Quality Care

Seniors' Services, a division of the Region of Waterloo, is a leader in providing quality care for older adults. We work with the community to plan, support and operate Sunnyside Home long-term care and community programs and services to promote health, safety and wellbeing.

Awards and recognition

Perfect score in quality and safety audit 

Sunnyside Home earned a perfect score in a 2016 quality and safety audit. Accreditation Canada, an independent organization that sets national standards in health care, measured:

  • Our leadership;
  • Clinical programs;
  • Safety practices to reduce potential harm;
  • Work environment;
  • How safe residents feel; and
  • The overall experience of people living at Sunnyside.

Award for innovation and excellence

In 2016, Seniors' Services received a provincial award for Share the Care; an effort to improve resident care at Sunnyside Home by improving the way we work. We freed up 15 hours of personal support worker time per day by simply changing how we store and replenish washcloths. This is just one of many success stories.

This award was from the Ontario Association for Non-Profit Homes and Services for Seniors (now AdvantAge Ontario).

Employee awards and recognition

We are very proud of our staff. Many members of our Seniors' Services team have been awarded by the Region at its annual recognition event for going above and beyond.

2017 RAVE Award Recipient for Service

Natalia Busch, Registered Nurse

"Natalia is an exceptional and compassionate nurse. She has great clinical skills and truly cares about the residents under her care. Natalia loves working with seniors and takes a special interest in (residents) with dementia. Her caring, gentle nature is shown every time she interacts with them."

2016 RAVE Award Recipient for Innovation

Community Alzheimer Programs, Young Onset Dementia Association (YODA) Team

This team recognized a need in the community for a program that supports younger adults with Dementia. Through team work and innovation this group of Seniors' Services staff developed a nationally recognized program that has changed lives.

"YODA has given me a place to belong and accept my diagnosis."  - YODA Participant

Still ME, a relationship-based approach to care

We believe building relationships with people can help them function better and enrich lives. Our vision is for staff, families and volunteers to work as a team to engage the people we serve; providing opportunities to feel joy, purpose and have something meaningful to do every day. We offer residents of Sunnyside Home and the community:

  • An environment that looks and feels more like home
  • Opportunities to do things independently;
  • Opportunities to fulfill roles and to engage within the broader community;
  • Memory and cognitive supports for finding places and things and for completing tasks;
  • Opportunities to connect socially with others and enjoy leisure pursuits that are made available and accessible according to interests and abilities; and
  • Staff with the specialized training and skill to support and engage people with dementia.
Student education
Each year, we welcome hundreds of students for placements. They help us enhance the quality of life for the people we serve. These placements also enhance student learning and provide leadership opportunities for staff. Learn more about student placements.
Palliative approach to care
We offer holistic end-of-life care to residents and their care partners at Sunnyside. Our goal is to meet the physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs of residents and their families. At the same time, we want to be sensitive to their personal, cultural and religious values, beliefs and practices. Strategies include:
  • Managing pain and symptoms;
  • Chaplain visits;
  • Music therapy;
  • Invitations to care partners to stay with their loved one; and
  • Volunteer services.
 Protocols for outbreaks

The comfort and support provided by family and friends during visits is an important to the residents who live in Sunnyside Home. However, many people living in long-term care settings have weakened immune systems and should not be exposed to viruses and other contagious illnesses. Therefore, when there is an outbreak we ask all visitors to take extra precautions.

Please refrain from visiting if you are experiencing one or more of the following:

  • Cough
  • Cold
  • Fever
  • Nausea and/or vomiting
  • Diarrhea

If you are visiting, please use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer when you enter and leave Sunnyside Home or the home areas.

If you plan to visit a home area where there is an outbreak, please visit one resident only and exit the building promptly after your visit. Upon arrival please see the Nurse for further direction prior to visiting a resident.

Thank you for working with us to keep Sunnyside Home as safe as possible.

Ministry inspections

The Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care oversees the inspection of all long-term care homes in the province. Inspectors from the Ministry visit Sunnyside Home each year to conduct a Resident Quality Inspection (RQI). The Ministry will also visit Sunnyside Home as needed to review mandatory reported critical incidents or to follow up on recommendations to ensure they are being implemented. Visits from the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care are unannounced. More information can be found on the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care's Quality Inspection Report website.

Ministry inspection results are publicly reported online. We encourage you to view our inspection results.

Quality Improvement Plan

Seniors' Services is committed to delivering quality care and services that will make Sunnyside Home a safe place to live, work and visit.

To demonstrate our commitment to quality, our performance is reviewed according to established quality indicators. These cover nursing and personal care, food quality, housekeeping and laundry, admission and discharge procedures, and other aspects of care important to residents and families.

Health Quality Ontario measures and publishes results on six indicators around the quality of resident care at all long-term care homes in Ontario. Sunnyside also develops a quality improvement plan each year (incorporating these indicators and others) to establish goals and objectives that will support and deliver safe and high quality health care. For a better understanding of our plan and the HQO indicators, please read Understanding Sunnyside Home's Quality Improvement Plan. 

Satisfaction surveys

Every year we ask residents and family members at Sunnyside Home how we're doing. You can read what nearly 200 residents and families had to say about us in our most recent satisfaction survey

Strategic planning

Protecting your privacy: We respect your right to confidential care. Please see our Information Practices Statement for details.

 

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