Sunnyside Home Long-Term Care

• All staff are actively screened when they enter the building and when they leave. If symptomatic, they cannot enter, will be provided with a mask to wear and will self-isolate immediately at home.
• All residents and supportive housing tenants will be actively screened for symptoms at the beginning and the end of the day. If symptomatic, they will be provided with a mask to wear, isolated and tested.
• All delivery people will be actively screened and deliveries will come to a designated area. If the delivery person does not pass screening, they will be denied entry and the delivery will be left outside the building.

• Residents, supportive housing tenants or staff who become symptomatic while in the home will immediately be isolated and tested for COVID-19.
• If a resident tests positive for COVID-19, they will be isolated from other residents.
• For staff who test positive for COVID-19, contact is traced back to prevent spread, and they will not be permitted to return to work until approved by Public Health.
• New or returning residents or supportive housing tenants will self-isolate for fourteen days. Staff who have contact with them will continue to wear personal protective equipment.

• All resident care staff will continue to wear masks, goggles, gloves and gowns as directed by the Ministry of Health appropriate to their role, duties, and contact with others.
• When staff are not able to maintain a physical distance of two meters from others, they are now required to wear a surgical mask
• Sunnyside will continue to maintain a sufficient supply of this equipment.
• Staff continue to practice physical distancing and stringent hand hygiene. 

• The Sunnyside campus remains closed to visitors with the exception of essential visitors providing critical care and services or family members visiting a resident who is critically ill or nearing end of life.
• Essential visitors must pass active screening and are required to wear a mask while inside. If visiting a resident who is symptomatic, they will wear full personal protective equipment as directed by the Ministry of Health which includes a mask, goggles, gown and gloves.

How to determine if you are considered an essential visitor

Family members with a loved one who is at the end of their life, is very ill or is in an emergency situation will be considered essential, and will be screened upon entry. If you are uncertain if this applies to you, please contact your Team Leader or email Lindsay Marinovic. 

We will do all that we can to connect loved ones while these restrictions are in place, and we thank everyone for their patience and understanding.

Protocols for essential visitors

If you are an essential visitor, please limit your visits to one person per resident at any given time and you must only visit the resident you are intending to. Please do your part to protect residents from COVID-19 through safe practices of hand washing, use of hand sanitizer and by coughing or sneezing into your sleeve or tissue. 

Activity on or off Sunnyside campus

• Residents and tenants are not able to leave to visit family or friends due to risk of exposure. They must stay on the property and keep two meters (six feet) from others.
• Only essential medical appointments will be permitted and residents and tenants will be actively screened when they return.
• Staff with more than one job have been requested to work at only one healthcare facility during the pandemic to minimize risk of COVID-19 spread.
• The set up of resident and tenant dining rooms has been adjusted to allow for physical distancing at meal time. 

Non-essential visitors: How to connect with your family member

We understand that you may want to connect with your loved one and we hope that you will. We would like to offer some support in helping you to do that. Here are a few ways to connect:

Email Lindsay Marinovic about any of the following:

• Send a letter by email to someone who lives at Sunnyside Home, we will be happy to share it with them. You can also send by mail to our address at 247 Franklin Street North, Kitchener ON. We encourage you to send photos and pictures along with your letters.
• Arrange a video call by FaceTime or Skype with your family member.
• Communicate any special requests that we can try to assist with during this time.
• Provide your e-mail address to receive electronic updates on COVID-19 from Sunnyside.
• If you would like to drop off a care package, please leave it in the box located between the two sets of main entry doors. Please note that packages will be stored for 72 hours before they are delivered. Only non-perishable items will be accepted. Please make sure the package is clearly labeled with the first and last name of the person living at Sunnyside home.

Hair Salon, Foot Care and Dental Care. Unless it has been deemed an emergency, all non essential services will be on hold until further notice. This includes the Reflections Beauty and Barber Shop, foot care and dental care.

Volunteer Services. Only volunteer services that are deemed essential will be employed, examples of this might include comfort care volunteers for end of life support.

Care Conferences. In-person care conferences with people from outside of Sunnyside Home are on hold unless it is deemed essential. In these circumstances, these conferences will be done by phone or video call whenever possible.

Attending Physicians/Nurse Practitioners. Physicians and Nurse Practitioners are still providing support to the Home however they will be adapting their rounds to minimize any potential exposure. Wherever possible they will be providing support remotely.

Sunnyside Wellness Centre

The Sunnyside Wellness Centre is closed. All services, including post-surgical physiotherapy, have been suspended. This will remain until further notice.

Community Alzheimer Programs

The Kitchener day, evening and weekend programs as well as the Waterloo and Cambridge day programs are closed. The Kitchener overnight stay program remains open. 

Young Onset Dementia Association

The Young Onset Dementia Association (YODA) is closed.

For more information, please visit these trusted sources:

COVID-19: Guidance for the Health Sector

Latest local information on the Novel Coronavirus

Public Health: How to stop the spread of germs (PDF poster)

Public Health Ontario resources (resources available in multiple languages)

How to self monitor (PDF)

How to self-isolate (PDF)