HALIFAX -- Long-term care facilities have only had a few days to organize bringing visitors back inside for residents in a limited way after the province announced Dec. 16 it was loosening some restrictions.
While the province is now allowing a small number of visitors at care homes, it was left up to individual facilities to decide exactly how many would be allowed, along with the best ways to maintain COVID-19 protocols such as physical distancing.
In some cases, that has meant hiring extra staff or bringing staff back from Christmas vacations early, if they are willing.
The head of the association representing nursing homes in the province says she does wish the province had given operators more of a heads-up on the announcement last week.
"It took some folks by surprise that this would be rolled out," says Michele Lowe, executive director of the Nursing Homes Nova Scotia Association.
"At the end of the press conference (held by the province) there were families looking to schedule their visitors when administrators didn't even know that was going to happen," Lowe adds.
As a result, she says some facilities were able to start visitations today, and some were not.
"Some homes were able to have the staff they needed," she says, "but others were not, so we ask for families to be patient."
Because staffing levels and spacing limitations change depending on each facility, the exact process for visitation, and when and where visits can happen, varies.
At facilities operated by Rosecrest Communities, for example, visits are being scheduled in advance and take place in a designated visiting area. Each resident can have one visitor at a time, and visits are managed and monitored for COVID-19 safety by a staff member.
"We did hire extra support staff who can manage the visit," says Rosecrest representative Tracey Tulloch. "(That person) does the screening, and monitors the visits when they're happening."
Tulloch says residents are happy to be able to have extra visitors before the holidays, although they were already permitted to have one designated caregiver help attend to their needs.
Families of residents are also happy.
Hayleigh MacKenzie says she shed a few tears when she heard the news she could finally visit her grandmother again.
Her grandmother lives in an assisted living facility in Pictou County, and travel restrictions in and out of Halifax imposed in late November had meant MacKenzie couldn't make the trip to see the 89-year-old.
Now, Hayleigh is getting ready to hit the road for a visit before Christmas Eve.
"I'm going to be heading up tomorrow after work to go see her. I messaged her, I told her I'd pick up some festive specials from Swiss Chalet and I made some cookies," MacKenzie says. "I'm really, really excited."
The loosened restrictions for long-term care homes are a welcome end to a difficult year for residents, staff, and families.
An outbreak of the virus at the Northwood facility in Halifax resulted in the deaths of 53 residents in the spring.
Two experts behind an external review of what happened at Northwood determined shared rooms and staffing shortages were among the key contributing factors in that outbreak.
