Letters to Families

Dear families of Shelburne Long-Term Care,

We know that the past couple of months have not been an easy time for families. Policies set out by the provincial government and medical authorities, including physical distancing and restricted access to long-term care homes, have presented new and unique obstacles to interactions with loved ones.

And while COVID-19 has repeatedly tested us, our families and our communities have met every obstacle, every battle and every challenge with innovate and unique solutions to the quarantine measures we have in place.

Whether it’s window visits, FaceTime chats, signs on the lawn, drive-by parades or messages of love, your support for your loved ones has given them strength, and they continue to greet each day with renewed hope and joy.

One of the most important things this virus has shown us is the power of a family’s love, and we’d like to share with you a beautiful example of its strength that we’ve seen here at Shelburne LTC.

In April, our resident Jack Campbell tested positive for the virus. While he was tired much of the time, a staff member assisted him to have some FaceTime with his daughter, and that first day he sat up, smoothed his hair, and energetically talked with her. FaceTime chats progressed to window visits with his son and daughter-in-law. These interactions gave him purpose and the strength to carry on. With the love and support of his family, and the care of our staff, we are happy to say that Jack has made a full recovery, and his case of COVID-19 has since been declared resolved.

Jack is well-loved by everyone in our community and he continues to bring a smile to our face each day. His strength and determination to beat the virus have been remarkable, and we celebrate him as a “COVID Warrior”.

We are working on a number of initiatives for your loved one to make life more normal again. With the nicer weather, outdoor activities and time in our courtyard are being scheduled. We are considering initiatives around dining and other activities to restore some of the social aspects our residents have come to appreciate at Shelburne. More of this will be discussed in our next letter.

As we continue to meet the challenges of COVID-19, we want families to know that we are here to help support you in maintaining connections with your loved ones. We are always happy to receive families for window visits, and we are able to schedule phone calls, emails, texts or video calls with loved ones. For assistance in arranging one of these options, please contact Sarah Ricci at [email protected] or phone us at 519-925-3746.

We would also like to encourage everyone to check our Facebook page regularly for updates, stories and photos of your loved ones. With your permission, we will also continue to shine a light on our residents through our weekly communications with you, and we hope that you find joy and happiness in their stories like we do.

From all of us at Shelburne LTC—thank you for being our partner in this fight.

Sincerely,

Stacey Rooyakkers
Executive Director

Dear families of Shelburne Long-Term Care,

June 1st marks the beginning of Seniors’ Month in Ontario, and this year’s theme is Stay Safe, Stay in Touch.

As our province continues to address the challenges presented by COVID-19, especially in the long-term care sector, staying connected to family and loved ones has never been more important.

We know that many of our outbreak response measures, including quarantining residents in their rooms and limiting access to our home to essential personnel only, have created new obstacles in maintaining personal interactions. But over the past couple months, we’ve seen families develop new and creative ways to keep these important connections strong.

Whether it’s through a FaceTime chat, visiting at the window, participating in drive-by parades or posting signs with messages of love around the home, the families and wider community have helped keep the spirits of our residents high and cheerful.

As we continue to navigate these challenging times, we want to remind everyone that we are here to help keep families united and together through phone calls, emails, text messages or video messaging. For assistance in arranging one of these options, please contact Sarah Ricci at [email protected] or phone us at 519-925-3746.

Families and friends who are interested in celebrating a special senior in their life can also reach out to the following to request a message:

• Her Majesty the Queen: for Canadians celebrating birthdays of 100 years or more and for couples celebrating wedding anniversaries of 60 years or more (at five-year intervals)
• Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – for Ontarians celebrating birthdays of 90 years or more and for couples celebrating wedding anniversaries of 50 years or more.
• Prime Minister of Canada – for Canadians celebrating birthdays of 65 years or more (at five-year intervals) and for couples celebrating wedding anniversaries of 25 years of more (at five-year intervals).
• Premier of Ontario – for Ontarians celebrating birthdays of 80 years or more and for couples celebrating anniversaries of 40 years or more.

More information on how to request a special message, as well as programs and activities arranged by the provincial government to celebrate Seniors’ Month can be found at: https://www.ontario.ca/page/celebrating-seniors-ontario#section-1.

As we look forward to celebrating Seniors’ Month in Ontario, we hope you will join us in continuing to support our elderly residents.

Sincerely,

Stacey Rooyakkers
Executive Director

Dear families of Shelburne Long-Term Care,

Over the weekend we had our very first resident, attended by staff, enjoy the outdoors over the weekend after being in quarantine since April 6th.

Our entire team was very excited and grateful to get to share this experience with the resident, and the wider community through our social media channels.

It gives us great pride to bring stories like this from our community to the families of our residents, and we encourage everyone to check back routinely on our Shelburne Long-Term Care Facebook page for more stories and celebrations like this taking place in the home.

And as always, if you have any questions about the health of your loved one, or any of the measures we have in place, please reach out to us at 519-925-3746.

Sincerely,

Stacey Rooyakkers
Executive Director

Dear families of Shelburne Long-Term Care,

We are very happy to share with you that as of May 25th, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health (WDG Public Health) informed us that the outbreak of COVID-19 at our home has now been declared over as of today.

It is thanks to the tremendous efforts of our entire care team, the support of our family partners, and the help of the broader community and our healthcare partners that we have been successful in the battle against this virus at Shelburne Long-Term Care.

Our primary goal at this time is to maintain the pandemic outbreak response measures, in accordance with the directives set out by the provincial government and local health authorities.

As we continue to navigate the changing landscape of COVID-19, we would like to once again extend our appreciation to everyone within the community for your support and assistance. Together we are making a difference.

As always, if you have any questions about the health of your loved one, or any of the measures we have in place, please reach out to us at 519-925-3746.

Sincerely,

Stacey Rooyakkers
Executive Director

Dear families of Shelburne Long-Term Care,

Over the past couple days, we have received some positive news from the public health unit; eight staff cases of COVID-19 have been declared resolved and all 35 residents currently at the home have had their cases declared resolved.

We have also been able to welcome two residents back to Shelburne Long-Term Care from the community and hospital. It is heartwarming to welcome them back to their home.

Eight staff members who have also now been cleared to return to work. We are looking forward to having these staff members rejoin us when they are ready.
We hosted representatives from the Ministry of Health at the home this week as they conducted a routine inspection. We are pleased to report that there were no significant findings stemming from the visit and we are continuing to ensure the care and safety of your loved one is being met.

Over the past couple months, the Shelburne community has provided support, encouragement and kindness as Shelburne Long-Term Care worked diligently in the fight against COVID-19. We’ve seen businesses supporting our staff with care packages, families cheering up residents with parades and signs and staff providing care and support for residents and families impacted physically and emotionally by the coronavirus.

We would like to say thank you for your support and encouragement and for helping us to make our home a great place to live and work.

We will continue to keep you updated through our website, letters and phone calls, and if you have any questions about the measures we have in place or the health of your loved one, please call 519-925-3476.

Sincerely,

Stacey Rooyakkers
Executive Director

Dear families of Shelburne Long-Term Care,

As you may remember from our last letter, over the past several weeks, we have brought a number of our staff members back to work and hired new staff to support our residents and their families. As a result of these efforts, Headwaters Health Care Centre (HHCC) and Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health (WDG Public Health) expressed their confidence in our staffing levels and successfully completed the phased transition over the weekend.

While the majority of hospital staff have returned to their work at HHCC, we will continue to be supported by three hospital agency staff until May 26th.

We will also continue to be in regular contact with Ontario Health Central Region, Headwaters Heath Care Centre and Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health and will continue to receive their advice and guidance on our outbreak measures and response protocols.

We also know that over the weekend, the provincial government began to re-open the economy, and as a result, many people may be hopeful that access to Ontario’s long-term care homes will also begin to re-open.

And while we would like nothing more than to see families physically connected once more, for everyone’s safety we are continuing to keep our outbreak response measures in place. These measures include limiting access to the facility to essential personnel only, continuing to screen staff and residents and monitor for symptoms, requiring proper PPE use to be observed at all times, and continuing with sanitization and disinfection protocols. These measures will remain in place until health authorities deem it safe to lift them.

We know that being away from your loved ones hasn’t been easy, and we want to say ‘thank you’ to all the families who have supported us in this fight. Your participation in our outbreak response plan has helped us minimize risks and save the lives of some of our most vulnerable citizens.

We would also to extend our condolences to the family of a resident who passed away on Friday. This person is deeply missed by everyone in our community.

We will continue to keep you updated through our website, letters and phone calls, and if you ever have any questions about the measures we have in place or the health of your loved one, please call us at 519-925-3476.

Sincerely,

Stacey Rooyakkers
Executive Director