Making a hotel feel like home
CALGARY - The lobby of a Calgary hotel is now home to a makeshift pharmacy, a temperature check station, whiteboards with details about COVID-19 patients and masked workers aiding the city’s vulnerable population.
It’s like a clinic with more carpet, where private patient spaces have been swapped for unassuming hotel rooms in the facility’s surrounding building. The hotel, which Postmedia agreed not to identify, has been transformed into the city’s only assisted self-isolation site to house individuals facing homelessness who have tested positive for the deadly novel coronavirus, are symptomatic or have been in contact with a positive case.
On Thursday morning, 46 clients were self-isolating on site. At last report, 12 people from Calgary’s homeless shelters — six from Alpha House, five from the Drop-In Centre and one from the Salvation Army — have tested positive for COVID-19 and some are currently at the undisclosed location.
The facility is equipped to safely isolate 100 people and Dr. Kerri Treherne, medical director of The Alex, said the number of clients is growing daily, as is the team’s effort to make the space feel more like a home. The Alex, alongside Alberta Health Services and CUPS Calgary, provides medical support for the site.
“When this program originally started, it was just a patient in a hotel room,” said Treherne about the April 6 launch. “I feel much better about what we are trying to do now. We are trying to make it more human, more happy, so they can have more dignity.”
Treherne said the segregated rooms used to mitigate health risks can feel like “jail,” where people aren’t allowed to socialize with their neighbours or leave for extended periods.
“The patients are just so alone when they’re in the room. They walk in, close the door behind them and can’t really go out,” she said. “It’s just a weird feeling. Loss of autonomy, loss of control and complete isolation — loneliness.”
The hotel rooms are modest with a bathroom, bedroom, living area and kitchenettes in some. The walls are bare, choking hazards and sharp items have been removed and the utilities are, for the most part, switched off since clients are provided three meals a day and checked in on by medical and support staff.
Clients are allowed to go for co-ordinated walks and borrow donated books or electronic devices. But the majority of their two-week isolation period is spent inside, alone. Even when they leave their room, the hallways are sobering: there are people sanitizing the space, along with security guards and signage reminding guests to follow proper safety measures.
It’s the outdoors that people crave, said Treherne, which is why her team is working to increase the amount of exterior activities available for clients, including wellness areas and a designated smoking zone.
It’s a fine balance between safety and community.
Samantha Hung, The Alex’s case manager lead, said each case is treated differently depending on the individual’s history and existing medical, mental health and addictions concerns.
“Being here can trigger a whole lot of negative memories or emotions, so emotion regulation has become a very important part of our work as well — assessing our clients’ mental health and providing what supports we can in the limited time we have,” said Hung, adding identifying housing supports is key.
“We try not to dig too deep into (trauma) because it’s not really the place for it. We don’t have the opportunities and means to ‘close up the can of worms’ so to speak, so we have to be really careful and recognize there is trauma but know our place in it to support our clients.”
Personalized care plans are undertaken by staff, who for example might have longer conversations or additional walks with clients who are experiencing suicidal ideation. A lot of their job comes down to building trust.
The site is home to “high risk” clients who have been triaged by medical personnel at hospital emergency departments or emergency shelters, and then transported to the assisted self-isolation hotel.
There are about 60 workers — not including security, hotel maintenance and cleaning staff — at the hotel. They are required to wear head-totoe personal protective equipment when coming in contact with clients. Rigorous screening and sanitization measures are in place.
Treherne said they are adjusting their efforts “dayby-day” to best assist Calgary’s vulnerable population. They prepared for the worst but have been fortunate to see numbers in the homeless community stay relatively stable.
It’s like the calm before the storm.
So far, the storm hasn’t arrived.