Fully Vaccinated Visitors Only as Ordered by the Provincial Health Officer – Effective October 12, 2021
To the loved ones of the residents who live at Menno Place,
Dr. Bonnie Henry announced on October 5th that unvaccinated visitors will no longer be allowed to visit in the home effective October 12, 2021. We have limited details on this as Dr. Henry has not written her order and there is no Fraser Health guidance on this at this time.
We do know the following:
Vaccine Passport Required: Now that the vaccine passports are out, we will be asking vaccinated visitors (even those who have shown us vaccine cards or have the green badge) to show us their vaccine passport and government ID. We will then note that we have scanned the passport and will not need to ask to see the passport again. The passport is a more reliable indicator of vaccination status than the cards.
If you have not obtained your vaccine passport yet but are fully vaccinated, we will accept your vaccination card for now and ask that you register for your vaccine passport as soon as possible. The link to register is at https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/covid-19/vaccine/proof
Options for unvaccinated visitors: We will work to provide some visitation options for unvaccinated visitors. We are not sure what that will look like. It will depend somewhat on Health Authority directions. We may return to window visits as occurred prior to the reopening of in-person visits.
Unvaccinated visitors for palliative / end-of-life residents: Dr. Henry has stated that there will be some exceptions made for unvaccinated visitors to visit in person if a resident is near end of life. We have no details regarding this.
Outings: We do not know if residents will be permitted to go on outings with unvaccinated visitors.
Why is this being implemented at Menno Place? This will be a Provincial Health Order when it is released and we will adhere to it across our entire Campus of Care. While we strongly support increased vaccination rates for the protection of our residents, staff and the community at large, the exclusion of unvaccinated visitors is not a Menno Place decision.
How do you voice your disagreement? If you are upset about this change, please continue to treat our Visitation Hosts, receptionists, nurses, managers, and other staff with kindness and respect. They did not make this decision and do not deserve to be berated for it.
If you need to speak to someone about the policy and speak passionately about your views, we advise you to contact Dr. Bonnie Henry and the Provincial Health Office:
Dr. Bonnie Henry
Email: bonnie.henry@gov.bc.ca
Provincial Health Officer
PO Box 9648
STN PROV GOVT
Victoria BC V8W 9P4
You can also contact Isobel McKenzie, Seniors Advocate: https://www.seniorsadvocatebc.ca/contact-us/
Watch the Dr. Bonnie Henry announcement:
