Villa Colombo Toronto Family Town Hall Meeting September 27, 2021 at 5:00 p.m.
To watch last month’s call click here: Meeting Recording
Access Passcode: YJ^%d5se
July 15, 2021
Dear Family and Friends:
As many of you are aware, the province is moving to stage #3 of the provincial opening sooner than originally anticipated. This is good news for everyone and especially for our residents and their loved ones. In anticipation of the opening, we have received communication from the Ministry of Long Term Care (MLTC) advising us of the latest updates Directive #3 in alignment to the Province’s Roadmap to Reopen.
We are pleased to advise our families that effective Friday, July 16th, 2021 the following changes will be in effect.
Note: that for the purposes of this letter “visitor” applies to both general visitors and essential caregivers:
Indoor Visitors (Fully Vaccinated*)
- All visitors will be required to sign-in and participate in the active screening process, and then proceed to Sala Caboto.
- Rapid testing is no longer required for visitors who claim to be fully vaccinated, however government issued proof of vaccination must be presented to the testing staff at each visit.
- Anyone who is unable to provide proof of their vaccination status or who declines to show proof will be required to participate in the rapid testing or entry will be denied.
- If you do not have government issued proof of your COVID-19 vaccination, please visit one of these two websites to obtain proof: https://covid-19.ontario.ca/book-vaccine/ or https://covid19.ontariohealth.ca/ (a photo, email or hard copy will be acceptable).
- The “General Indoor Visitors Registration Form” for providing the names of authorized visitors will no longer required/valid.
- Masks, provided by Villa Colombo Toronto, are required at all time during all visitations. Eye protection is not required.
Indoor Visitors (Not-Fully Vaccinated)
- All visitors who are not fully vaccinated must participate in the rapid testing, following the prescribed frequency of testing, which is based on the number of visit occurrences in a week (Monday-Sunday).
- Please note, anyone who participates in the rapid testing will again be required to wait 15 minutes for their result before being allowed to visit with the residents.
- Masks, provided by Villa Colombo Toronto, are required at all time during visitations. Visitors who are not fully vaccinated will be required to wear eye protection as well. Eye protection must be provided by the visitor.
Outdoor General Visits
- Rapid Testing is not required for visitors not entering the home and only visiting with residents in the garden.
- Appointments for garden visits are no longer required. Residents and their loved one can participate in garden visits from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm Monday – Friday, 10:00 am to 4:00pm Saturday and Sunday. All visitors who are only visiting in the garden, must enter from the main entrance at 40 Playfair Ave, sign-in and participate in the active screening process and will then proceed back out the front entrance and into the garden via garden gate at the south/west corner of the building. Loved ones who wish to visit in the garden will be required to make arrangements for the residents to be escorted to the garden and ensure that the registered staff on the unit is advised when the resident leaves their unit.
- Masks, provided by Villa Colombo Toronto, are required at all time during garden visits.
Children Visitors
- All visitors under the age of 14 must be supervised by an adult during all visitation types.
- Children ages 2 and up must participate in the rapid testing requirement for indoor visits. Parental consent is required for minors (children under the age of 18) that undergo testing. If consent is not given and/or testing is refused, the individual(s) are not permitted to enter the home.
- If a minor, who is eligible for vaccination (currently ages 12-17), is fully immunized and shows proof, they are exempt from the rapid testing requirement.
Leave of Absences and Overnight Stays
- Residents are able to schedule a leave of absence and/or overnight stay, regardless of the resident’s COVID-19 immunization status. The process for booking a leave of absence or overnight stay remains the same, which requires that the Registered Staff on the unit receive at least 24 hours notice of such leaves.
Please note that despite all the changes, Villa Colombo Toronto will be upholding the physical distancing requirement throughout the home and garden. As such, if we exceed a safe maximum number of visitors in any given space/room or area, Villa Colombo Toronto may direct that a visit be moved or rearranged.
With the relaxing of restriction, residents are now able to participate in more group activities including group excursion. This will certainly bring back a great level of excitement and reinstate the buzz around Villa Colombo Toronto.
To arrive where we are today has not been an easy task, but thanks to the increase vaccination rates in LTC facilities and community, and with the decreased number of cases of COVID- 19 in the community, we can begin to return to our normal lives. We will continue to work with all partners to ensure Villa Colombo Toronto remains COVID-19 free and again urge you to remain vigilant with your infection prevention and control practices. We truly hope you are able to start enjoying all the things that you had missed due to the pandemic.
Please attend our next Family Town Hall Zoom call scheduled on Monday, July 26, 2021 at 5:00 pm. You can send any questions to us at info@villacolombo.on.ca by 12:00 p.m. on July 26, 2021. To access the Family Town Hall, please click here or by dialing 1-647-374-4685 webinar ID: 885 4632 7023.
Once again, a very sincere thank you to everyone for all of your ongoing support.
Best wishes,
Toni Dell’Aquila Executive Director
* A person is fully vaccinated against COVID-19 if:
- They have received the full series of a COVID-19 vaccines or combination of COVID-19 vaccines approved by Health Canada (e.g., both doses of a two dose vaccine series, or one dose of a single-dose vaccine series); and
- They received their final dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at least 14 days before the date of the visit. Currently, the required number of doses for the Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines to complete the vaccine series is two.
