News

Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC)

COVID Safety

At Crown Ridge Health Care, we are committed to ensuring the health and safety of our residents, their families and our staff. All of our homes are following the government directives as well as all recommendations from our local public health units. We have taken measures to ensure enhanced infection control practices are in place, implemented safe social interactions and closely monitor the health and safety of our residents and staff.

Our safety practices include:

• • Screening of all staff and visitors to the home.
• • Education and training sessions on many infection prevention and control practices including hand hygiene, proper use of PPE, social distancing and respiratory etiquette.
• • Mandatory universal masking for staff.
• • Availability of PPE (masks, gowns, gloves and eye protection) for visitors and staff as required.
• • Safety measures for dining, social activities, personal care and support services.
• • Enhanced cleaning and disinfecting of high touch surfaces.
• • COVID-19 swabbing as directed.
• • Daily wellness and health monitoring of all residents and staff.

We will continue to hold our standards to the highest level to ensure that our residents, families and staff remain safe. We continue to invest in the future of our residents by continuing with planned onsite projects, improved communications, promoting further infection prevention strategies and developing human resources strategies to support our homes.

As we continue to navigate through these unprecedented and challenging times, we want to thank our residents and families for your patience and understanding and to our dedicated staff our thanks and gratitude for all that you do to keep our homes safe.

Vaccination Update:

In our ongoing efforts to support the health, safety and well-being of our residents, family members and staff, we are actively participating in the province wide COVID-19 vaccine roll-out plans as outlined by the provincial government. We are very pleased to report that all of our residents at our retirement and long-term care homes have had the opportunity to receive up to 4 doses of either the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. We are also very happy that staff who work in our homes are compliant with our COVID vaccination policy which requires them to have at least two COVID vaccinations, with many having three doses. We continue to support our local Public Health Units efforts with COVID vaccination and encourage our entire community to help end the pandemic by supporting vaccination efforts.

Visiting Policies:

As a family-owned company, we understand the importance of residents continuing to be able to connect with their families. Spending time with our loved ones is important to our residents’ health and well-being. We take every precaution to ensure that our residents remain safe while enjoying social interactions with family and friends. Our visiting policies change subject to direction from the provincial government and local public health unit. If you are unsure of our current visitation policies, please contact the home to discuss visiting restrictions, testing and screening practices currently in effect at the time of your visit. Your support and understanding regarding our visitation policies is a key component in keeping our residents and employees safe. Our most recent visiting policy for our Retirement residences can be found here. Our most recent visiting policy for our Long Term Care Residences can be found here. Please note that they can change without notice so please confirm they are still current.

Outbreak Management

Our homes have developed an outbreak management program in consultation with our community partners, staff, residents, residents’ council, and family council (if applicable) and family members that are compliant with the regulatory requirements. Being prepared in advance of an outbreak occurring permits our staff to respond immediately and confidently to the outbreak. Our home has written procedures for outbreak management that include immediate actions, staff roles and responsibilities, community resources, key contacts, documentation requirements, supply access and provision (including contingency stock and inventory control), lines of command, communication procedures, staffing contingency plans and plans for recovery.

The home has specific plans for respiratory, enteric, COVID-19 and communicable diseases that are reviewed, revised, and evaluated on an annual basis and as needed. We promote infection prevention and control practices including good hand hygiene, vaccination, overall well-being and healthy lifestyles. The homes hold Town hall meetings and invite residents and staff to consult with our team on our IPAC programs. We also conduct regular IPAC assessments, staff training and audits to enhance our staff knowledge and confidence with procedures for Infection Prevention and Control including outbreak prevention and management. Ongoing communication is maintained with residents, families, visitors and all community partners and staff on a regular basis and in the event of an outbreak situation. If you would like more information about our Outbreak Management practices, please contact our Director of Nursing/Wellness Manager or the homes Administrator or General Manager.

Public Health Links:

For more information regarding health programs and services in our communities:
Hastings Prince Edward Public Health
Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington Public Health
Ministry of Long-Term Care Action Line for making complaints about a long term care residence: 1-866-434-0144

March 18, 2021 – Redevelopment announcement for Westgate Lodge

In the presence of City of Belleville mayor Mitch Pancuik, CEO Greg Freeman of Crown Ridge Health Care Services Inc and company Founder Fred Freeman, Bay of Quinte MPP Todd Smith made a Redevelopment announcement on site at Westgate Lodge on behalf of the Minister of The Long Term Care , Mary-Lee Fullerton. Westgate lodge currently provides Long Term care and Services to 88 residents. With the addition of 72 new beds the redeveloped home will serve 160 residents in a new and modern Home. Construction of a new four storey home is expected to begin in the Spring of 2022.