Grace Holmes celebrated her 86th birthday a couple weeks ago at the Prince George Chateau and it wasn’t the usual milestone event the 125 residents of the retirement home have come to expect.
COVID-19 and the deadly effects the virus has had on seniors in care homes and assisted-living facilities across the country has cancelled birthday parties and other social interactions that usually draws a crowd at the Chateau.
So there was no group get-together, no sit-down meal capped by a birthday cake dessert, and that was fine with Holmes, who doesn’t like being the centre of attention. Instead, she visited with family who provided the Happy Birthday serenade in front of her ground-floor patio. Her cake was a key lime pie baked by her grandson’s wife.
“None of us can go out and right now so we eat our meals in the room,” she said. “Ordinarily we’d go to big nice dining room. I was glad I was locked in for my birthday because they have a very nice habit if you have a birthday that everybody stands up in there and sings “Happy Birthday.” I didn’t want that.”
More than half of the 2,500 people who have died from COVID-19 in Canada were residents of seniors facilities. In B.C., 20 seniors home facilities currently have active outbreaks, while 11 other clusters at care-home facilities have been declared over. None of those affected facilities are in the Northern Health region and the Chateau and its residents have been following strict measures since March 23 to keep it that way.
Chateau residents are not allowed to leave in their vehicles, nor can they go out alone for an extended hike. They are limited to short walks in the neighbourhood, accompanied by a staff member. Body temperatures are checked twice daily and they are asked if they have any symptoms of the virus. All meals and coffee break goodies are delivered to each of the rooms by a staff member who wears a face mask and gloves. Hand sanitizer is in plentiful supply and any packages that arrive for residents are wiped down with disinfectant. Access to the building by delivery staff is restricted and food deliveries are brought directly to the building with all meals prepared on site.
“I’d say 95 per cent of (the residents) are understanding and happy that we don’t have any COVID in the building and that all is good. We’re just keeping people safe,” explained Chateau executive director Arlene Dewilde.
Keeping residents safe also means keeping them active. Dewilde said staff are doing what they can for the residents to encourage daily indoor fitness activities while also trying to facilitate connections to family and friends which maintain social distancing. A staff member is available at all times to drive residents to medical appointments. They wear face masks and are on heightened alert on those excursions to minimize contact with other individuals.
“Our engage life coordinator is very creative with ideas to try and keep everyone occupied as much as they can,” said Dewilde, who is hopeful some of the restrictions will be eased in mid-May. “We’re just trying to keep everyone safe and working through it together and hopefully it’s soon over.
Anne Lane, Holmes’s daughter in Ottawa, connected to her mother on her birthday using Facetime on Dewilde’s cell phone.
“She was excited - my mother’s face lit up when she was able to see me and that was really nice,” said Lane. “They have been in total lockdown for a month and she’s dealing with it well. It disrupts a lot of lives. There were a lot of activities within the Chateau that I know people had been involved with and that has to be tough on them too.
“Management did make early and hard decisions to keep the residents and staff safe,” said Lane, who talks to her mom every morning. “My mother’s adjusting, she knows this is how it has to be. She’s fine and she’s healthy. She’s very fortunate that the Chateau has been so proactive since the beginning. I’m sure most (residents) understand that it has to be like that, especially if they’re reading about what’s going in in the rest of B.C. or back East for sure. She’s healthy, she’s safe, and she’s being cared for there. That’s all we can ask at this point.”
Besides the daily calls from her daughter in Ottawa, Holmes also gets frequent visits from her son Bryan, daughter-in-law Doreen and her grandchildren in Prince George but they have to keep their distance, talking to her metres apart from the patio. She has three great-grandchildren ranging in age from three to seven who are not allowed to visit until the threat of the virus subsides.
“I do miss them,” Holmes said. “One of them said, ‘We can’t go in because it’s only old ladies in there.’”
While her visitors come and go, there’s one family member who never has to leave her side - her 17-year-old dog Heidi. Her faithful Shih Tzu companion came with her when she moved to the Chateau last September from Vanderhoof and the dog helps her deal with being isolated from the rest of the residents.
“I get bored,” Holmes said, “I miss my walks. I used to walk two miles a day. I miss having the freedom of having a car, and I miss my house (in Vanderhoof). You have to get used to that your way of living is different. Once this is over I can go out myself. I’m not concerned about (catching the virus). I could have a heart attack, so why worry about what’s going on in the world.”
She spends her time reading mystery novels and looks forward to Bryan and Doreen bringing her a newspaper to read with a cup of coffee. She listens for the click of door handles in her hallway to perform a daily ritual with her friends, Phyllis and Mary.
“Every morning when we hear our doors opening we stick our heads out and say hi,” Holmes said. “At our age, we stick to ourselves.”
