× Search

Retirement Home - Windsor
(519) 254-1112
3140 Peter St, Windsor, Ontario, N9C 1H3

Cardinal Place Retirement Home COVID 19 Protocol

VISITOR SCREENING UPDATE

March 2024 Update

Hi Everyone,

We are glad to pass along this announcement.

On Behalf of MSAA: Enhanced Masking Recommendations Update

The Ministry for Seniors and Accessibility (MSAA) has ended the enhanced masking recommendations for retirement homes when the retirement home is not in outbreak.
More specifically, MSAA is no longer recommending enhanced masking for retirement home staff, students, volunteers, and Essential Visitors who are health care workers when in resident areas indoors.

However, retirement homes must continue to follow the masking requirements found in the MSAA COVID-19 Guidance for Retirement Homes in Ontario which are as follows:

Masks are required for staff, students, volunteers, and Essential Visitors who are health care workers, including Home and Community Care Support Services (HCCSS) workers, based on a point-of-care risk assessment (i.e., for determining if masking is needed before every resident interaction based on risk to the worker).
Staff may consider wearing a mask while providing 1:1 care within 2 meters of an individual for 15 minutes or longer.
Masks are recommended but not required for visitors who are not health care workers (e.g., families, friends, and caregivers who are not health care workers).

If you have questions, please contact RHinquiries@ontario.ca.

Again and again, THANK YOU for helping us protect our Members and facilitate their greater quality of life.

All the best,

Mike Cardinal

We thank you for your understanding and cooperation in keeping Cardinal Place the most SAFE and CARING place during the pandemic.

COVID test team from the EMS and Health Unit

Guiding Principles

• Safety: Any approach to visiting, absences, and activities must balance the health and safety needs of residents, staff, and visitors, and ensure risks of infection are mitigated.

• Mental Health and Emotional Well-being: Welcoming visitors, absences, and activities is intended to support the overall physical, mental and emotional well-being of residents by reducing any potential negative impacts related to social isolation.

• Equitable Access: All residents must be given equitable access to receive visitors and participate in activities consistent with their preferences and within restrictions that safeguard residents, staff and visitors.

• Flexibility: The physical characteristics/infrastructure of the home, its staffing availability, whether the home is in an outbreak, and the current status of the home with respect to infection prevention and control (IPAC) including personal protective equipment (PPE) are all variables to consider when administering home-specific policies for visiting, absences, and activities.

• Autonomy: Residents have the right to choose their visitors. Residents also have the right to designate their caregivers. If a resident is unable to do so, substitute decision-maker(s) may designate caregivers.

• Visitor Responsibility: Visitors play a role in reducing risk of infection by adhering to the IPAC requirements and recommendations described in this policy or the visitor policy of the home (as applicable).

• COVID-19 Vaccination: The goal of the provincial COVID-19 vaccination program is to protect Ontarians from COVID-19. Homes are highly encouraged to continue to promote vaccinations and boosters to all eligible residents, staff, and visitors. Staying up-to-date with COVID-19 vaccines helps to reduce the number of new cases and, most importantly, severe outcomes including hospitalizations and death due to COVID-19.

REQUIREMENTS

Retirement homes are responsible for ensuring that residents receive visitors safely by implementing visiting procedures that help to protect against the risk of COVID-19.

Cardinal Place has a COVID-19 Outbreak Preparedness Plan.

On an ongoing basis, Cardinal Place implements and ensures compliance with Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) measures according to the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) COVID-19 Guidance and the Windsor-Essex Public Health Unit (WEPHU).

THREE TYPES OF VISITORS

There are three categories of visitors: Essential Visitors, General Visitors, and Personal Care Service Providers. WEPHU may require restrictions on visitors depending on the specific situation. When a Member is isolating, General Visitors are not permitted, and Essential Visitors must use Droplet and Contact Precautions.

General Visitors should avoid entering the home for 10 days after COVID-19 symptom onset, if possible. If the visit is essential to the resident’s mental/physical well-being, the visitors may come into the home, wearing a mask at all times.

The government has provided and Cardinal Place makes available free Rapid Antigen Tests at the front door for Members and Visitors and Staff to use.

When providing services, Personal Care Service Providers must:

• Follow required public health and IPAC measures for retirement homes;

• Follow the masking requirements outlined in Section 3.2.3; and

• Practice hand hygiene and conduct environmental cleaning after each appointment.

PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT (PPE) USE

All Visitors and health care workers must also follow staff reminders and coaching on proper use of PPE.

Indoors and Outdoors

• Masks are required for staff, students, volunteers and Essential Visitors who are health care workers, including HCCSS workers based on a point-of-care risk assessment.

• Masks are recommended but not required for staff and Essential Visitors who are not health care workers (e.g., families, friends, and Essential Caregivers who are not health care workers), as well as General Visitors. Staff, students, volunteers, and Essential Visitors who are health care workers should consider masking during direct resident care to protect high-risk vulnerable residents, particularly during prolonged direct close care (within 2m for over 15 minutes).

Exemptions are according to MOH Guidance.

Thank you again for your support and cooperation. Thanks to you and our Cardinal Place Team, we have maintained one of the most COVID-safe, if not the most COVID-safe, retirement homes in Ontario.

Check out our latest BLOG post:

Cardinal Place is 100% vaccinated against COVID-19. Why is this important?

SCREENING

Passive screening is required for any individual entering the retirement home. Passive screening means that those entering the setting review screening questions themselves, and there is no verification or attestation of screening required by staff (e.g., signage at entrances as a visual reminder not to enter if symptomatic).

SYMPTOM ASSESSMENT OF MEMBERS

Although daily symptom and temperature assessments are no longer required, Cardinal Place staff remain highly aware that elderly individuals may present subtle or unusual signs and symptoms of COVID-19. Because we are a relatively small retirement home we understand Member’s baseline health and functioning, and continue to monitor each Member’s status on an ongoing basis.

There are no requirements for Member absences or admission*.

There are no requirements for home tours*.

There are no requirements for social gatherings, events or communal dining*. Frequent hand hygiene is recommended for all individuals. Cardinal Place has installed and maintains many hand sanitization stations throughout the building for everyone’s convenience.

* except the above masking, etc.

Thank you again for your support and cooperation. Thanks to you and our Cardinal Place Team, we have maintained one of the most COVID-safe, if not the most COVID-safe, retirement homes in Ontario. All the best,

Mike Cardinal

Cardinal Place

July 2023

Cardinal Place COVID-19 Protocol

As a licensee of the RHRA, Cardinal Place is required to plan ahead for all kinds of catastrophic situations. This pandemic is no different.

Thanks to all our efforts, COVID-19 HAS NOT INFECTED Cardinal Place.

Currently, our Members enjoy meals and activities together and, in our bubble, wearing a mask is optional for a Member. Cardinal Place staff must wear a mask when in the building and must remain at least 2 metres apart when not wearing a mask like when eating on a break. Of course regular hand washing and hand disinfecting is an ongoing habit. Twice a day our staff disinfects all the hallway touch surfaces like door handles and elevator buttons. The staff also disinfects the salt, pepper, sugar and sweetener containers and tables and chair arms between meals.

By order of the Province, we staff the front door with a “Porter” seven days a week from 10 a.m. till 8 p.m. Visitors and returning Members are actively screened.
Visitors who fail screening will not be permitted to enter.
Members who fail screening will be carefully escorted to their rooms to be isolated and tested for COVID-19.

Please take this pandemic seriously and alter your personal habits toward safety and the protection of others.

IF COVID-19 were to break out, here this is what we would do:

All Members would be isolated in their rooms. We are fortunate that our ventilation system is not interlinked between rooms. Therefore, each room is infection safe as well as fire safe.
Meals would be served to Members in their rooms.
Smokers would not be allowed out of their room. Instead, we highly recommend that they make arrangements to have a nicotine patch prescription available.
All Members and Staff would be tested.
Activities would be offered in rooms, not in common. A supply of hobby and interest materials like crafts, books, games or puzzles is recommended.
Staff would be using all of the latest recommended Personal Protective Equipment. We currently have more than three weeks supply of PPE in our building and have ordered more. Our aim is to have 8 weeks of PPE in our building on an ongoing basis.
Staff would also be divided into cohorts serving only two floors each, not the entire building.

We ask for your understanding during this difficult time.

Additional Measures

Our staff work only at Cardinal Place and make personal sacrifices in their home lives to ensure they are not exposed to the coronavirus.

The Cardinal Place Care Team did all the extra work formerly done by government-funded outside agencies during the months of April through mid-July. We have now arranged with some of those agencies to supply dedicated workers who will work only at Cardinal Place. These measures are to prevent the spread of COVID-19 from one seniors' home to others.

We've added a cook, busboys, cleaners, Personal Support Workers (PSW) and Registered Practical Nurses (RPN) to our staff. Doubling up our staff ensures we are covered if someone gets sick.