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Health unit changes course, IOOF residents will get vaccines at home

'This is a great benefit to us as it allows for our most vulnerable residents who are unable to get out (to the community clinics) to have access to the vaccine,' says IOOF official
2021-03-2 Groomes
Edward and Trud Groome are among the 94 seniors living at Heritage Place in Barrie.
Residents of the IOOF Heritage Place and Rebekah Manor supportive housing in Barrie will now be receiving their COVID-19 vaccinations in the comfort of the place they call home.

IOOF chief executive officer Garry Hopkins said he's thrilled with the news, adding he received a call from the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) Wednesday night.

"We got a positive response that the health unit is going to be coming in and doing residents one day next week," he told BarrieToday, adding he wanted to acknowledge there was a positive response to staff at the Brooks Street facility advocating on behalf of the residents.

"We want to offer appreciation to SMDHU for their response to coming on site to do a clinic," he said, noting that vaccination clinic will cover residents of both Heritage Place and Rebekah Manor.

While Hopkins said he doesn’t know the exact dates as of yet, it’s set to take place next week.

"This is a great benefit to us as it allows for our most vulnerable residents who are unable to get out (to the community clinics) to have access to the vaccine," he said. "The home does appreciate the SMDHU responding to our advocacy."

Residents and their families are being informed of the change in protocol today, Hopkins said, adding staff at IOOF are talking to the health unit to determine the best day for the on-site clinic and doing their homework to ensure they are prepared when the team arrives.

The change comes on the heels of a BarrieToday story published Wednesday after the daughter of an elderly couple, who live at Heritage Place, said she was concerned about her parents having to make their way to the Holly Community Centre to receive their shots

Marina Groome, who lives in Alberta and whose parents would have been among the nearly 100 residents forced to find their way to one of the mass vaccination sites, was elated with the news.

"Isn’t it amazing!? I am thrilled that a wrong has been righted," Groome told BarrieToday, adding she has cancelled the appointment she'd scheduled as well as the escort she hired to take her parents on the bus to Holly on the weekend.

"My dad can barely stand with a walker, (so this) will make things a lot easier for them," she added. "My mother said it’s like living in a leper colony. ... All of their activities have been cancelled for the last year, they aren’t able to have folks in for tea and aren’t supposed to loiter in the hallway or even talk to one another."

Groome hopes the fact all the residents will now be inoculated will help bring a sense of normalcy back to not only her parents, but all the seniors who live there.

Heritage Place includes 80 affordable, accessible apartments, and currently houses 94 residents. In addition to rental income, funding for Heritage Place is provided through the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care via the North Simcoe Muskoka Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) and the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. Therefore, it did not qualify as a nursing home.


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About the Author: Nikki Cole

Nikki Cole has been a community issues reporter for BarrieToday since February, 2021
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