Hastings Prince Edward Public Health
Online Bulletin for Health Care Providers

May 7, 2020

From:
Dr. Piotr Oglaza
Medical Officer of Health & CEO
Hastings Prince Edward Public Health

To: Long Term Care Homes; Retirement Homes; Quinte Healthcare [ERs, IC, Occ Health]; Health Care Agencies; SE LHIN;

In this Issue:

1. Long-Term Care (LTC) and Retirement Home (RH) Resident Transfers
2. Health Care Worker Self Isolation and Return to Work Guidelines

Long-Term Care (LTC) and Retirement Home (RH) Resident Transfers

• There are NO RESTRICTIONS on residents returning to the home from outpatient visits (the home is encouraged to consult with the hospital about whether a more appropriate arrangement may be made to keep residents with frequent hospital visits in hospital)
• Initial admissions to LTC from hospital continue to be temporarily paused

New admissions and re-admissions may resume under specific circumstances:

• Transfer of Hospital Patients to Retirement Homes is permitted under the following circumstances:
  • Receiving home is NOT in a COVID-19 outbreak.
  • Resident has been tested for COVID-19, has a negative result and is transferred to the home within 24 hours of receiving the result.
  • Receiving home has a plan to ensure that the resident being admitted can complete 14 days self isolation.
• Transfer of Hospital Patients and Community Clients to LTC is permitted under the following circumstances:
  • It is a re-admission to LTC (resident is returning to their home) or a new admission from the community (initial admissions to long-term care from hospital continue to be temporarily paused).
  • Receiving home is NOT in a COVID-19 outbreak.
  • Resident has been tested for COVID-19, has a negative result and is transferred to the home within 24 hours of receiving the result.
  • Receiving home has a plan to ensure that the resident being admitted can complete 14 days of self isolation.

Health Care Worker Self Isolation and Return to Work Guidelines

• Ministry of Health COVID-19 Quick Reference Public Health Guidance on Testing and Clearance was updated May 2nd. 
• Hastings Prince Edward Public Health’s Health Care Worker Self Isolation and Return to Work Guidelines has been updated on our website with recent changes that include:
  • HCWs should follow isolation and clearance with non-test based approach unless staff person was severely ill (requiring hospitalization during course of their illness)

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HPEPH has closed our doors to the public; however, we remain dedicated in protecting our community and providing local HCPs and our community with new information as it becomes available. Current information on COVID-19 specifically for health care providers can be found at hpePublicHealth.ca, Ontario Ministry of Health and at publichealthontario.ca.

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Health Bulletin Editors: Kamran Khani

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