Fairfield Park received confirmation from Public Health today that there are currently now a total of 32 residents, 26 staff, and 1 essential caregiver who have tested positive for COVID-19 within the home. That said, we are pleased to report that 1 resident has been deemed to be resolved and was able to move back to his own room this morning. There are currently 3 staff who are also out of isolation and have returned to work.
We have compiled a list of Frequently Asked Questions below based on our communications with families and essential caregivers.
1. What is Fairfield Park doing in response to the COVID-19 outbreak?
At Fairfield Park, the health and wellbeing of our residents and staff is our number one priority. Here is what we are doing to protect the health and safety of your loved ones:
⦁ Isolating residents to their rooms to protect them
⦁ Cancelling all unnecessary activities to reduce opportunity for spread
⦁ Ensuring staff and caregivers use appropriate personal protective equipment while caring for residents
⦁ Routinely monitoring the health status of staff and residents
⦁ Increasing cleaning and disinfecting practices throughout the facility
⦁ Partnering with other health care providers to ensure adequate staffing levels
⦁ Immediately testing any residents or staff members who develop symptoms
⦁ Frequently and strategically testing all residents and staff who have not already tested positive
⦁ Limiting movement of staff throughout the facility as much as possible
⦁ Cohorting residents appropriately
2. How do I know if my loved one or family members has contracted COVID-19?
If a resident tests positive for COVID-19, Fairfield Park will contact their Primary Contact via phone directly.
3. When will vaccines arrive and be given at Fairfield Park? Why weren’t residents vaccinated during the first delivery of vaccines to Chatham-Kent?
As COVID-19 vaccines begin to roll out across the province, CK Public Health and the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance are working together collaboratively with the Chatham-Kent Ontario Health Team and community partners to coordinate the delivery of the COVID-19 vaccines to priority populations and the general community of Chatham-Kent.
The first shipment of vaccines were received in Chatham-Kent on January 25th 2021. At this time, Fairfield Park was beginning to observe evidence of significant transmission within the home, so in alignment with Ministry of Health guidance, the difficult decision was made to temporarily postpone resident vaccination at Fairfield Park. If residents had been vaccinated as planned, illnesses would not have been prevented, as so many had already been exposed. It takes a number of weeks for vaccinated individuals to be well protected.
Fairfield Park residents remain a priority population for vaccine roll out, and we will share any updates we have about future vaccine roll out with our residents, families and care teams when available.
4. How are the residents doing within the home? How is their mental health wellness being addressed?
While living in a home in outbreak is certainly difficult for our residents, staff are doing everything they can to maintain a positive atmosphere from within the home. Essential caregivers are also welcome to continue to visit their loved ones, wearing full PPE, and adhering to our policies. These visits are beneficial to the mental health and wellbeing of our residents.
5. How is there a COVID area within the home if there are no empty beds? Are residents being moved?
As part of our response to the outbreak, we are cohorting residents. Cohorting means grouping residents based on their COVID-19 status or risk of exposure. Deciding how best to cohort residents is a practice that is informed by frequent monitoring of resident symptoms, and is guided by test results. As best we can, we are working to:
⦁ Keep residents who have tested positive together, and away from those who have not
⦁ Keep residents who are at a higher risk of having been exposed together, and away from those at lower risk
A reminder if you have general questions, we encourage you to email us at fairfieldparkoutbreak@gmail.com. We will reply to your email within 48 hours, and include responses to questions asked in our daily email communication.
Stay strong, and stay well.
The Fairfield Park leadership team
