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A Community Paper sharing the stories of the largest not-for-profit continuing care organization in Atlantic Canada SPRING 2021
Volume 03, Issue 01
COVID-19 Vaccinations
in full swing at Northwood In December 2020, Northwood received a call that our Long-Term Care (LTC) staff were eligible to be among the first health care workers to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Because Northwood sites were identified to treat residents in place if a COVID-19 positive case occurred, we were one of the first LTC facilities to be notified and allotted up to 310 doses of the vaccine. Members of the Northwood management leadership team came together and completed a randomized call out to all direct care providers. Northwood forwarded over 200 names to receive the vaccination. The vaccine eligibility was later expanded to designated caregivers and in total 308 members of the Northwood LTC community were
offered vaccinations at the NSH clinics. Northwood was also one of the first LTC facilities to be able to offer the vaccination to residents, staff and designated caregivers on site. The process included developing a consent process, determining vaccinators, organizing clinic logistics and ensuring accuracy of vaccination documentation. The first 50 residents were vaccinated with the Moderna vaccine in early 2021 and by mid-January 90% of residents in Halifax and Bedford had receive their first vaccination dose. We were very fortunate to have the assistance of Dr. Shelly McNeil, Division Head/Service Chief for the Division of Infectious Diseases NSH, to facilitate a group of physicians who volunteered to vaccinate over
230 designated caregivers. Northwood staff were able to attend these clinics as well and with the Occupational Health clinics we have vaccinated over 250 staff in house. We thank everyone for participating in the vaccination program and continue to encourage those who have
African Heritage Page 2 Month
Celebrating Bell Let’s Talk Day Page 5
NSCAD Student's Art from the Heart Page 6
not chosen the opportunity to be vaccinated to consider receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. The more people who chose to be vaccinated, the safer and stronger our communities will become and the sooner we can ease restrictions.
Bedford Campus Page 6 Gardening
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AFRICAN HERITAGE MONTH 2021 Northwood celebrated February's African Heritage Month February was African Heritage Month in Nova Scotia and Black History Month in Canada. The 2021 African Heritage Month theme, Black History Matters: Listen, Learn, Share and Act, recognized the important legacy of people of African descent and the long-standing history in the development of Canada. Nova Scotia has over 50 historic African Nova Scotian communities with a long, deep, and complex history dating back over 400 years. African Heritage Month provided us with another opportunity to celebrate our culture, legacy, achievements, and contributions of people of African Descent – past and present.
Northwood began African Heritage Month with our staff of African descent being awarded one of Dalhousie Universities African Heritage Awards. The award received showed that their courage, bravery and dedication on the front lines did not go unnoticed. Northwood is proud to support our staff and volunteers of African descent during African Heritage month and every month. We are proud of all they have done on the front lines during the COVID-19 pandemic for the Northwood community and all they continue to do. The 2021 theme brought focus and increased awareness of racialized issues
for a community that has overcome great adversity for inclusion. It further called on everyone to listen, learn, share and act to make
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society a better place. Northwood will continue to listen, learn, share and act to do our part in making society a better place.
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Northwood Named One of Nova Scotia’s & Atlantic Canada’s Top Employers for 2021 Northwood was proud to have been named one of Nova Scotia’s and Atlantic Canada’s Top Employers for 2021! This special designation recognizes employers in Nova Scotia and in Canada’s four Atlantic provinces that lead their industries in offering exceptional places to work. To win these awards, employers are evaluated by the editors of Canada’s Top 100 Employers using the same criteria as the national competition and are also compared to other organizations in their field to determine which organization offers the most progressive and forward thinking programs. It is incredible to see Northwood staff rewarded for all their hard work in
maintaining a progressive work atmosphere, innovative training and skills development and our strong community involvement. Maintaining these programs and this designation helps Northwood to recruit and retain high quality staff. The commitment that our staff demonstrated to our clients in all of our program areas and the support provided across program areas despite personal fears is a clear demonstration of the quality of our teamour hero’s! Northwood has been named a top employer for Nova Scotia since 2014 and as a top employer for Atlantic Canada since 2013. What a great way to start a new year, and raise spirits for staff and volunteers alike.
If you are interested to learn more about why Northwood was selected you can visit canadastop100.com/
atlantic/, for Top Employers in Atlantic Canada or canadastop100.com/ns/ for Top Employers in Nova Scotia!
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NORTHWOOD FOUNDATION
United States and even in the Cayman Islands. People heard the appeal from news outlets, loved ones and family at Northwood and felt compelled to help out any way they could. The monetary and gift response was overwhelming and allowed the event to run for a full year. As Foundation Fridays comes to end, we want to send out a heartfelt thank you to everyone who donated to the cause and showed Northwood staff happiness, kindness and compassion during dark times. With your help, the staff moral was continuously boosted and what started as a simple gift turned into a way to provide hope and happiness to those boost moral last March when who needed it most. Foundathe pandemic was just begin- tion Friday’s at Northwood ning. It started off with would not have been what it handing out treats to staff as was without the help from a way to say thank you and everyone involved includput a smile on everyone’s ing our much appreciated face. As it gained popularity donors, staff at all locawith Northwood employees, tions for helping to make it the Foundation staff put out happen and the volunteers an appeal to donors to help who helped hand out the support the initiative and treats and gifts each week. show Northwood that they From the bottom of our had support and kindness hearts thank you so much coming from the commufor showing this little bit of nity. The appeal took off and kindness at a time when it was heard across not only was needed most. Nova Scotia but Canada, the
Foundation Friday: Thank you for your support! No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written consent of the publisher.
PUBLISHER Northwood Communications EDITOR Mary Long COMMUNICATIONS AND DESKTOP PUBLISHING ASSISTANT Mary Long 902-454-3342 mary.long@nwood.ns.ca Daniel Snow 902-790-9069 daniel.snow@nwood.ns.ca PRINTING Advocate Printing & Publishing GRAPHIC DESIGNER Jocelyn Spence PRODUCTION MANAGER Vicki Hines
Finding happiness in dark times can prove difficult, but for staff at Northwood it came in the form of Foundation Fridays. Foundation Fridays is getting ready to wrap up after a year of providing treats and gifts to staff each week to boost moral and provide a little ray of sunshine to all the front line workers dedicating their time to the Northwood community. The Northwood Foundation began the feel good movement as a simple way to
NO CONTACT, SELF INSTALLATION SET UP. FOR ADVERTISING SALES CONTACT: publishers@metroguide.ca Tel. 902-420-9943 For more information, please contact Northwood Corporate Office, Suite 1 South, 130 Eileen Stubbs Ave., Dartmouth, NS B3B 2C4 902-425-2273 information@nwood.ns.ca www.northwood.care
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www.northwood.care RETIREMENT NOTICE
Dear Northwood, From Josie Ryan Dear Northwood, My earliest memory with you is making toast and tea for a resident who was getting ready for dialysis at 5am. We sat looking out the window at the bridge and she talked about how much she loved living here. I was a casual night nurse and I was working part time nights at another nursing home, not really knowing where I wanted to work long term. I heard if you want to know a place work the night shift. I was hooked. My girls were 3 years old and 7 months old and I just started back to work after maternity leave. I read the posting that you were looking for an Infection Control Nurse and that was a job I loved. Ironic how you let me spend my last year doing what I love to do. To say I have loved working for you is an understatement. You became a large part of my life and
my identity. You gave me so many opportunities to learn and grow and I accepted everyone. What did I know about Occupational Health; but you helped me learn. What did I know about opening a fitness centre or a health centre, not much but you had faith and supported me! Being moved into the role as Director of LTC was a tough transition, I already loved my job. But again you surrounded me with support and helped me make my way. You helped me lead the opening of 10 and 11 manor, the opening of Bedford, and the renovations to RCF and the centre building. With your support we could accomplish anything. What makes you the best at what you do are the values you hold true to and the people you attract. From my nights walking the hallways of the manor to today. Whenever I have a tough decision to make or even when I am
feeling good, a walk through the hallways of any of your facilities lightens my heart. To say hello to your people and know so many faces and names has been so important to me. To never ask more of them than I am willing to do myself and to value what they do and to know no one person is more important than anyone else and that the strength of all will see us through anything is my belief. At the heart of what you have given me is the opportunity to humbly serve others to the best of my ability. You are there and stand strong for those in need what more could I ask for. I have had over 20 years of opportunities and never once did I feel like I was alone or did not belong. If I could leave one piece of advice, it would be to continue to always take the high road no matter how challenging that can
be; Integrity and trust will always carry you through! Northwood you are the power of love and I will personally always be proud of my time with you and thankful for every opportunity and the support you have given to me and to my family. Take care With much love, Josie Josie Ryan Executive Director LTC Northwood
Northwood Residents and Staff Celebrate 2021 Bell Let’s Talk Day Northwood is so grateful to receive funding from Bell Let's Talk to help support our mental health program, Seeds of Success. This important initiative means so much to everyone at Northwood. On #BellLetsTalk Day—and every day, it’s so important to remind ourselves, our family, and our friends: you are not alone. Keep the Conversation Going!
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Art from the Heart: NSCAD student leading fundraiser for Northwood Foundation. a difference, Campbell organized an online art auction to help raise funds in support of the Northwood Foundation. All proceeds went directly to Northwood’s mental health and wellness programs, which supports the residents and tenants in the Northwood community. “Watching my mom go to work every day tired and sad is hard,” Melissa explained. “I just want to help in any way I can, and I know a lot of artists who feel the same way.”
NSCAD Fine Arts student Melissa Campbell found a creative way to help Nova Scotia’s most vulnerable population during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Campbell was inspired by the hard work of her mother, Caroline Campbell, who works as the Corporate Director of People Services at Northwood. To help make
HOW IT WORKED? Art From the Heart was a virtual Facebook auction with dozens of art pieces donated by a variety of artists from all across Canada. Campbell had only two requests of the artists, that they incorporate a red
heart into their work (which symbolises the Northwood heart logo) and that the work comes from the heart. Following the “from your heart” theme, the auction was launched on Valentine’s day (Feb 14th) and ran for two weeks. Campbell’s project was almost a year in the making. Having first thought of it in early 2020 when the pandemic hit—and working around the logistics of planning and implementing an event under unprecedented circumstances—Campbell is happy with the success of the event and the benefits it will do for senior’s mental health at Northwood. The auction closed Feb 28 and they successfully raised a total of: $2,140.00! 100% of the funds raised from the project went to the Foundation.
A couple of months ago Northwood was awarded a start-up grant to establish a Mental Health & Wellness therapeutic gardening program at Bedford Campus to support residents' mental well-being. Over the last few weeks, we have been getting the Greenhouse ready for our proposed therapeutic Greenhouse plant-care programs. Weekly plant-care groups and 1:1 wellness sessions, co-led by an Occupational Therapist & Rec
Programmer will be offered to Bedford residents. Our aim is to enhance mental well-being through meaningful engagement using plant-care activities as therapeutic medium. • Enhance well-being/ resilience • Learn/practice new skills • Build self-efficacy/ enhance self-esteem • Enjoy positive social connections • Experience community belonging
BIGSTOCK/SCORPP
Seeds of Success to establish a Mental Health & Wellness therapeutic gardening program at Bedford Campus
We are planning an Open House late March/early April (please stay tuned) and will invite Bedford residents to participate in “re-naming”
the program activity/event. To learn more about Seeds of Success visit our website at Northwood.care.
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Quality Council Update RESPONSE TO QUALITY COUNCIL QUESTION IN COMMENT BOX “Who are the members of this Council? How often do they meet? Can tenants attend? What is the Staff Resource Hub? Please answer in the next Northwood Newspaper.”
First, we would like to thank you for your question. Northwood wants to ensure clients, residents, tenants, staff, families, and community members have a voice and that we continue to support a culture of inquiry and transparency within the organization. In response to your question, Northwood’s Quality Council consists of Northwood’s President & CEO,
Chief Financial & Operating Officer, various program directors and managers, Communications, Quality and Northwood’s Client Relations Coordinator. Where the committee is an internal staff leadership committee, we are not seeking external membership at this time. Concerns that are identified by tenants at the Tenant Forum hosted by Tina Feth are communicated to Quality Council when necessary. Unfortunately, due to COVID19, our ability to host these sessions has been impacted. The Council’s purpose is to assist with program/
service integration, collaboration between programs/ teams, and joint priority setting for Quality Initiatives. The Council maintains the organization’s Quality Improvement and Client Safety Plans, as well as monitors the overall performance of the organization. The Council is not a replacement for quality improvement teams and initiatives that occur at the program level. The Council typically meets monthly, and as needed. The Staff Resource Hub,
now called the Northwood Hub is Northwood’s learning management, communication and careers software system. Staff have the ability to login to the Hub and complete their required education modules, view important communication updates on the notice board, and apply for internal job postings. The Hub also has a library of documents that includes Northwood policies, procedures, HR documents, and much more!
BIG ANNOUNCEMENT
New Long Term Care Facility for Northwood & Renewal project for Shoreham Village Announced! Northwood is thrilled to announce that the Government of Nova Scotia has approved a new long term care facility for Northwood and that we will be advancing the facility renewal plan for our partner Shoreham Village. There are not a lot of details at this time, but the
new Northwood facility will be located in Fall River and will help relieve the demand on our busy Halifax Campus. The advancement of renovations to our partner care facility, Shoreham Village, located in Chester, NS will improve the operations in the facility and improve quality of life for residents
and staff. We have been working for years with the NS government on a plan to address the infrastructure issues at both Shoreham Village and Northwood Halifax. We have now been rewarded for our patience and persistence. Our residents deserve these improvements to their
homes—they deserve to LIVE MORE! This announcement says a lot about the NS government’s respect for the work of our long-term care team, all those individuals across the organization who supported the long term care team during the outbreak and the organization overall.
Want to KNOW ALL THINGS NORTHWOOD? Sign up to our online mailing list and get up-to-date news to your email! To join, send your name and email to: communications@nwood.ns.ca
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Lynn Eyland studied art in Edmonton and then went on to enjoy a successful artistic career. She was 17 years old when she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Despite the difficulties and limitations this disease has imposed on Lynn, her enjoyment and desire to share her art continues. Lynn lives in Northwood Manor, and we’re proud to display her art to our community.