Families of residents at the Williams Lake Seniors Village have been given some reassurance.

A notice went out today (Monday) from Retirement Concepts saying that the 6 residents who had direct contact with an employee who tested positive for COVID-19 have all tested negative.

The letter also states that they are continuing to be very diligent when it comes to the enhanced protocols that have been put in place.

It says that there are currently no residents that are presenting any COVID-19 symptoms.

Interior Health, meanwhile, says it doesn’t believe that the latest positive test is related to the original resident who tested positive last Monday.

The employee that tested positive has not worked at the Williams Lake Seniors Villiage for more than a week now, and is self-isolating at home.

 

COMPLETE LETTER

Dear Families of Williams Lake Seniors Village:

The 6 residents who had direct contact with COVID + employee have all tested NEGATIVE. We continue to be diligent in all our enhanced protocols for the continued safety of those persons in our care and for our staff.  At this time we do not have any additional residents presenting with any symptoms. Everyone remains in good spirits and are following all safety guidelines and protocols.

We continue to have direct contact daily with those family members who loved one is COVID +. For all other family members or friends that are the primary contact, these regular communications are sent out and available on our website.

We currently do not have any additional COVID + staff.  Our teams are truly inspiring as they continue to remain focused, positive and committed to the health, safety and wellbeing of all those we serve and one another.

For our IL and AL clients, thank you for your continued compliance with the new guidelines, we are hopeful as the days continue to pass without any additional cases, we will be able to resume regular activities of daily living in the very new at future.

The commitment, dedication, compassion and positivity of our staff is inspiring, all those we serve are in great hands.

The below information may seem repetitive but we do include it in every email so that you have any information you require readily available.

December 28^th we had a resident living in the eagle view unit, test positive for the COVID-19 virus. As a result of this, we have been declared on outbreak by the health authorities.

We are well prepared to look after this situation as we have been involved in COVID drills and preparedness programs since early in the pandemic.

We have put into action a number of protocols below, with the goal of protecting our residents as best we can:

Contact tracing between the individual and any other staff or residents and appropriate swabbing/testing will be done.

If your family member requires testing, you will be contacted by phone.

Please remind your loved one to reach out to us if they are feeling at all unwell. We know sometimes people don’t want to feel like they are disturbing anyone or feel that it’s a nuisance to call us over a sore throat but it never is. We are here to be there for them. Nothing is too little and we want to ensure we are on top of everything.

We have closed the dining room to reduce contact, and asked our residents to isolate themselves in their rooms, where meals will be provided by tray service.

We are grouping our staff into cohorts, responsible for designated areas of our Community. This means a specific set of staff will care for the same small group of residents, and not be exposed to the entire residence.  This reduced contact provides increased protection to your loved ones.

Unfortunately, we must also cancel all family visitations and pause any recreation or social activities.  Unless medically essential, we ask all residents to cancel any outside appointments.

We have notified our health authority and will work together with them for further testing, monitoring and prevention protocols. These events will be communicated to you in daily communications such as this, which will also be posted to the Community Update Section of our Website after it is sent out to you.  If you have other family or friends who would like to be updated, please feel free to direct them to www.retirementconcepts.com

We would like to thank you in advance for all for your understanding, patience and support as

We may not be able to answer your calls or emails right way. Staff are focused on the safe care of our residents.

Deliveries

All deliveries continue to be received.  All items are sanitized and delivered directly to the resident’s suites.

When dropping items off, we ask families to please follow the guidelines below in order to ensure that your loved one gets their deliveries in a timely manner:

1. Please use plastic bags, not reusable bags;
2. Please label all bags with resident’s name and room number;
3. Please limit drop-offs to essential items; and
4. If sending food or drinks please send single serve disposable items. Please do not send homemade food, fruit, or items that need to be refrigerated to any residents residing in Long Term Care.

Teamwork 

We wish to thank staff, residents and families for their cooperation and understanding, we will continue to keep you updated and informed.

Sincerely,

Your team at the Williams Lake Seniors Village