Retirement and long-term care homes were allowed to welcome visitors starting Thursday, and it was perfect timing for Helen and Jack McPherson.
Thursday was the couple’s 31st wedding anniversary, and they were able to visit outside Trillium Manor, where Jack resides.
“This is a wonderful set-up,” Helen said. “Thank goodness it’s not winter.”
Only outdoor visits are permitted at long-term care homes, with residents allowed one visitor per week. Essential visitors are the only ones allowed inside. Visitors have to wear a mask and must have tested negative for COVID-19 14 days prior.
Jack has been at Trillium Manor in Orillia for five years and Helen has been a regular visitor since then, so it hasn’t been easy for the couple during the pandemic.
“We’ve been handling it as best as possible,” Helen said. “Not to be able to go in and play games and walk around has been hard. He likes to keep busy.”
The restrictions on long-term care homes are unfortunate but necessary, and the McPhersons know they’re for the best.
“We feel privileged because there are a lot of people who don’t have food or lodging or anywhere to go. We have that,” she said.
Trillium Manor is one of four long-term care homes operated by the County of Simcoe. Being able to have visitors again is important for residents, said Jane Sinclair, the county’s general manager of health and emergency services.
“Before COVID, we had some families … that would come almost every day or at least weekly. We’re social creatures. We need each other,” she said. “Families and the residents have been missing each other terribly. It’s been three months now.”
The county had been anticipating the province would allow visitors again. The question was when, but officials were prepared, Sinclair said.
“We are ready to go,” she said. “The directives from the province will ensure these visits will be done in a safe manner.”
Trillium Manor has set up an area outside where visits can take place while still remaining at least six feet apart. A shade tent has been set up, and tables and chairs are sanitized after every visit.
Sinclair acknowledged some of the rules “may seem strict, but they’re to protect people’s lives.”
“The restrictions are good. We often put in additional precautions over and above the province because the risk with this population is so high,” she said. “We know it’s really challenging, but what’s the alternative? There are still new cases every day. It’s still out there. We don’t have a vaccine.”
She said families have been “really, really supportive throughout this.”
“We can’t thank them enough for their support.”
While long-term care home visits must take place outside, retirement homes are welcoming people in again. Visits must take place in designated areas or residents’ rooms if physical distancing can be ensured.
Birchmere Retirement Residence and Champlain Manor will start accepting visitors on Monday. Visitors will go through a screening process that includes having their temperature taken and answering a list of questions. They, too, must have tested negative for COVID-19 14 days prior.
Since the province’s announcement last week that it would allow visitors back at the homes, “we haven’t been able to keep up with the phone calls” from family members wanting to see their loved ones, said Jackie Payne, administrator at Birchmere and Champlain Manor.
“It’s all about quality of life. If everyone’s locked up, there is no quality of life,” she said. “This is a good middle ground.”
Residents are also allowed to leave the premises for the first time in months. They can leave for a maximum of 12 hours a day, but not overnight. If they are heading out with family, the family member must still pass screening. Residents who are leaving with family are being advised to practise physical distancing and frequent hand washing.
“Education and hand sanitizing and masks are the critical things. We know that some of them are going to be hugging each other, but we have to tell them they’re not supposed to do that,” Payne said. “They need to be reminded, ‘Here, you are protected. Out there, you will encounter people who aren’t wearing masks.’”
Residents at both homes have, for the most part, been handling the restrictions well during the pandemic.
“Some of them have pointed out that they’ve been through the war, the Depression, things that went on for months and years,” Payne said.