The strength of Parkland’s pandemic response relies on the strength of our dedicated and knowledgeable team members. In January 2020, our organization activated its Pandemic Response Team in response to the emerging COVID-19 virus making entry into Canada. This team worked closely with frontline teams to begin the process of reviewing and actioning the organization’s pandemic plan across all our residences in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Ontario.

Your safety is our priority. We have robust and strictly enforced infection prevention and control procedures for the safety of those living in, visiting, or working within our communities.

Industry Leadership – Pandemic Response Team

Our leadership teams meet daily during a pandemic to assess needs and to support our essential front-line team members. Our Pandemic Response Team is made up of a variety of specialists who are committed to sourcing relevant information to protect our communities:

• Frontline Team Members: All team members are required to undergo specialized training in infection prevention and control procedures and the proper use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
• Infection Prevention and Control Specialist: We have our own in-house Infection Prevention and Control Specialist who monitors risks for the organization and mandates best practices to prevent the spread of infection.
• Chief Medical Advisor: We have a partnership with a Chief Medical Advisor who connects us with Medical Officers of Health ensuring we have the latest information on best practice and emerging trends.
• Occupational Health Teams: Our Occupational Health Team conducts proactive employee screening and contact tracing to identify potential risks. This is in addition to any tracing completed by the Department of Health.
• Corporate Clinical Health Team: Our Corporate Clinical Teams work closely with operational teams to complete thorough and comprehensive resident contact tracing.
• Business Intelligence and Analytics Team (BI&A): Our BI&A team works closely with operations to proactively monitor staffing levels, ensuring we can reallocate team members accordingly. Additionally, this team ensures we are on top of current research and trends, bench-marking our success against industry leaders.
• Procurement: In the event of a pandemic, we take measures to ensure our front-line teams have the resources and PPE necessary to meet the needs of residents each day. PPE inventory is monitored daily at the site level ensuring teams always have the essential supplies they need.

Your Safety, Health and Well-being of our Seniors

The comprehensive health and well-being of our residents and team members is of the utmost importance.

• We will adopt a strict interpretation of public health directives to protect the most vulnerable among us and our essential services team members.
• When directives or guidelines conflict with each other or our own, we go with the most stringent. When in doubt, we err on the side of caution. Actions to protect residents will be based on emerging risks, and adapted according to the current pandemic status. They will include: visitor restrictions, symptom/risk screening, physical distancing and use of personal protective equipment
• We know that great service is one of the reasons residents choose to live with us. During a pandemic, services such as dining, and recreation are adapted to follow safe social distancing.
• We also understand the importance of family and social connections. Our teams are committed to facilitating innovative solutions for residents to connect with families and with one another.

“Thank you all for putting your lives on the line every time you come to work as well as implementing the myriad of safety checks that are in place for our safety.”
– Parkland resident

Clean Air, Healthy Environments

Parkland has taken progressive measures to protect and enhance cleaning protocols and indoor air quality so our residents can thrive in a clean air environment. Our buildings are all equipped with state-of-the-art HVAC systems, helping to ensure fresh air can be circulated throughout amenity spaces, common areas and suites. Parkland residences follow, and in many cases exceed the latest published standards and guidelines of excellent HVAC engineering practice.

To prevent the spread of infections and debris through the air, Parkland has taken many precautions which may include,
but are not limited to the following measures*:

• Fresh air filtered to each resident suite & common areas: Ensuring clean fresh air is always available.
• Air supply ionization: Produces a chemical reaction which helps to prevent viruses from entering the air.
• Ultraviolet disinfection in the air supply: Designed to help deactivate harmful microorganisms as air passes through the purifier chamber.
• Enhanced two-stage filtration systems: Our filtration systems are consistent with hospital grade levels of filtration.
• Humidity control: Helps to prevent air from becoming dry to decrease the speed at which viruses spread.
• Ventilation systems: Ensures the re-circulation of air at the appropriate times.
• Indoor air quality monitoring system: Designed to help prevent pathogens and other harmful chemicals from entering the air.
• Building monitoring system: This system alerts the facilities team when issues arise with our humidity, temperature, fan systems and when filters need to be replaced.
• Regular duct work cleaning: To help prevent dust and debris from entering the clean air supply.

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In addition to optimal air quality, our teams are committed to ensuring high traffic areas are regularly disinfected. We also have a team of in-house engineers who maintain our air quality and building systems and who are continuously looking at new innovative solutions to keep our communities both beautiful and safe places to live.

If you have questions on how we are keeping our communities safe, contact us at ipac@shannex.com

*Available at select campuses

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