Careful, distanced, outdoor reunions begin in N.S.
Emotions run high as province allows families to visit nursing homes
“We’ve been doing a lot of FaceTime and Skype with (the residents), but it’s not the same as being able to see your family.”
LISA SMITH GLEN HAVEN MANOR CEO
NEW GLASGOW, N.S.—“You’re looking pretty good,” Marilyn Petrie said from her car.
“You’re looking pretty good yourself,” said her husband, Wayne, from his wheelchair across the laneway, three metres away. “I love you,” she said. “I love you, too.” So began the first face-to-face meeting in four months for a couple who have been married for 55 years.
The venue was the 202-bed Glen Haven Manor long-termcare facility in New Glasgow, N.S. The occasion was the Nova Scotia government loosening coronavirus restrictions enough so that, for the first time in months, families could visit their loved ones at care homes, in person.
The Petries had to speak loudly, to cover the distance between them. But for the first time in months, Marilyn Petrie was able to gaze at the face of her husband as they spoke; watch him laugh, watch him frown. The emotions flitting across her face made it clear how much that meant.
“I haven’t seen him since three weeks before the COVID lockdown started,” she said afterward. Wayne has a condition that precludes the use of video chats, she said, but he calls her every day.
“He looked good. I didn’t expect him to look so good.”
The visits Monday were still socially distanced, and only 20 minutes in length. But for residents starved for the sight of their family, and vice versa, that 20 minutes was a really good place to start.
Residents at Glen Haven and their families have been waiting longer than most.
In late February, there was a small outbreak of a mild respiratory virus at the facility and, as a precaution, Glen Haven cancelled family visits. Before they could resume, the Nova Scotia government-cancelled all long-term-care facility family visits in the province.
Perhaps because of its early lockdown, Glen Haven, was spared any COVID-19 cases. The province’s Northwood facility in Halifax was not so fortunate. Over the past few months, the facility saw 345 cases of COVID-19 and 53 deaths, representing 85 per cent of all the coronavirus deaths in Nova Scotia. As of Monday, however, Northwood has no active cases and it, too, is now scheduling family visits.
Last week, Dr. Robert Strang, the province’s chief medical officer of health, announced that the province would permit outdoor visits to long-term-care facilities as of Monday. Within 24 hours, the family of every resident at Glen Haven had been called and told the news and preparations had begun.
On a warm and breezy afternoon, the driveway carried a steady stream of families arriving for their scheduled visits with residents. At 20 minutes per visit, and three stations set up on the grounds, Glen Haven Manor CEO Lisa Smith said the home can accommodate 21 family visits per day, or about 125 per week.
Visits are already booked up for the next three weeks.
“We’ve had the full spectrum of emotion,” Smith said midway through the first day of visits. “We’ve been doing a lot of FaceTime and Skype with (the residents), but it’s not the same as being able to see your family.”