May 31, 2006

Baycrest preparing pandemic influenza plan for its nursing home and hospital

Toronto, ONT - Baycrest Geriatric Health Care System, one of Canada’s largest geriatric healthcare facilities, is preparing a pandemic influenza plan for its nursing home, hospital and other services which provide care to almost 1,500 frail, elderly clients each day.

The Baycrest plan is a complex document addressing different stages of pandemic planning, from preparedness to response and recovery. Among the strategies and tools: screening of clients and care providers for influenza-like illnesses; providing anti-virals to clients and care providers; stockpiling critical supplies (masks and other healthcare supplies); redeploying care providers during a pandemic; immunizing clients and care providers when a vaccine becomes available; and providing emotional support to clients and care providers to help them cope with stress.

Many of these strategies are reflected in the Pandemic Influenza Planning Guidelines released today by the Toronto Academic Health Sciences Network (TAHSN). Baycrest is part of TAHSN, a network of academic health organizations affiliated with the University of Toronto. For the past year the group has been meeting to develop coordinated pandemic preparedness guidelines.

“Like every healthcare facility, we are planning for something extraordinary that could impact many people,” says Joy Richards, vice-president of Nursing who is overseeing the pandemic planning at Baycrest. “Our goal is to lessen a pandemic’s impact on our elderly clients and our people resources – the people who provide daily care to our clients.”

“The Baycrest pandemic plan has been evolving over the past year and operational details are still being worked out,” says Richards. “Our guiding principles are very clear – protecting our clients and the people who provide essential care and service to them.”

“Now is the time for everyone to make that extra effort to practice the most basic and obvious methods of infection control,” says Chingiz Amirov, director of Infection Prevention and Control at Baycrest. “This includes vigilant handwashing at work and at home, regular influenza immunization, and staying home when sick.”

“The TAHSN planning guidelines are helping to guide and further refine the Baycrest plan which should be ready in the fall,” says Richards.

To read the TAHSN press release and pandemic planning guidelines, please go to: www.tahsn.ca

Basic pandemic influenza information is available on Baycrest’s website (http://www.baycrest.org/, click on Family Information icon, and go to pandemic planning), as well as the following sites: World Health Organization http://www.who.int/en/, Health Canada http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/dc-ma/avia/index_e.html, Public Health Agency of Canada http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/cpip-pclcpi/, and Toronto Public Health http://www.toronto.ca/health/pandemicflu/index.htm

For more information on this press release, please contact:
Kelly Connelly, Senior Media Relations Officer
Baycrest Geriatric Health Care System
416.785.2432, kconnelly@baycrest.org