Since the COVID-19 outbreak began, Bay Haven Care Community took precautionary measures to ensure that all residents and staff stay healthy and safe during these unprecedented times. Bay Haven Care Community is excited to announce that starting on Friday, June 26th, we will begin scheduled and supervised outside patio visits between residents and families. The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC) has issued strict guidelines to ensure safe family visiting takes place during this time. Please note that ALL of the following rules are extremely necessary before attending an outdoor patio visit. An outdoor patio visit cannot be scheduled unless all of the following criteria are met. If a visitor does not comply with these requirements, there will be immediate discontinuation for resident visiting.
Please read and adhere to the following Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care safeguards so we can maintain your family members safety.
1. All visits must be scheduled ahead of time and pre-screened over the phone.
The Bay Haven Care Community Recreation staff will make every effort to accommodate scheduling of visitors during regular visiting hours. Regular visiting hours will take place between 10:00 AM to 4:30 PM. To schedule a time, please call the Recreation Department at 705–445–6501 ext. 222 for Alivya on the Nursing Home side, or ext. 229 for Marco on the Retirement Home side.
2. Residents participating in the outside patio visit must be able to follow instructions.
All rules and instructions are placed for a reason. Everyone must be able to comply with the requirements for the outdoor patio visit. For those resident’s who’s current functional abilities prohibit compliance, or who are bed bound, a virtual or window visit will be scheduled. When you call to schedule the visit; Recreation staff can discuss options for you and your loved one.
3. All visitors must have a negative COVID-19 test result.
All visitors must have a negative COVID-19 test that has been conducted within the last 14 days. You can call Telehealth at 1 866–797–0000 and they will direct you to the nearest assessment centre for testing.
4. All visitors must pass an active screening questionnaire prior to the actual visit.
These active screening tools include having their temperature taken, attest that they are symptom free, have not been exposed to COVID-19 and have tested negative for COVID-19 within the last 14 days. Visitors must follow proper hand hygiene and cough etiquette.
5. Limit of one visitor per week to allow all residents the opportunity to visit with their loved one.
You will need to determine with your family members who this will be and how to plan your visits. At a later date and upon the home’s discretion supervised outdoor visits may increase from one visitor at a time to two or more. If visitors are adhering to current visiting protocols, resident safety will be maintained.
6. Visitors are responsible for bringing their own face covering for outside visits.
If a visitor forgets their medical mask or fabric face covering, Bay Have Care Community will provide you one. Visitors must wear the mask during the entire duration of their visit. Residents are not required to a wear face covering during the outside visit, but if they able to tolerate a mask, one will be provided.
7. All visitors will remain on the designated outdoor patio area during the visit.
When you arrive at the home, ring the doorbell and wait for Recreation staff to answer. Bay Haven Care Community is required to ask you a screening questionnaire. Both the resident and visiting family member must perform hand hygiene and maintain social distance of two metres.
8. All visitors should bring their own folding chair or lawn chair.
Please bring your own folding chairs or lawn chairs to the visit to stay comfortable outside. This will save the staff from having to disinfect surfaces after each visit and allow us to arrange for more visits.
9. The visits will be scheduled for a maximum of 30 minutes.
Please do not come early as we are trying to maintain social distancing between visiting families. Everyone is on a schedule, so we ask you to please coordinate your time properly.
10. The resident will remain 2 meters or 6 feet away.
All residents will be 2 meters or 6 feet away from the family member. Residents will be behind the table barrier. No items or gifts can be given directly to the residents. Staff will accept these gift items and follow our disinfecting protocols.
11. You must maintain a minimum distance of 2 metres / 6 feet from the resident and staff at all times.
We will bring the resident out to you and the staff member will return at the end of the visit to porter the resident back into the home. We know that it will be difficult to not hug or kiss your loved one, but it is necessary to ensure that no one unknowingly exposes our residents or staff to COVID-19. If these rules are not maintained and someone does come into contact with a resident, we are required by law to isolate the resident for 14 days post exposure. Please help us avoid this. Please maintain physical distancing by staying 2 metres / 6’ feet apart.
We understand that this is difficult for you and your family, but we feel it is necessary to allow these visits to happen safely. We are desperate for you and your resident to have these visits. Please help us by following these rule and guidelines. Any non-adherence to these rules will be the basis for discontinuation of future visits.
In the meantime, we will be evaluating the outdoor patio visits after the first few weeks. We welcome all feedback and encourage you to let us know how we can make these visit experiences better. Please feel free to share any comments or questions about all of the above rules and guidelines.
We are hopeful that this brings a bit of balance by ensuring our residents can see their family and loved ones in person while keeping safe as COVID-19 is still circulating in the community.
Please feel free to email or call us for any questions that you have and we will be happy to respond to you as soon as possible. Let’s work together to keep our residents healthy and COVID-free!
Thank you for your cooperation and stay healthy and safe!