Steeves & Rozema CEO John Scotland says they're working through difficult and challenging times at their Landmark Village retirement home in Sarnia.
Three residents of the home at 130 L'Heritage Drive have died from COVID-19.
"It is obviously very difficult, it's a very close-knit home, they [staff] are very passionate about what they do," said Scotland. "So the passing of three of our residents has a significant impact on both other residents and families, and very much on our staff and our company as a whole. These are challenging times and we're trying our best to support them as we work through this."
Scotland said they immediately took action the day they received notification from Lambton Public Health that one of their residents, who had been transferred to hospital, had tested positive.
"Steps that followed very quickly after that were to isolate all of the residents into their apartments, we moved from our dining room service to room service for all meals, and also immediately introduced personal protective equipment to all of our staff and we worked out the routines and the items of protective equipment that each staff would be using at any given time with public health."
Routines include wearing proper protective equipment while taking room service trays to a unit, providing personal care, checking temperatures of residents, and picking up garbage. And Scotland said, at a minimum, staff are wearing surgical masks elsewhere in the building when doing other tasks.
He said they have confirmation for COVID-19 for eight of their residents, including the three who have passed away.
"There are three residents currently in hospital, I understand two of them are doing well, one is still in serious condition, and we have two residents that are back with us at Landmark who again, just like all the other residents, are in isolation and being cared for appropriately, and my understanding is they are doing well," he said.
Scotland said Tuesday morning there were no residents with elevated temperatures in the building.
All employees and visitors coming into the building are screened using a checklist dictated by Lambton Public Health. Scotland said three staff who failed the screening with cold-like symptoms did not report for work and were being tested for the virus.
Four staff sent home initially, the middle of last week when the home received notification about the virus, have been cleared to return to work.
Notices posted outside the front doors of Landmark Village retirement home in Sarnia. 31 March 2020.
In a letter to residents of the company's homes, management said all scheduled rent increases are immediately suspended during the pandemic, and only essential visitors, defined as relatives of a loved one who is critically ill, will be allowed in.
Scotland said family and friends are encouraged to stay in touch by phone or other technologies that may be available to keep the spirits of residents up.
-With files from Colin Gowdy