Dear Residents and Families,
We have had another positive resident at Holy Family Home. This resident was not from the originally impacted floor. This resident was in isolation since returning from hospital and swabbed as part of routine practices for resident returning from hospital. We have reason to believe this resident contracted the virus due to the hospitalization. We have contacted the specific hospital for follow-up. As the resident was in isolation, the risk to other residents on the floor is minimal. These families of this floor have been contacted directly by phone. The contact tracing has been completed and staff have been assessed as to their level of risk and referred for testing as appropriate. To date, there have been 9 residents test positive for COVID-19 at the Home. Three of these residents have recovered, four are on the COVID unit, one resident is in hospital for an unrelated issue and sadly one resident has passed away. Our thoughts and prayers are with these residents for their recovery.
We acknowledge that there has been a lot of very distressing news in Winnipeg over the past few days. We have been asked to share more detail as to what has been implemented at Holy Family Home to contain the spread of the virus. Holy Family Home has dedicated staff who have worked extra hours to ensure we have maintained our staffing levels. We have had management presence at the Home seven days per week and the leadership team has gathered together on a moment’s notice to manage issues as they have arisen. We have a separate unit where our COVID positive residents are cared for by skilled staff who have volunteered to work there. These residents are receiving quality care and have a physician with knowledge of COVID-19 as the attending doctor.
In terms of sanitation, thanks to the generosity of our community supporters, we were fortunate enough to purchase two Nocosprays which are used in conjunction with traditional cleaning processes to sanitize rooms, equipment and belongings. High touch surfaces are cleaned several times daily and sanitation processes are all implemented. Staff are either eating meals alone or remaining physically distanced. There is no sharing of food and recreation is following all of the public health guidelines. We are actively screening all staff when reporting to work and when they leave at the end of their shift.
We have sufficient supplies and maintain a three week supply in house at all times. 225 of our staff have been fit tested for N95 masks and we will receive the machine required to complete the testing again in the near future. Wearing of personal protective equipment (PPE) is audited regularly and staff receive regular education as to the proper techniques to wear and remove PPE. Hand hygiene is also audited and there is ongoing education provided. Daily communications are shared with staff to be transparent and open with our situation.
We are in touch with the WRHA LTC program daily and are following all the direction and guidance received from public health. We will contact you directly should there be any issue with your loved one.
Please keep Holy Family Home in your thoughts and your prayers.
Sincerely,
Tara-Lee Procter (Maciuszonek) – CEO