Announcement on COVID-19

With increased concern around COVID-19, I want to ensure that our clients and their families understand our company priorities and what we are doing to continue to keep clients and our employees safe.

Our priority during this pandemic and, more importantly, every day, is to make sure our clients and employees stay safe. Nothing has changed – this will always be our focus!

How do we do this? As a health care organization we have always had strong Infection and Control Practices (IPAC) and we use them every day. For non-healthcare companies, many of the precautions being implemented to protect against this virus are new to their employees. For Bayshore employees, the basics, like proper hygiene, self and client screening and proper use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is just how we do our work every day. While not new, it is more important now than ever. Our normal daily clinical practices means our readiness for current and future COVID-19 challenges are much higher than others.

That being said, we understand the COVID-19 virus has and is going to continue to bring challenges to Canadians and the health care sector. While media coverage is just starting to ramp up, Bayshore started COVID-19 impact planning in January. A team of internal Clinical, Health and Safety, Human Resources, IT and Operational specialists has been working on a company-wide response plan for months. This plan includes:

• Pandemic planning – making sure we have the right people, processes and systems in place to safely provide and sustain our work.
• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) supply – making sure we have enough PPE supply (masks, gowns, gloves, etc.) and a solid process to prioritize when we use this equipment for essential care delivery and enhanced IPAC needs.
• IPAC education – making sure everyone is current on best practices to protect against and stop the spread of this virus and have up to date information.
• Employee and client communication – making sure our employees and clients have the information they need to keep up to date and stay safe.

While I am not sure what this virus has in store for us in the coming weeks and months, I am very confident that we are doing the right things and following best practices from The Public Health Agency of Canada to keep our clients and employees safe.

I continue to be incredibly grateful for the amazing work our employees do each and every day and the trust our clients place in us.

Stay safe and be well,

Stuart Cottrelle
President
Bayshore HealthCare