What to do when you have symptoms of illness
To preserve essential services, it is key for our employees to be at work unless ill. All staff on the Menno Place campus are healthcare workers.
As usual, healthcare workers are not to come to work if you are exhibiting signs of respiratory illness or flu or have been advised to stay at home by your physician. Otherwise, you should recuperate at home on sick-leave and return to work when symptoms cease.
The 14-day self-isolation applies in healthcare settings ONLY when a person has a positive lab result of COVID-19. Unfortunately, calls to 8-1-1 may direct you to self-isolate for 14 days unaware that you are a healthcare worker.
To determine whether or not you should come to work, ask these questions to self-monitor:
- Do I have a new or worsening cough?
- Do I have a fever?
- Do I have shortness of breath or difficulty breathing?
If you are unsure of what you should be doing, call Menno Place Infection Control Lead, Kim Cantwell at 604.851.1339
COVID-19 – EMPLOYEE PROTOCOL UPDATE – 03-16-2020
Returning from travel outside of Canada
Employees returning from outside of Canada must notify their manager that they have been outside of the country.
Employees who have travelled outside Canada and are not symptomatic ARE able to return to work but must follow the following precautions:
- Self-monitor daily for signs and symptoms of illness;
- Wear a surgical mask at all times and in all areas of your workplace;
- Follow infection prevention and control protocols including diligent hand hygiene and the use of personal protective equipment when delivering patient care;
- Reduce close contact with other health care workers and avoid shared spaces where possible;
- Avoid close contact with others when travelling to and from work and between shifts; and
- Self-isolate at home on days when not required at their workplace.
Menno Place strongly recommends that staff follow the travel and cruise ship advisory identified by the BC Center for Disease Control http://www.bccdc.ca
Employees with Symptoms:
If you are experiencing ANY cough, fever or other respiratory symptoms OR believe you may have been exposed to COVID-19 or any other respiratory illness, you must call 8-1-1 and inform Menno Place. You must self-isolate, recuperating at home on sick leave. Employees should not change their approach to work if they are sick. If you have flu-like symptoms, you should not be at work, but should recuperate at home.
Expectation to Work:
New LOA requests will not be approved for the next 60 days. Although concerns about potential exposure in the community are understandable, employees who do not have symptoms of illness or who are not actively seeking direction from a qualified medical practitioner are expected to attend work as usual.
COVID-19 – EMPLOYEE PROTOCOL – PREVENTION AND CONTROL
TRAVEL
Any International Travel effective March 12, 2020 – As per Minister of Health, Adrian Dix and Dr. Bonnie Henry – Provincial Health Officer, BC
Employees returning from ANY international destination (including Sumas, WA) as of March 12, 2020, whether or not symptomatic, must self-isolate for 14 days, monitoring symptoms of illness. You will be unable to work at or visit Menno Place during this time. Pay for individuals who choose to travel internationally after the introduction of these measures by the Public Health Officials is still to be determined.
Menno Place strongly recommends that staff follow the travel and cruise ship advisory identified by the BC Center for Disease Control http://www.bccdc.ca
Menno Place staff will inform their manager if they have travelled to a COVID-19 affected area, such as Hubei, Iran, Italy and any other centers of COVID-19 outbreak as identified by the BC Center for Disease Control http://www.bccdc.ca/health-info/diseases-conditions/coronavirus-(novel)
MULTI-SITE WORK
For those staff working at multiple sites and COVID-19 is present at one of the other sites where they work, the staff member may not work at Menno Place for a period of 14 days. You must inform your manager.
If you are working at multiple sites, you must follow all protocols for infection control between sites, including showering and changing your clothing.
SYMPTOMS
If you are experiencing ANY cough, fever or other respiratory symptoms OR believe you may have been exposed to COVID-19 or any other respiratory illness, you must call 8-1-1 and inform Menno Place.
COMMUNICATION
If you have any questions about whether or not you should come to work, call your manager.
REMEMBER
Don’t touch your face. Don’t hug. Don’t shake hands. Wash your hands frequently with soap and water.
March 11, 2020 – Prevention and Control Plan for COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Menno Place is dedicated to ensuring the health and safety of our elders and employees. We have developed a plan to minimize the risk of COVID-19 entering our home and deal with any outbreaks in the event that they do occur. We would also ask for your assistance in implementing the plan and ensuring that you understand and abide by any restrictions for the safety of our elders.
Prevention
We have posted signs indicating visitors should refrain from visiting Menno Place if they:
- develop a cough
- have a fever
- have difficulty breathing
- are feeling achy or unwell
- have travelled to affected countries including Italy, Iran, China and Hong Kong in the past 14 days
- Visitors who are visibly ill and sneezing or coughing will be asked to leave and return when they are well
- We are monitoring staff and volunteers for signs of illness and asking them to self-report symptoms and stay home when unwell.
- We are monitoring staff travel. If staff travel to affected areas, they will be unable to work or visit Menno Place for 14 days (as per BCCDC regulations)
- If COVID-19 outbreaks occur in other locations, any staff who work in the affected location will be asked not to come to Menno Place until the outbreak at their other workplace has ended
- Larger activities may be cancelled or revised depending on the spread of COVID-19 in the community at large
- We have educated nurses on recognizing respiratory outbreak symptoms, testing procedures and outbreak control measures to keep our elders and staff safe
- We have increased cleaning of high touch areas to try to prevent transmission of viruses within our buildings
- We have maintained adequate supplies of everything we will need to meet the needs of elders and ensure staff safety in an outbreak situation. The Medical Health Officer and Fraser Health have assured us that we will have access to additional supplies from them if needed
- We have emergency food and water supplies
What You Can Do to Help Our Elders
Do not visit Menno Place if you:
- develop a cough
- have a fever
- have cold or respiratory virus symptoms
- are feeling achy or unwell
- have travelled to countries including Italy, Iran, China and Hong Kong, or other affected countries in the past 14 days
- have been on a cruise ship in the last 14 days
If you are visiting Menno Place:
- Wash your hands frequently with soap and water or hand sanitizer
- Avoid touching your face
- If you cough or sneeze, cover your mouth and nose with a flexed elbow or tissue and wash your hands with soap and water. Face away from others when you sneeze or cough.
- Do not buy masks for home use. Buying of masks by the public at large has resulted in some supply shortages for those most at risk, specifically the care staff who work with our immune compromised elders.
What Would Happen in an Outbreak
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- Public Health, Fraser Health and the Medical Health Officer would provide direction for outbreak interventions
- The outbreak protocol for COVID-19 is very similar to the current protocol for influenza and would be followed by Menno Place
- Visits would be discouraged until the outbreak was over
- Elders with COVID-19 would be cared for and fed in their rooms
- Group activities or gatherings would be cancelled
- Enhanced cleaning protocols would be put in place as per the outbreak protocol
- As always, significant health status changes would be communicated to elders’ primary contacts as soon as possible
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Additional Information
We recommend the following links for current, accurate updates on the extent of the COVID-19 situation in the province:
www.bccdc.ca – BC Center for Disease Control
www.news.gov.bc.ca – BC Ministry of Health Updates
https://www.fraserhealth.ca/coronavirus#.XmgX8qipGUn – Fraser Health Authority Coronavirus Information
Advance Care Planning w/ Surge Learning
Menno Place has an exciting new initiative towards promoting Advance Care Planning (ACP) for our tenants and families in the apartments! What is ACP? Do you have a substitute decision maker? Who will represent you in the case when you are no longer able to speak for yourself? Who will speak for you? Find out more about ACP through Surge Learning:
– Log-on to Surge Learning
– Click ‘Courses Library’
– Scroll down to find ‘Family and Friends Resource Library’
– Click ‘Advance Care Planning – ACP – Menno Place.pdf’
Learn about this initiative and planning for your future healthcare decisions in this brief 10-minute powerpoint!
