardens, Hamilton ON info@aberdeengardens.com
Adelaide Place, Lindsay ON info@adelaideplace.com
Applewood Retirement Residence, Peterborough ON info@applewoodrr.com
Bramalea Retirement Residence, Brampton ON info@bramalearr.com
Caroline Place Retirement Residence, Hamilton ON info@caroline-place.com
Harmony Hill Retirement Community, Oshawa ON info@harmony-hill.ca
McCowan Retirement Residence, Scarborough ON info@mccowanrr.com
Retirement Suites by the Lake, Scarborough ON info@rsbl.ca
