Nurses are taking the fight against COVID-19 to local retirement homes, group homes and shelters.
Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital (OSMH) has begun sending nurses to those facilities, upon request, to test residents for the virus.
“It’s become quite apparent that the places we need to be most concerned about are where our elderly and vulnerable residents are in group settings,” said Ryan Miller, OSMH’s director of integrated care and manager of the local COVID-19 assessment centre.
Officials at those residences can contact OSMH to request testing if residents are showing symptoms of COVID-19. Tests are not being done on those who are asymptomatic.
Miller said sending nurses to test residents could help prevent a strain on the hospital and its emergency room. It also saves time and resources, as many in that vulnerable population would likely have to be taken by ambulance to the hospital.
OSMH also recognizes elderly and otherwise vulnerable residents are less likely to be able to make it to the assessment centre at the hospital.
So far, nurses have administered five individual tests through the new outreach program.
“We anticipate that our number (of tests) will go up, and hopefully we won’t see any COVID-positive residents,” Miller said.
The response to the outreach has been “very positive,” she added.
“They’re very grateful that we can provide this service.”
OSMH is not sending nurses to long-term care homes to do testing because staff at those facilities have the capacity to test residents, Miller said.
