The Participation House – COVID-19 Planning/Prevention Update March 18, 2020

Please be assured that during this time of unrest and as it pertains to the worldwide pandemic COVID-19 The Participation House (Durham Region) is taking all necessary precautions to maintain a Healthy, Safe Workplace and Service environment.   We will deliver on this commitment through educating and preparing our workforce and by engaging informed risk mitigation strategies for allIt is our intention to provide regular updates through our social media channels and website as to how the services we provide may be affected within the coming days. 

The organization has a pandemic plan that we are actively engaging as a means of attempting to limit/prevent the spread of this virus.  Some of the ways in which we are planning to do this are;

  • Reviewing and revising our staffing model to limit the possible transmission of the virus
  • Daily self-screening of all employees entering the agency locations
  • Monitoring and responding to the ongoing direction by the Government of Ontario
  • Closing service location to all but mandatory service providers
  • Enforcing social distancing and avoidance of large congregate settings and community venues

As of March 13th, 2020.  We would like to advise all those planning on attending our Family Information Night scheduled for March 18th, 2020 that this event is being postponed to a later date.

The Community Activation Program services at the Gifford School location will be suspended as of 4pm today and reassessed on April 4th, 2020.

As of Friday March 13, 2020, the Municipality of Clarington has initiated the closure of all of it’s Recreational Facilities until April 6th, 2020.  This affects our operations of the Concession Stands at these locations.  Please be advised that if you or your son/daughter are employed there, we will gladly work with you to review options by the government pertaining to loss of income.

On March 16, 2020 we were advised by the Ministry of Children and Community Social Services to begin the implementation of social distancing therefore limiting visitors to our locations to only those who are required onsite such as; medical professionals who are performing essential care. 

We have also limited the movement of people living in the agency’s residential settings to walks in their community, visits within their immediate environment.  All other community activities/involvement has ceased as a means of keeping everyone safe.

At this time we have also requested that families no longer visit their family member until such time as it is safe to do so.  We would be happy to assist families in maintaining their connection to their loved one through phone calls, facetime and/or skype if requested.  In the event that a family would like to have their loved one return home to wait out this pandemic we will gladly assist you with this. However, it is important to note that once the individual has left the residence for a period of time we will not be able to bring them back to their immediate environment until we have sought the direction and clearance from the local Health Unit. We want to ensure that we proceed in a manner that is best and without endangering the health of the staff and others who may share the home environment at PH

There is a dedicated government webpage: https://www.ontario.ca/page/2019-novel-coronavirus which issues regular updates on the virus twice daily to keep citizens up-to-date on new developments.

This video is also helpful in gaining a better understanding of the virus and protection: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Edy8MR0jdEY&feature=youtu.be As of today, our main office will remain open but access into the location will require screening and is not preferred.  To maintain our commitment to respond to your inquiries we are always available to receive your questions/concerns at 905 579-5267 ext. 201.