COVID Update for Residents and Families

March 25, 2020

Dear Residents and Families

I wanted to take this opportunity to connect with you and share what processes we have put in place to address the health and well being of your friends or family members living at Norgarden and The Peninsula.  To maintain social distancing in our Communities, we have limited the size and seating arrangement for our activities. The Activity Ladies have been coming up with innovative and creative ways to reduce the impact of isolation for our Residents while offering opportunity for social interaction. 

We are doing a daily activity newsletter that is delivered to each resident each night (see below for a sample!). We also have iPads available for FaceTime if you wish to set that up!

We moved to full tray service in the suites March 28th.  Our common areas will continue to be open with some modified restrictions in place.  I have spoken with all the residents and explained the importance of not going out into the community where other people are congregating, under any circumstance, this includes unfortunately visiting with family in either their home or car.  The way to keep our residents healthy, is to keep it out of our buildings. For this approach to work we need the cooperation of every single resident in the building.

Residents are welcome to sit outside or go for walks, but we would appreciate the help of family or friends to bring supplies to the front door of Norgarden and Peninsula and then we will deliver to the individual suites.  If residents do not have access to this type of support then we will shop for them and invoice them at the end of the month, however this is becoming a full time job for some of my staff, so any assistance you can offer to your loved ones would be appreciated.  Breakfast and dinner will be delivered, otherwise it is important that they have additional items in their suite for lunch if they are not on the lunch program (at our Peninsula building only). 

Information is coming fast and furiously, and our processes are changing daily.  High touch areas are cleaned several times a day and hand sanitizer is available at the single point of entry to the building and in the entrance to all common areas.  We are also taking the temperature of all the staff daily and have limited access to essential visitors only.  I have impressed upon the staff and residents the importance of regular and thorough hand washing several times a day as our best defense against the spread of this nasty virus.

My heartfelt gratitude and appreciation goes out to all of the staff at this time of crisis, for really showing up and doing and exceptional job of supporting our residents while juggling their own families and responsibilities.

Please feel free to reach out to me if you have questions or concerns and thank you to everyone that has offered beautiful words of support and physical support.

Sincerely,

Denise Tidman