Village Green team helps residents and families get their Christmas photos

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Village Green team members helped residents and their loved ones usher in the holiday season recently by hosting an all-day Christmas photo day at the Selby, Ont. long-term care home.

Using a variety of props, including holiday scarves, hats, costume jewellery and other items, team members created a photo booth a few weeks ago for residents and their family members to have their pictures taken.

One Village Green team member, who wishes to remain anonymous, donated the backdrop that was used: a Christmas trees flanking a wooden gate topped with holly.

Residents and their family members now have mementos they can keep from Christmas 2022, says Village Green life enrichment co-ordinator Ulana Orrick, who served as photographer that day.

Ulana says team members from across the home worked to create a festive holiday theme that day which made the event successful.

“Our hairdresser donated her own time to help all our residents look their best before having their picture taken, and we had Christmas carols playing and a crockpot with hot apple cider for residents to enjoy while they waited their turn,” she tells The OMNIway.

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Village Green residents spend a day talking like pirates

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For the second straight year, residents and team members celebrate International Talk Like a Pirate Day

It may be an unusual day, but International Talk Like a Pirate Day has become a part of the culture at Village Green.

For the second straight year, the Selby, Ont. long-term care home has celebrated International Talk Like a Pirate Day with pirate-themed activities and by encouraging everyone to talk with their best pirate accent.

While International Talk Like a Pirate Day is Sept. 19, the event was postponed until Sept. 26 so residents and staff members could honour Queen Elizabeth II on the day of her funeral, notes Village Green life enrichment co-ordinator Ulana Orrick.

Between phrases that may have included things like “shiver me timbers!” and “weigh anchor and hoist the mizzen!” residents enjoyed dressing up in pirate apparel and visiting a tattoo parlour that had been set up.

A popular event of the day was a “minute to win it” digging-for-gold game, Ulana adds.

There was also an educational component to the day, with residents learning about the history of pirates and competing in pirate trivia.

According to several online sources, International Talk Like a Pirate Day was conceived by friends John Baur and Mark Summers of Oregon, USA, in 1995 during racquetball game.

As the story goes, one of the men let out a loud, pirate-like “aarrr!” after sustaining an injury on the court, and from that, an idea was born.

Ulana says one of the benefits of the day was that it engaged residents of all abilities in an entertaining program that generated lots of excitement.

“The residents all had a lot of fun,” she says.

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Contest win nets Village Green residents’ council new info boards

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An $800 gift certificate will help make the boards more eye-catching

Village Green’s residents’ council will be getting new, state-of-the-art information boards to help share important news and updates after being named one of the winners of the Ontario Association of Residents’ Councils’ (OARC’s) Show Us Your Boards contest.

The Selby, Ont. long-term care home won an $800 gift certificate to improve its residents’ council boards during a draw that was held by the OARC at the end of Residents’ Council Week.

Before Residents’ Council Week, which was Sept. 12-18, the OARC asked Ontario long-term care homes to submit photos of their residents’ council information boards along with a description of improvements residents’ council members would like to see made to their boards.

In their submission, Village Green residents’ council members stated the current boards have too much white space and the lettering needs to be larger.

“There is so much great information, but it needs to be more eye-catching,” noted one council member.

Among items included on residents’ council information boards are the monthly program and events calendar, council meeting minutes, important notices from home management and residents’ council pamphlets.

Village Green life enrichment co-ordinator Ulana Orrick says the boards are important to residents, and while the new boards will be more eye-catching, the information will be the same.

“When asked what they like about our bulletin boards here at Village Green, almost all residents said that they like that the information is up to date and complete,” Ulana says.

“They can always rely on the bulletin boards as a source of information, and they are a great way to plan their day and week.”

With their gift certificate, Village Green will create standout information boards that will continue to post the information residents want but in a more striking way, just as residents have requested, Ulana says.

Ulana says the contest helped Village Green in its continuous quality improvement journey, adding the home would have made the changes residents requested even if they didn’t win a prize.

“I am so glad that OARC came up with this contest,” she says. “It sparked a great conversation with our residents’ council about the boards, and we have some plans on how to improve them.”

Residents’ Council Week is organized each year by OARC and aims to raise awareness about the important role residents’ councils play in long-term care homes.

Residents’ councils are mandated by the Ministry of Long-Term Care and serve to empower residents and help them make the most of their experience living in long-term care homes.

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Village Green celebrates Residents’ Council Week with a variety of events

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Raising awareness of the Residents’ Bill of Rights, creating a resident subcommittee to write council bylaws and attending a virtual concert with other LTC residents were among the highlights

Village Green celebrated Residents’ Council Week by raising awareness about the Ontario Residents’ Bill of Rights, forming a subcommittee to create residents’ council bylaws and attending a virtual concert organized by the Ontario Association of Residents’ Councils (OARC).

There are 29 rights in the Residents’ Bill of Rights which are ingrained in the Fixing Long-Term Care Act (FLTCA), 2021. These rights guarantee that all residents of Ontario long-term care homes “receive safe, consistent, and high-quality resident-centred care in settings where residents feel at home, are treated with respect, and have the supports and services they need for their health and well-being,” OARC says on its website.

To raise awareness of the Residents’ Bill of Rights, the Selby, Ont. long-term care home’s team members participated in a pop quiz that was focused on the Bill of Rights, says Village Green life enrichment co-ordinator Ulana Orrick.

For example, team members were asked if they knew where the Residents’ Bill of Rights was posted in the home as well as which residents’ rights they could name.

Since there were amendments made to the Residents’ Bill of Rights in 2021, staff members were also asked if they knew what those changes were.

Acting on a suggestion mentioned in the OARC newsletter, Village Green used Residents’ Council Week to establish a resident-led subcommittee to develop bylaws for the home’s residents’ council.

“The residents said this would be a great thing to do during Residents’ Council Week, so that’s what we did,” Ulana tells The OMNIway. “We bought some doughnuts and made some coffee and we started writing bylaws.”

To cap off the week, the OARC hosted an hour-long virtual concert featuring singer-songwriter Deidrey Francois which the residents enjoyed, Ulana says.

During the broadcast, it was announced that Village Green was one of three long-term care homes that won an $800 gift certificate that will be put towards a new residents’ council information board (read more in an upcoming OMNIway story).

Long-term-care home residents across Ontario tuned in to the performance, which was aired over Zoom. This created a strong sense of community for residents, Ulana says.

“The residents really liked seeing that other homes were also celebrating Residents’ Council Week alongside them virtually,” she says. “That was fun for everybody.”

Residents’ Council Week was Sept. 12-18. The week, which is organized each year by OARC, aims to raise awareness about the important role residents’ councils play in long-term care homes.

Residents’ councils are mandated by the Ministry of Long-Term Care and serve to empower residents and help them make the most of their experience living in long-term care homes.

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Redeveloped Village Green will be an important community asset: administrator

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Job creation and improved local access to LTC beds are among the community benefits the new 128-bed home will provide, says Linda Pierce

When the project to redevelop Village Green is completed, the state-of-the-art 128-bed long-term care home will not only enhance the living and working experience for residents and staff members, it will also be a major benefit to the community, says Linda Pierce.

Linda, Village Green’s administrator, says the redeveloped Village Green will create employment opportunities for Greater Napanee as well as ensure more people in the region requiring long-term care will be able to stay close to home.

Village Green employs about 85 people. Because the redeveloped home will be almost double in size – Village Green currently has 66 beds – about twice as many people will be needed to staff the new home.

Linda notes the region around Greater Napanee contains many small towns and villages where people have lived all their lives. A major benefit the additional 62 beds will bring to the region, she says, is that people living in these communities needing long-term care will have increased access to beds.

“That’s comforting for people to know; that you’re going to be where you grew up,” Linda tells The OMNIway, adding this is equally important to families.

“Being close to Mom and Dad is important (for families), and in our area, we are an aging population. … We have cared for our moms and our dads and our aunts and uncles … and that’s a great honour to be able to (continue to) do that.”

Village Green was approved for redevelopment by the province in November 2020. Construction on the new Village Green, which will be located at the northwest corner of Drive-In Road and Highway 41 in Greater Napanee, could start as early as autumn.

Once completed, the new Village Green will be a Class A long-term care home consisting of four spacious living areas that will each be home to 32 residents.

The redeveloped Village Green will also have modern amenities, such as wider hallways and more home-like dining areas, and privacy will be enhanced by limiting all rooms to no more than one or two beds.

Outside, the new Village Green will have scenic gardens and outdoor space as well as a “whole home” gathering area and chapel space.

“It’s going to be just absolutely stunning,” Linda says of the redeveloped Village Green. “It’s going to have quite a presence in our community.”

– This is Part 3 of a three-part story series

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Excitement building around plans for Village Green redevelopment

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‘If I had to rate the excitement on a scale from one to 10, it would be 15,’ says administrator

Village Green is buzzing with excitement as residents and staff members await the start of construction to build a new 128-bed long-term care home to replace the existing 66-bed residence in Greater Napanee.

“If I had to rate the excitement on a scale from one to 10, it would be 15,” administrator Linda Pierce tells The OMNIway.

The design plans for the new Village Green were recently unveiled, and a site at the northwest corner of Drive-In Road and Highway 41 in Greater Napanee has been secured for the new home.

Construction could begin as early as autumn.

“As we start now to move along the path and really have a heightened awareness that this is actually going to happen, that we are closer to putting shovels in the ground, there’s a real flavour of excitement,” Linda says.

Once completed, the redeveloped Village Green will be a Class A long-term care home that will include four spacious neighbourhoods, with 32 residents living in each neighbourhood.

To enhance privacy, all rooms will have either one or two beds, and there will be a host of modern amenities, such as wider hallways and more home-like dining areas. Outside, the new Village Green will have scenic gardens and outdoor space as well as a “whole home” gathering area and chapel space.

“We are going from a 66-bed home to a 128-bed home, and the exciting thing for the residents is that they will no longer have to share a basic room with (as many as) three other residents,” Linda says.

“There’s going to be such an enhancement (in quality of life).”

The new Village Green, which has been designed by Toronto-based G Architects, has been planned “very, very well” with a strong focus on privacy, Linda adds.

Linda notes that residents have had input into the home’s design and that G Architects has included their input in the plans. Some of the features that have been important to residents include enhanced privacy, wider doors and more spacious bathrooms, Linda says.

Village Green opened in 1978 and the home has always been focused on providing a high quality of life for residents, Linda says, but a new home is needed to stay ahead of the curve and meet the needs of an ever-changing resident population.

“The residents love living here, but, let’s face it, it’s an almost 45-year-old home that was built all that time ago and the population has changed,” she says, adding everyone at the home is pleased with the province for approving the new build.

“We are thrilled.”

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PHOTO CAPTION: Pictured above, an illustration created by G Architects of the front entrance of the new, 128-bed Village Green that has been approved for redevelopment.

New Village Green design plans unveiled

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The spacious, redeveloped home will bring 62 new beds to the region and include a host of modern amenities

Design plans for the new, state-of-the-art Village Green were unveiled March 25 at a press conference in Greater Napanee, where announcements for the redevelopment of three other long-term care homes in the region were being made.

The event was attended by representatives from OMNI Health Care and other long-term care operators as well as representatives from provincial and local governments and the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte.

In November 2020, the Ontario government approved the redevelopment plan to build a new 128-bed Village Green in Greater Napanee that will add 62 beds to the existing home.

During the event, it was announced that the new Village Green will be located at the northwest corner of Drive-In Road and Highway 41 in Greater Napanee.

Once completed, the new Village Green will be a Class A long-term care home consisting of four spacious living areas that will each be home to 32 residents.

The redeveloped Village Green will also have modern amenities, such as wider hallways and more home-like dining areas, and privacy will be enhanced by limiting all rooms to no more than one or two beds.

Outside, the new Village Green will have scenic gardens and outdoor space as well as a “whole home” gathering area and chapel space.

Patrick McCarthy, OMNI’s president and CEO, said in a statement that OMNI is pleased the Village Green redevelopment process is underway, adding feedback from people living and working at the home was included in the designs created by G Architects.

“We appreciate the people who live and work at Village Green and look forward to the new Village Green meeting the current and future needs of the community,” he said.

“During each design stage, architects have presented preliminary plans to residents, families, and staff in order to obtain and consider feedback.”

Village Green opened its doors Aug. 27, 1978. Since then, the home has prided itself on being focused on providing the best possible quality of life for residents, said Linda Pierce, the home’s administrator.

“Over the past 44 years the team of caregivers at the home have strongly believed in providing hope, purpose and belonging to the residents,” she said.

“With great anticipation, we appreciate the trust and support to continue our story.”

Construction on the $33-million project to redevelop Village Green could start as early as this autumn.

In addition to Village Green, there are two other OMNI long-term care homes that have been approved for rebuilding: Riverview Manor in Peterborough and Streamway Villa in Cobourg.

Construction is also well underway at four OMNI homes that have been approved for expansion: Almonte Country Haven, Country Terrace, Pleasant Meadow Manor and Woodland Villa.

– This is the first story in a three-part series about the Village Green redevelopment

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PHOTO CAPTION: Pictured above, an illustration created by G Architects of the front entrance of the new, 128-bed Village Green that has been approved for redevelopment.

Entertainer’s Spanish music gets Garden Terrace groovin’

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Marco the Musician’s engaging performance attracted several residents who usually don’t attend programming

Garden Terrace recently welcomed back Marco the Musician, a fan-favourite entertainer among residents, who delivered an hour-long performance at the Kanata, Ont. long-term care home.

One of the benefits of having Marco back at Garden Terrace was that his appearance encouraged several residents who normally do not attend programming to stop by and take in the performance, says Rachael King, the home’s life enrichment co-ordinator.

“Everyone seemed very happy and engaged,” she tells The OMNIway, “and people who usually don’t attend programming came out, so there were some new resident faces there.”

Marco plays a wide variety of tunes residents love, but his specialty is Spanish music, Rachael says.

During his March 24 performance, Marco played some Spanish songs for the residents which prompted a few to stand up and start dancing, she adds, noting Marco brings out the festive spirit in residents.

“Marco is one of the crowd favourites,” Rachael says. “He will play anything – he will play Spanish music, but then he will play other music with a Spanish twist and he will sing in English and in Spanish.”

About 25 people in total attended the event, including some who particularly liked the Spanish theme of many of Marco’s songs.

“There are a few Spanish residents who really enjoyed it,” Rachael says.

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Viral Facebook post brings children to Village Green to make snowmen for residents

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‘I was hoping we might get one or two kids out, and I was completely wowed by our community,’ says LEC Ulana Orrick

If you post it on Facebook, they will come.

This is something Village Green life enrichment co-ordinator (LEC) Ulana Orrick learned Wednesday (Feb. 2) when she posted a live video on the Village Green Facebook page asking children in Greater Napanee to stop by the home to build snowmen for residents.

When Ulana arrived at Village Green for work that morning, she immediately noticed the balmy, 3 C weather had created soft, sticky snow around the home, and soft, sticky snow, as every Canadian knows, makes perfect snowmen.

Knowing it was a PA day and children would be off from school, it was the perfect opportunity to engage the younger generation in life at Village Green, Ulana says.

Ulana made a live video of herself outside the home inviting children of all ages and families to stop by to make snowmen and snow sculptures for the residents and enjoy the nice weather.

Before long, children and their parents were showing up in droves. Ulana says she was overwhelmed by the response.

“I was hoping we might get one or two kids out, (but) I was completely wowed by our community,” she tells The OMNIway, adding that by late afternoon the Facebook post had about 4,000 views and more than 100 shares.

“We have had families and even a daycare showing up. … Our residents are having a great time watching the kids playing and having snowball fights.”

Designs the children came up with included traditional snowmen, a bear cub climbing a tree, a cat and a heart-shaped snow sculpture that was painted red. Each one impressed the Village Green residents and staff.

“The snowmen and snow sculptures are all so creative,” Ulana says.

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Church ensures Village Green residents get to see much-loved Christmas choir

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Since the much-loved choir could not be at the home for Christmas, a special video was made for residents

Village Green residents were able to watch a favourite Christmastime event in December, thanks to the kindness of the members of Selby United Church.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the children’s choir at the church, which is directly across the road from Village Green in Greater Napanee, would visit the home to perform for residents at Christmas.

This past Christmas, due to pandemic protocols in effect, the children could not be at the home to sing for residents.

Instead, the church members recorded a special presentation of the children’s choir along with a skit that was posted on YouTube for Village Green residents to watch. The video was well-received by residents, says Village Green life enrichment co-ordinator Ulana Orrick.

“We were able to play that on the big TV in the activity room for the residents and they really loved seeing the kids again because they haven’t been able to since (the pandemic) started,” she tells The OMNIway.

Ulana says that in addition to making the special video for residents, the church sent Christmas cards and treats to the home during the holidays.

“They have pretty much adopted us,” Ulana says. “The fact that they videotaped (the choir) and did a special shout-out to the residents at Village Green, saying that they miss them and that they were sorry that they couldn’t come in, was really nice.”

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