Long-Term Care and Seniors Services COVID-19 IPAC Guidelines & Outbreak Management Compendium

​​The information contained within this compendium was amassed by the County of Simcoe during the COVID-19 pandemic to address heightened infection control measures and related circumstances faced by the County of Simcoe's four owned and operated long-term care and seniors services homes. 

The information is organized into easy-to-understand sections and made available in the hopes that this may prove helpful for other organizations who are proactively or reactively facing infectious outbreaks. We compiled this compendium because of the hard-working and highly dedicated staff in our Health and Emergency teams, our service and support teams, and the overall guidance of our County Council and senior management team. Our expertise and amassed best practices are reflective in this work and its our desire that health agencies throughout Ontario and beyond, take learnings from each other to better protect Ontarians and Canadians and those who have been entrusted to the care of long term care homes, retirement homes, and other seniors services. 

The resource information and compiled aids have been refined through new and existing processes, evaluated best practices, guiding advice from peer health agencies and Ontario's relevant ministries. Tireless dedicated Long Term Care and Seniors Services staff have battled various challenges and outbreaks demonstrating resiliency and determination to beat COVID-19. We gratefully acknowledge the help, support, advice and partnership received as we work to continuously protect the loved ones entrusted to our care. We wish to thank these partners in protection: Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit, Ontario Health LHINs, our local health teams and our community hospitals. We gratefully acknowledge the support and leadership of the Ontario Government through the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Long Term Care and the Ministry for Seniors and Accessibility.

Note that materials have been updated to the best of the County's ability. But as our health and emergency services are always applying new information and learnings, various documents may have changed. We encourage those who wish to utilise these documents to apply your learnings, update documents accordingly and to consider best practices. We are all fighting this global pandemic together. We are Stronger Together.

How Do I Access this Information?

The County of Simcoe has made this compendium available to any health agency, government, or individual who wishes to use this information to better their fight in the COVID-19 battle and to apply improved infection control measures. In so doing, you are agreeing to use these files as a starting point, and will remove all County of Simcoe and/or partner logos. You will not utilize County of Simcoe identifiers, branding or logos. You will not sell this information which is freely shared in the fight against COVID-19.

To access the compendium contents, please click on the section headings below.  If you have any further questions, you may write us at compendium@simcoe.ca.

​​Audits 

Gloves
Gowns
Masks
N95 Respirators
Eye Protection
Mask Fit Testing
PPE Inventory Supply Management and Distribution
Average PPE Burn Rates and Stockpiles - Non-Outbreak vs. Outbreak​

Physical Plant IPAC Consi​​derations​​​​

Furniture and Belongings Guidelines
Additional ABHR and Glove Dispensers ~ Coming Soon
Isolation Carts and Bins
Supply Stations in Hallways ~ Coming Soon
Change Rooms
Removing of Pets 
Dedicated Break Rooms on Units and Outdoor ​Smoking Areas
Contracted Cleaning ~ Coming soon

Stakeholder ​Support - Internal/External​  ​

Red Cross
Ontario Health: SWAT Team, IPAC Extenders ~ Coming Soon​
Internal 7 Day Weekly Home Leadership Schedule​
L​ocal Family Health Teams ~ Coming Soon
Pharmacists ~ Coming Soo​n
​Medical Directors ~ Coming Soon​​
Cleaning Agencies ~ Coming Soon
Hospitals - IPAC, Rapid Testing Support, Primary Care ~ Coming Soon
Public Health ~ Coming Soon