Deep cleaning, more staffing, physician rounding and enhanced communications with designated family members underway
April 25, 2020 – Pickering, Ontario – Over the past 48 hours Lakeridge Health, in support of Southbridge Care, has significantly increased the supports being provided to residents of Pickering’s Orchard Villa long-term care and retirement home. Physicians, nurses, personal support workers, and other experts have come to the home to help stop the outbreak and bring aid to the people most in need.
“We continue to make progress on all fronts to improve the situation for residents at Orchard Villa. We are focused on attacking this outbreak together and enhancing the care and supports for residents,” said Susan deRyk Interim President and CEO of Lakeridge Health. “Our top priority continues to be ensuring care and supports for residents and connecting with each resident’s designated contact to provide individualized updates about their loved ones.”
“The COVID-19 virus has presented extreme challenges at Orchard Villa and across the long-term care community. Having more front-line support — including physicians, nurses and other clinicians — in our home will help ensure we can better attend to the needs of our residents,” said Ryan Bell, CEO Southbridge Care. “We are grateful to Lakeridge Health and other government partners in how they have responded to our call. The most important thing is that we see our community through this crisis.”
The significant changes underway at Orchard Villa include:
Resident/Family Communication and Updates – Keeping families informed
Lakeridge Health’s patient experience team is reaching out to their family member identified as the key contact for each resident to provide individualized updates on condition, and answer questions about the outbreak response. These regular updates began on Thursday and are ongoing.
Lakeridge Health, Canadian Armed Forces Boosting staffing levels
More highly trained clinicians and staff are onsite at Orchard Villa to provide residents the care and personal supports they need as the outbreak is being resolved. Last night (Friday), a team of Lakeridge Health Registered Nurses, Registered Practical Nurses, Personal Support Workers, and Dietary professionals began supporting residents at the home, with more coming this weekend.
A medical unit provided by the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) will be onsite in the days ahead to bolster the onsite care team. The CAF representatives were onsite today to tour the facility and meet with the Lakeridge Health and Southbridge Care leadership teams.
Infection Prevention and Control – Stronger protections against virus transmission and spread
On Friday, Dr. Dan Ricciuto, a Lakeridge Health Infectious Disease physician, along with a team of infection prevention and control (IPAC) experts, conducted a detailed review to identify opportunities to enhance safety at Orchard Villa. Over the coming days, a number of new protocols and processes will take effect, including enhanced mandatory education and retraining for staff at the home.
Facility Deep Cleaning
To provide the safest environment for residents and staff, Lakeridge Health has brought in a company that specializes in cleaning and disinfection of health care environments to perform a ‘deep clean’ of Orchard Villa. This thorough cleaning will cover every part of Orchard Villa, including all shared spaces and all rooms.
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