By Joanne Rodgers,
Bruce Peninsula Press
On December 7, 2020, the COVID-19 outbreak at the Golden Dawn Senior Citizen Home was declared over. An outbreak was declared in late November when a single staff member tested positive.
Low Infection Rate – the Real Success Story of 2020
Barbara Sterling, Administrator of the Golden Dawn Senior Citizen Home, rates the low incidence of infection as one of the success stories of 2020. The November outbreak was controlled and resolved with no further issues.
The Chair of the Board of the Golden Dawn, Dr Brian Taylor states that he is very proud of how Barbara Sterling, Dr Dave Thomson and their staff have run the Golden Dawn throughout this pandemic. Prior to the pandemic being declared in March, Sterling had already implemented appropriate protocols to deal with an infectious disease outbreak. Taylor cites “Golden Dawn was ahead of the curve”, and when the word came from the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and Public Health Grey Bruce, all the processes were already in place. Pam Loughlean, Board Secretary and Treasurer also credits the strict health measures as one of the reasons there is zero influenza cases at the Golden Dawn to date.
COVID-19 Protocols
A routine screening questionnaire is done seven days a week for all staff and visitors. Originally the screening was done by volunteers for anyone entering the Home, but the screener positions are now paid positions. All staff have a nasopharyngeal swab done every two weeks as per the Minister’s Directive: COVID-19 Long Term Care Home Surveillance Testing and Access to Home guidelines however this may change depending on the region’s color level (green, yellow, orange, red or grey).
Depending on the daily screening responses, or anyone with symptoms, is not allowed to enter the facility. They will be asked to have another swab or to contact Public Health or an assessment centre.
Essential workers and visitors must be swabbed every two weeks when visiting Golden Dawn. Some exclusions would be compassionate visits, that is persons visiting very ill or palliative residents.
If there is a suspected case of COVID-19, it is the responsibility of Public Health to make an outbreak assessment. Public Health looks at various factors such as symptoms, laboratory test results and risk of exposure. There is a higher threshold for long term care facilities and a single positive case will trigger an outbreak status. In the case of a staff member testing positive, if determined to be a low risk of transmission, isolated to an area or deemed an essential worker, Public Health may allow the presumptive staff member to continue working with appropriate safety protocols in place.
Sterling states “we follow all directives or recommendations from Public Health and are in constant contact with them”.
During the recent outbreak, after one staff member received a positive test result, they stayed away from work. All residents were required to stay in their rooms with meals brought to their rooms, outdoor activities cancelled, enhanced cleaning and social distancing practiced into the home. All staff follow the same protocols, and travel is discouraged from high risk to low risk areas, or high risk to other high risk areas. Dr Arra, Medical Officer of Health and Chief Executive Officer of Grey Bruce Health Unit, is confident of the very stringent protocols in place to mitigate risks.
He states “the management of the home has had optimal collaboration and communication with our staff.” He confirms that Public Health staff completed an on site assessment of the home which reflected that Golden Dawn has all appropriate measures in place.
Funding Concerns
In January, at a public meeting at the Rotary Hall in Lion’s Head with elected government officials, the topic of how to fund the Golden Dawn rebuild was discussed. Locals asked if local municipal tax dollars could be directed to support the Golden Dawn instead of subsidizing county-owned retirement homes in Wiarton and Walkerton. The local provincial representative agreed that the current funding models were decades-old and required changes. He also indicated that more discussions were needed to understand the challenges to update, renovate and fund the Golden Dawn. At that time the government was non-committal on possible funding.
Sterling says the provincial government has provided monies to assist in the prevention, containment and control of infectious diseases.
The Golden Dawn Long Term Care facility is currently in compliance with all the requirements of Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care; all outstanding issues originating from inspections are resolved.
Redevelopment Plans
In the last three months the Board has been re-organized and will focus on long-term planning. There is now a Re-Development Committee, and while still in the initial stages, will look at what should be done, how to rebuild and how to finance the venture. There will be community consultation before anything is implemented. The estimated cost of the redevelopment is between $15 – $20 million.
The Board has heard nothing further from the government regarding updates to the funding model. Taylor describes Golden Dawn Retirement Home as “a privately run, not-for-profit, charitable organization that receives no public funding and provides an essential service for the elderly and long term care patients in North Bruce”.
Adequate Staffing is Major Challenge
One of the major challenges for the Golden Dawn is staffing. This is an issue throughout Grey Bruce and as such Golden Dawn cannot adequately fill their staffing needs from within the area. Temporary agency staff are contracted from elsewhere in the province. Staffing problems are exacerbated by lack of affordable rental units in Lion’s Head; even when they can recruit staff, the unavailability of housing becomes the issue.
Resident accommodation fees not increasing in January 2021
Resident accommodation fees are not increasing in January 2021, Golden Dawn had sent out letters to families informing them that there was going to be an increase. However shortly after the letters were sent, the Ministry advised that “due to COVID19 outbreak the annual long term care home resident co-payment rate increase will be suspended for the entire 2020-21 program cycle (July 1, 2020-June 30, 2021)”. Updated letters will be sent to families notifying them of this.
Concise Communication for Residents
The Golden Dawn sends out general communications via mass email to all families and designated Powers of Attorney. If a family is not on the email list, the Golden Dawn will contact them. Sterling says the home directly contacts families that have concerns. There have only been two concerns expressed by families over the year and she takes this metric to indicate that the communication method is successful. Sterling says the communications are focused on being concise and highlighting the key points. Concerned families of residents are encouraged to visit www.goldendawn.ca or contact the home for any clarification needed.
Ongoing Activities and Volunteer Programs
Taylor states it is very important to get families and visitors into the home with minimal risk to the residents. He says “Studies undertaken during the first phase of COVID-19 proved that long-term care residents’ health deteriorate when they do not see family and friends.”
This year many of the regular activities and volunteer programs for residents were able to be run with the proper protocols in place. However, COVID-19 has impacted some activities, more one-on-one activities, and greater use of social media to keep in touch with families. Bus trips were very popular this year, allowing the residents to get out but still stay in their bubble. Since the home was still in outbreak status when Santa came to town, he went window to window and waved to the residents inside. Sterling expects the bus rides to resume soon.
Board Reorganized
The Board of Golden Dawn recently thanked two long standing Board volunteers who have retired from their positions, Clayton Mielhausen and Secretary Glenna Reynolds.
The new Golden Dawn Board Members are Dr Brian Taylor (Chair), Gerry Myles (President), Pam Loughlean (Secretary/Treasurer), Barbara Sterling (Administrator), Aimo Manninen, Dr Trace MacKay, and Jack Schenk.
The Board is currently working on redevelopment concepts even as they still cope with COVID-19, and plans to consult with the community about their new vision and their redevelopment plan later in 2021.
