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Evergreen Home for Special Care Family and Friends,
Evergreen continues to strictly follow directives from the Chief Medical Officer of Health, the Department of Health and Wellness and Public Health in relation to COVID-19. The safety of residents and staff is the top priority of Evergreen and we continue to make adjustments to our daily practices and pandemic plan.
As of April 27, 2020 there are no positive cases of COVID-19 at Evergreen Home for Special Care among residents or staff.
Please note some of the important changes we have implemented to our daily practices, in addition to the items listed in April 14, 2020 Evergreen Family Update:
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Avenues have been closed off from one another to limit the volume of people (residents and staff) traveling through them. Children Centre and Senior Centre have been closed to one another since April 6, 2020.
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Residents are eating in dining rooms nearest their Avenue, where possible. Residents are sharing tables with their roommate to limit additional contacts.
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Staff are having their breaks in designated spaces on the Avenue they are working, rather than all gathering in the main staff room.
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Evergreen is continuing to hire new staff in Environmental Services and Nursing Departments.
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Some residents have been relocated to accommodate for a COVID-19 Unit for the Senior Centre, to be prepared in the event that we have residents who tests positive for COVID-19. This unit is set-up at the end of 2nd West Avenue, and all families with impacted residents have been notified.
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Children Centre Pandemic Plan also includes a space for isolation and closing off areas of the Centre in the event that we have a resident who tests positive for COVID-19. At this time these plans have not required residents to be relocated.
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Staff are actively screened at the beginning of every shift for symptoms, including temperature checks. When a staff member shows any symptom, they must be tested for COVID-19, receive a negative resuls and be symptom free for 48-hours before returning to work. Reports are sent daily to Public Health.
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Evergreen is following a universal masking protocol, where staff wear a medical mask throughout the day to limit the spread of germs from staff to residents.
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Active surveillance of residents for symptoms twice daily, including temperature checks. Reports are sent daily to Public Health.
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Ongoing and frequent communication with Public Health for best directions.
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Recreation and Chaplain continue with 1:1 visits and small scale programming, respecting social distancing, 5 person limit of groups, and limiting equipment use that could spread germs. There is still a lot of music radiating throughout Evergreen!
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Communication between residents and their family/friends is very important. We continue to welcome family to safely keep connected to your loved ones in the following ways:
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Mail a letter (all mail is isolated for 48hours), or call your loved one.
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Send your well wishes in an email to be printed off and read to your loved one.
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Call/Email to schedule a video call (Facetime, Skype or Messenger)
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Call/Email to schedule a 'Window Visit' where you can visit your loved one safely through the window, and communicate through cell phones.
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Please note, in order to ensure staff availability and resident safety, all video calls/visits must be scheduled.
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Scheduling calls/visits can be arranged through:
Jennifer Burgess ext. 307 OR Paul Wood ext. 241
j.burgess@evergreenhome.ns.ca p.wood@evergreenhome.ns.ca
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On weekends, please call nursing supervisor
Children Centre ext. 7002
Senior Centre ext. 6030/6013
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Evergreen recognizes that changes and restrictions put in place can be difficult for our residents to understand and adjust to, please know that these are important measures to have in place as precautionary and preventative steps for overall safety and well-being of residents and staff. As much as possible, we continue to maintain your loved ones daily routine with nursing care, social visits, dining, and recreation programming.
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Family Updates related to COVID-19 are being sent out bi-weekly. Would you prefer to get updates more frequently? Please let us know by calling/email Jennifer at ext. 307 or j.burgess@evergreenhome.ns.ca
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Do we have your email on file? If you are receiving these updates in the mail, it's because we do not have your email address on file. If you would prefer to receiving mail from Evergreen via email, please send your email address to r.mahoney@evergreenhome.ns.ca
Information concerning COVID-19 can be found at https://novascotia.ca/coronavirus and http://www.nshealth.ca/continuing-care
Evergreen Home for Special Care can also be searched on Facebook!
If you have any further questions regarding safety and prevention measures put in place regarding COVID-19, please reach out to one of the following; (902)678-7355
Stay safe and take care,
Evergreen Home for Special Care
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