At Scarborough Health Network (SHN), we understand you may be feeling unsettled or fearful regarding news of COVID-19 outbreaks at long-term care (LTC) homes in Scarborough and throughout Ontario. These are certainly challenging and unprecedented times for all of us.

As a health network, we are privileged and grateful to have a wide range of expertise in responding to COVID-19 and we are committed to supporting LTC homes in our community by assisting with the resources they need most.

We are also dedicated to supporting the province’s COVID-19 Action Plan for Protecting Long-Term Care Homes. To help address the unique challenges LTC homes are facing in the fight against COVID-19, we are using our expertise and resources to provide critical assistance in our community.

For example, we are collaborating with several LTC homes, providing infection prevention and control advice, environmental services expertise, and crisis and palliative support. Dedicated SHN nursing, environmental services, personal support workers, and infection prevention and control staff are also helping with COVID-19 testing, cleaning, and resident care, respectively.

On behalf of SHN, I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all our staff and doctors who are making this possible and acknowledge Scarborough’s LTC teams for their courage and resilience in these vulnerable times. It is our privilege to help these residents, team members, and our Scarborough community. We are all on the same team as we rally together against COVID-19.

You may be wondering how you can help. I encourage you to stay home as much as possible, practice frequent handwashing with soap and water or alcohol hand sanitizer, and maintain a safe distance of six feet away from others when you do need to leave your home. These are quite literally lifesaving measures! I am confident that with our collective efforts, we can overcome this pandemic together.

Remember: slow and steady wins the race. Thank you for your continued patience and compassion. For more information on SHN’s response to COVID-19, I invite you to visit SHN.ca/covid-19.

Thank you,

Elizabeth Buller, President and CEO signature

Elizabeth Buller,
President and CEO