Please see the following information about the visitation that begins next week.
Prior to all visits, visitors must be screened using the provincial screening tool. This screening is a mandatory requirement from the Department of Health and Wellness & Public Health.
It is imperative that all visitors stay away from the RK MacDonald with the slightest cold or flu-like symptoms in order to support the safety of all.
Please click here to view the whole document.
Dear Family and Friends of RK MacDonald Nursing Home:
As you are aware, another announcement was made Tuesday regarding visitation in Long Term Care facilities in Nova Scotia.
We received the confirmation of these changes and accompanying regulations mid-afternoon on Friday, September 4, 2020.
Click here to read the full post.
Dear Family and Friends of RK MacDonald Nursing Home:
As you are aware, another announcement was made Tuesday regarding visitation in Long Term Care facilities in Nova Scotia.
We received the confirmation of these changes and accompanying regulations mid-afternoon on Friday, September 4, 2020.
We are in the process of organizing our resources to ensure that we follow the regulations as mandated to each facility. This will include reaching out to Residents and Substitute Decision Makers to identify designated care providers by the end of the week.
We are also in the process of developing a required education/training program for visitors as well as working through the directive details to ensure we have resources to pre-screen all visitors by phone prior to their visit. We are in the process of developing and ordering the necessary signage, developing the required education/training program and ensuring we have adequate hand washing/ hand sanitizing supplies and procedural masks for everyone.
Given the volume of people and the requirements to pre-screen and the cleaning that is mandated after the visit, we will begin with designated visitation times in care areas and for larger care areas, visitation for designated bed and room numbers as we need to take into account the double occupancy of many rooms as well as the requirement for physical distancing. This means that our capacity to support these visits will most likely translate to a weekly visit for one designated care provider in addition to the indoor/outdoor/virtual visits that are already occurring.
At this time, we are asking designated care providers to support their loved one’s well being by participating with preferred activities during visiting hours.
We will not be able to start visitation on Friday, September 11 as announced but are working diligently to get the necessary requirements and resources in place to support visitation as soon as possible. We know you are anxious to be with your loved ones and we are looking forward to having you back as well. We cannot permit visitation however, until all criteria in the directive are met and we determine how best to use our existing resources to support these enhanced visits.
We will continue with the visits-indoor, outdoor and virtual- booking through the Recreation Department.
We will have more information soon about how we can support the designated care provider and the role within the Home.
In the coming days, either the Resident or the Substitute Decision Maker will be contacted to identify two potential designated care providers. Emails and phone numbers will be collected for these individuals.
While the announcement is exciting, there are many logistics and considerations that must be met by the facility. We have included the document on the website for you to read if you would like.
Thank you for your continued patience.
Michelle Thompson
INTERESTED IN A CAREER AS A CCA (Continuing Care Assistant)?
Check us out!
We have immediately vacancies for this valuable role.
The Home is a rich and vibrant community that recognizes and appreciates the uniqueness of every person who lives and works here. This uniqueness of spirit and character drives the life plan for our residents. We strive to provide the best possible care and services to our clients and as a result, we are looking for people who genuinely care.
We are looking for candidates to fill vacancies who:
We can offer you:
If this sounds like you:
You can express your interest by submitting your cover letter and resume outlining your desire to become a CCA online at jobs@rkmacdonald.ca to the attention of the Human Resource Coordinator, R.K. MacDonald Nursing Home, 64 Pleasant Street, Antigonish NS. B2G 1W7
We’ve updated our rules for visitation. You can view the new rules here.
Dear Family and Friends of R.K. MacDonald:
Yesterday Dr. Strang and Premier MacNeil announced some changes to visitation in LTC facilities. We will be implementing the changes over the course of the next week. Many people have their visits booked next week and we will carry on with those visits as planned. If after reading the new guidelines you wish to consider an indoor visit, please reach out to Recreation. We will be hosting these visits in a designated area within the Home which we are setting up over the next couple of business day.
You will now be able to greet your loved one and say goodbye to your loved one with a brief hug or handshake providing you perform hand hygiene before and ensure you are wearing a mask. If hand hygiene is not performed or the mask is removed during the contact, the facility must reach out to Public Health for advice and direction related to potential isolation requirements, COVID testing requirements etc.
The new rules are as follows:
On-site visits are intended to support the emotional well-being of residents and are limited to the following restrictions:
The following is an excerpt from the document “Guidelines for Visits, Hair Salons and Social Activities” we received yesterday after the announcement from Public Health and the Department of Health and Wellness. A copy of the full document is available on the website.
The approach for visitation (indoor and outdoor) are as followed :
It is important that facilities are able to provide safe oversight for visitation, which includes the provision of adequate staffing to provide visitor pre-screening at time of booking and screening upon arrival to facility, education on necessary Infection Prevention and Control procedures, monitoring of visitation, and sanitization of visiting spaces.
If families choose an Indoor visit- both the resident and the family member must wear medical grade masks and remain 6 feet apart for the duration of the visit. One will be provided for you.
If the visit is conducted outside, the resident and visitor may remove their masks providing physical distancing is maintained.
The full guidelines are posted on the website for people to read and review. I would encourage families to review these guidelines.
You will continue to book visits through the Recreation Department, as you are already doing and you can indicate if you would like to have an Indoor or outdoor visit based on the guidelines noted above. Indoor, outdoor, fence and virtual visits remain available.
Thank you for your continued cooperation as we work to uphold and implemented the guidelines outlined by Department of health and Wellness and Public Health.
Michelle Thompson
CEO R.K. MacDonald Nursing Home
64 Pleasant St, Antigonish, NS
B2G 2K9
Phone: 902-863-2578 ext 232
Email: mthompson@rkmacdonald.ca
Fax: 902-863-4437
Family and Friends of The RK
As you are likely aware, the Nova Scotia Government announced on July 17, 2020 that long-term care facilities in the Province will be reopening to visitors. Premier McNeil highlighted that safety remains the priority during this reopening process.
The RK has allowed socially distanced outdoor visits on our grounds for several weeks. For the foreseeable future, we are keeping the outdoor visitation policy in place. As of right now, this visitation format is how we can best protect residents and staff while still allowing you to see and talk to your loved ones.
Effective Monday, July 27th, 2020 the following changes to the outdoor visitation policy will be implemented:
Until we are able to develop further protocols and address additional issues, we are unable to further reduce the restrictions on these visits. We know you miss your family and we thank you for your ongoing support as we all work together to navigate these challenging circumstances. Safety has and will remain our top priority and we need to ensure proper procedures can be confidently put in place before we are able to open our doors to visitors.
We understand this may not be the news you were looking to receive. However, this is an incredibly difficult time for everyone involved, and we need to take steps to ensure the safety of our residents and the well-being of our staff and the organization.
If you have any questions regarding visits, please contact the Recreation Department at kim.macdonald@rkmacdonald.ca.
There is more information posted on our website. We have also posted the guidelines for “Resident Visitation, Hair Salons and Social Activities in LTC” as issued by Public Health and Department of Health and Wellness July 17, 2020. If you have any additional questions on policies and procedures currently in place, please contact: Cathy Brouwer at 902-863-2578 ext 233 and she will redirect your call to the appropriate person.
Yours truly,
Michelle Thompson
CEO
Link to original letter.
We have been made aware of the announcement today from Premier McNeil regarding some of the restrictions being lifted for visitation at Long Term Care Homes across the province. We know that this is welcome news for many, however, we must stress that there are still several safeguards and procedures that need to be reviewed and implemented before we are able to open our doors to visitors.
Over the coming days, we will be doing our due diligence to review the requirements recently released by Public Health. Our main goal is to review the capacity of our staff to implement these changes that come with the lifting of visitor restrictions. We will have more information to share with families and the community in the coming days.
Our priority remains to keep the safety and protection of our residents, visitors and staff top of mind.
We know that you miss your family members and that they miss you as well. Our outdoor visiting policy remains in place and if you would like to speak with a staff member to set up a visit, please contact: the recreation Department at kim.macdonald@rkmacdonald.ca
We would like to thank everyone for their continued support has we all work together to navigate these challenging times.
The new Family Visitation Rules are available here.
Please note that as of June 15th the new Family Visit Rules are available here.
We are preparing to welcome loved ones for outdoor visits beginning Thursday, June 18, 2020. There will be more information about the visits on the RK website on Monday, June 15, 2020; we anticipate the information will be added to the website between 3 & 4pm. As the restrictions in NS and in Long Term Care loosen, RK MacDonald will be taking a very cautious approach. I know people are anxious to see one another again, but the reality of the effect of this virus on people in Long Term Care cannot be ignored; 82% of deaths in Canada related to COVID-19 have been linked to LTC facilities across the country. While as individuals we may feel our risk to others is minimal, we will be increasing the number of people on the property by up to 270 people per week if every resident has 2 visitors.
We are asking residents or their Substitute Decision Maker to designate two “in-person” visitors [must the same two people for all visits] to visit their family member. Window visits and virtual visits can continue for other families not identified as the “in person” visitors.
The Home will begin to facilitate outdoor visits in a couple of ways. Initially, some visits will be done as drive thru visits. Residents will be sitting outside under a canopy and family members will enter our front roundabout driveway and remain in their vehicles. They will be 6 feet apart during the visit. Other residents will meet family members through the gates near their care areas. Again, spaces will marked off on either side of the gate to ensure social distancing is maintained. Staff will be available to assist with the outdoor visits. For some residents, it may still be best to continue to communicate with their loved ones through window and virtual visits. We will decide this with the residents and/or family on a case by case basis. As per the Public Health Long Term Care guidelines, we feel that if physical distancing is strictly maintained, family members will not be required to wear masks (unless they choose to) in order to facilitate communication.
As the province and communities “open up”, we will regularly re-evaluate our processes and procedures and work safely and diligently to continue to connect residents and their loved ones. We are working on our procedures as well as securing human resources to support these visits to ensure they are both enjoyable and safe.
Final details will be released on Monday which will also include contact information to schedule your visit and/or speak to someone in Administration.
Thank you for your continued patience as we work through this extra-ordinary time.
Michelle Thompson