Covid-19 Specific Policies – Parent/Guardian Information
January 2022
Parkwood Children’s Centre has been working with the Ministry of Education, the Middlesex London Health Unit and St. Joseph’s Health Care London to ensure we are able to provide a safe, healthy, and nurturing environment for the children in our care. We continue to navigate the everchanging research of Covid-19 to make informed policy decisions for the children, families, employees, and the greater Parkwood community.
Capacity
The Centre will continue to operate with exclusive classroom cohorts. We operated at full capacity at our Centre for several months in 2021 and will be moving back to full capacity in 2022 in order to support the transition of children who are ready to move to the next age group.
Children will be assigned to specific classroom cohorts, which minimizes the amount of movement in and out of cohorts during a seven day period. All efforts will be made to keep children in their assigned cohort unless a shortage of staffing occurs, resulting in children moving to another age-appropriate cohort. All visits to another cohort will be documented on the daily classroom attendance. Supervisors/educators will limit the amount of time moving between cohorts when possible.
The scheduling of casual educators will be conducted with the intention of minimizing the number of cohorts accessed in a 7 day period. Students on placement will be assigned to a specific cohort for their entire placement. All efforts will be made to ensure cohorts are not mixing; however, emergencies may arise and it may be necessary for an educator and/or children to cross cohorts.
Additional Staffing: The child care centre is operating with additional staffing to ensure children are retrieved safely from their guardians outside of the Centre. Additional staff will cover breaks, vacation days, and provide infection control support including additional cleaning. All high touch areas will be disinfected a minimum of twice per day.
It is important to note that if our staff members must isolate due to exposure to Covid-19 there may be a reduction in the number of staff available to operate all programs. This will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis to determine if a classroom closure is necessary and to determine which program would have the least amount of impact if staff members were deployed to a different classroom. These decisions will be communicated with families as soon as possible. We highly recommend having a back up plan in place for care for your child during these unpredictable times. Fees would not be charged during any classroom closures due to a lack of staffing.
Funding Agreement
We will not be accepting cash or cheques for child care fees at this time. We bank with the Health Care Credit Union and access to our branch is limited. We are requesting that all payments be made through payroll deduction for SJHC employees or by E-transfer if you are not paid through SJHC.
Please email parkwooddaycarebilling@gmail.com for further instructions on sending E-transfers.
Screening
Parents/guardians who are employees of SJHC must complete the SJHC screening tool for themselves and then the child care specific screening tool for their children prior to arriving at the hospital. Please note that screening questions may be different to enter Parkwood than to enter the child care centre. If anyone in your household answers yes to any of the screening questions, please contact the child care screening team at 519-685-4058 x42070 to let them know about your results of the screening tool.
Signs/Symptoms of Covid-19 For Reference for Child Care Centre Entry (please access the child care screening tool for full details regarding number and type of symptoms):
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- Fever with temperature of 37.8 degrees Celsius (100.04 degrees Fahrenheit) or higher and/or chills
- Cough or croup-like cough
- Shortness of breath
- Decrease of loss of taste or smell
- Muscle aches/joint pain
- Extreme fatigue
- Sore throat
- Runny/congested nose (not related to allergies)
- Headache (new or unusual)
- Nausea, vomiting and/or diarrhea
You can access the child care screening tool online by following the link included below.
Screening Process for Parkwood Main:
All SJHC parent/guardians must use the SJHC self-screening tool prior to entry into Parkwood Main through Entrance D (Hobbins). All adults, entering the hospital after successfully passing screening through the SJHC Screening App, must properly don a mask at the screening station to proceed into the hospital. All children who are two years of age and older will be required to wear a child-sized mask, available at the screening stations. Please ensure to help your child properly don a child-sized mask at Entrance D.
All non-SJHC parents/guardians and children will be actively screened at the Hobbins (D Entrance) at Parkwood Main between the hours of 6:45 – 9:00 am and 3:30 – 5:00 pm. Any non-SJHC parent/guardian dropping off or picking up their child outside of the above listed hours must screen through the Main Entrance (Entrance C). Please keep in mind there is no parking at the Main Entrance so parking for the child care centre will continue to be at Entrance D. Guardians must consider their own health along with the health of their child when engaging in the screening process.
Masking is necessary to protect the vulnerable patients who may be in the hallways, elevators or stairwells accessed by families when entering and leaving the child care centre. It is recommended that any child over the age of two wears a mask while engaging in their daily activities at the centre, aside from mealtimes. It is mandatory for any child, ages two and up, to wear a mask at departure time while they travel back through the hospital.
Should a parent/guardian or child fail the active screening, they must contact the child care centre immediately so the child care centre screening team is aware of the absence. Any individual that fails the screening will not be allowed into the hospital.
Physical distancing at screening is expected of all parents/guardians and their children. Screening areas are busy with line ups, so this may be challenging for some families to manage. Parent/guardian names must be submitted to the screening team in advance, so it is imperative that children are dropped off and picked up by consistent people. Any changes to parents/guardians picking up or dropping off must be provided to the child care centre staff screening team as soon as possible at 519-685-4058 x42070, to ensure they can inform the perimeter screening team.
A secondary screening will be conducted at the child care centre to ensure proper documentation for Public Health in the event of an outbreak. All entries and departures into the Centre will be documented for contact tracing purposes. These daily login sheets will be placed in secure storage should they be required for contract tracing purposes in the event of a confirmed case or outbreak of Covid-19 at the child care centre. SJHC has confirmed they have contact information for all employees accessing the Centre. Parkwood Children’s Centre will ensure contact information is recorded for essential visitors.
An assigned member of our child care screening team will ask you questions from the child care screening tool prior to your child’s entry into the centre and record the information on a daily log sheet at the entrance of the child care centre. Families will be expected to social distance while waiting for other families to sign in and for the educator to bring the child to their specified cohort. Signage on the floors/walls will support the physical distancing requirements for family members. Family members requiring access to the child care centre must be screened and logged in prior to entering the Centre. Screening and physical distancing protocol must be adhered to at all times. Any individual, who is deemed essential to the operation of the child care centre, may enter the Centre after they have passed perimeter screening at the hospital entrance, secondary screening at the child care centre, and has passed the child care centre log in process.
Interacting with our screeners: Screeners protect the well-being of our patients, residents, staff, and physicians at the entrances of all St. Joseph’s sites. Perimeter screening protocols are based on the Ministry of Health recommendations and directives. The screening questions are provided to screeners by the St. Joseph’s Infection Control team. We remind everyone to remain courteous and respectful to the screeners and to each other while abiding by the corporate Civility in the Workplace policy. The perimeter screeners are key in helping us keep safe, and we are grateful for their role during this pandemic.
Physical Distancing
Physical distancing measures will be implemented in the drop off and pick up area to ensure families are maintaining distancing measures. It is an expectation from St. Joseph’s Health Care (SJHC) and Parkwood Children’s Centre that all family members physically distance when waiting for perimeter screening, during the secondary screening at the child care centre, and while waiting for the daily login information to be recorded at the child care centre.
Our programs will offer activities for children that support physical distancing measures, which may not always be possible given the age of the children. The outdoor spaces will be used as much as possible to support physical distancing and ventilation. Cohorts will be separated as much as possible when engaging in outdoor activities.
Outdoor times will also be staggered to ensure physical distancing between different cohorts. The fences are cleaned regularly, and children are encouraged to play away from the fences to ensure physical distancing takes place between cohorts. Any outdoor shared equipment will be disinfected between cohorts. Cohorts of children may now access the green space outside of the playground but anyone ages 2 years and up must wear a mask when in outdoor patient care areas and more than 2 metres of physical distancing cannot be maintained.
Children will be physically distanced during nap time by either ensuring cots/cribs are 2 metres apart or by placing children head to toe. Physical distancing measures will be encouraged at mealtimes, during toileting routines and during play time. Bedding will be laundered at least once per week and when it is soiled or used by different children.
Labelling of Belongings: Please label all belongings, blankets, diapers, wipes, outdoor gear, and anything else that enters the centre, with your child’s name. It is recommended that belongings remain at the Centre to avoid traveling to and from the Centre each day. This includes medication. Please ask your pharmacy to make two batches of labelled medication so one may be left at the Centre.
Drop Off & Pick Up
Scheduled and staggered drop off and pick up times are necessary to ensure appropriate physical distancing is taking place between families. It is highly recommended that the same person drops off and picks up to reduce the number of visitors into the hospital.
After successfully passing through perimeter screening a parent/guardian may pick up their child by ringing the Centre doorbell and by waving to a member of the screening team who will then pick up your child from their cohort. Once the children are ready to depart, the screening team member will open the door to allow the children to depart from the Centre. Please ensure you keep at least 2 metres away from the door entrance to ensure physical distancing for yourself and the educator. Children over two years of age will be provided with an appropriate mask that must be worn while in the hospital.
Hand Hygiene
The educators will be practicing proper hand hygiene with the children. All children and staff members must wash their hands upon arrival into their cohorts. For all other staff members or essential visitors, hands must be washed prior to using the kitchen, the staff room, the office space and when entering a cohort space. Hand hygiene signs will be located throughout the Centre, close to hand washing areas.
Educators will support children in learning proper hand hygiene to reduce the possibility of the transmission of the virus. Proper hand hygiene will be supported with each age group upon entry into the classroom, before and after eating, upon returning from outdoor play, after diapering and toileting, before and after sensory play and when visibly soiled.
Sensory play may now be implemented as a group activity after proper hand hygiene has been used by all children and educators. Proper hand hygiene must be used again once the sensory play is completed. Sensory items must be replenished regularly to ensure proper infection control.
Infection Control
Oxivir Tb will be provided by SJHC for use to disinfect all surfaces including, but not limited to tables, toys, chairs, counters, washrooms, and high touch areas throughout the Centre. High touch areas will be disinfected at least 2 times per day. Any toys that have been mouthed by a child will be disinfected immediately.
All bedding will be washed at least once per week or in between children. Cots and cribs will be disinfected with Oxivir Tb at least once per week or between children. A cleaning/disinfecting log will be completed daily/weekly.
Outdoor equipment/toys will be disinfected at least once per day to reduce transmission of the virus.
Cohorts will have their own equipment and toys, which will not be shared. Two preschool cohorts will be sharing a common washroom space and an outdoor space. These common areas will be accessed by one cohort at a time with proper cleaning in between cohort use. Outdoor equipment will be cleaned once per day and children will be encouraged to practice proper hand hygiene when re-entering the classroom from outdoor play. When cohorts are passing one another to access the outdoor space, the educators will ensure the cohorts are physically distancing at least 2 metres apart.
PPE
It is a requirement from Infection Control that any individual, age 2 years and up, will wear a mask in the hospital. Children, under the age of 2, do not have to wear a mask. Adult and children’s masks will be provided at the perimeter screening and must be properly donned while in the hospital.
The Ministry of Education recommends that children ages two and up wear a mask while in programs at licensed child care centres. We recommend that parents send their preschool aged children with two labelled masks from home to use while in the child care centre. These masks can remain at the Centre to be placed in the laundry each day. Many children may not be comfortable wearing a mask throughout the day so educators will support the choices made by each child.
The screening team will continue to support the children in donning hospital grade masks before departure, so children can safely travel through the hospital. Masks may be removed by adults and children, once outside the hospital doors. Families using the parking garage are encouraged to wear masks while accessing the parking garage. Please ensure proper disposal of masks by placing a used mask carefully into a garbage bin. Any child 2 years and older, who begins exhibiting symptoms of illness, will be provided with a mask in the isolation area and must wear a mask when leaving the child care centre to exit the hospital.
PPE for Child Care Employees
Proper training will be provided to ensure staff know how to properly don and doff masks and how to properly maintain sanitary eyewear. Child care centre employees will continue to wear SJHC mandated medical masks while in the hospital and may use non-fitted Ministry provided N95 masks while in the child care centre. In addition to masks, educators in licensed child care are mandated by the Ministry of Education to use eyewear when working with children. Eyewear must be used indoors and outdoors when physical distancing of 2 metres from others cannot be maintained. Masks and eyewear may only be removed in the staff room, kitchen, or office during mealtimes when physical distancing can be guaranteed.
Isolation Area
A child exhibiting symptoms of illness must be removed from their cohort and be supervised in an isolation area until their family member or designate can pick them up from the Centre. A family member or designate will be expected to come as soon as possible to pick up a symptomatic child. Any siblings attending the child care centre will also be isolated with their sibling and picked up by a parent/guardian at the same time as the sibling exhibiting symptoms of illness. All family members will be excluded from the Centre until further direction is received from Public Health or the mandatory isolation period has expired.
The educator supervising in this area will wear full PPE, including medical/non-fitted N95 mask, nitrile gloves, gown, and face shield. This area will also be available for any staff member who begins exhibiting symptoms while working, in the event they are unable to leave the Centre immediately. The isolation area will be disinfected with hospital grade disinfectant once the person exhibiting symptoms has left the area.
Any contaminated belongings will be bagged in a sealed plastic bag and sent home with the parent/guardian. No soiled items will be laundered at the Centre.
Sick Policy
Our sick policy has been updated to provide information specific to Covid-19. Parkwood Children’s Centre must comply with regulations mandated by the Ministry of Education, Public Health, and St. Joseph’s Health Care. Any child, who exhibits symptoms of Covid-19, must be isolated immediately and excluded from the Centre as soon as possible. Please use the chart below to determine next steps for your child.
Children at the child care centre who were exposed to a confirmed case of Covid-19 must monitor for symptoms for 10 days from the date of exposure. All classrooms will have children off isolating at any given time so it is important to always be monitoring for symptoms and to use the online child care screening tool prior to arrival at the child care centre. Positive cases of Covid-19 confirmed with PCR testing will be reported as a serious occurrence to the Ministry of Education. Anyone in the impacted cohort who was exposed in the 48 hour time period prior to the positive test result or onset of symptoms will be notified by the Executive Director or Designate via email. Positive cases confirmed with 1 rapid antigen tests and shared with the Centre will be reported to families who may have been exposed up to 48 hours prior to the date of symptom onset or positive test result within the impacted cohort.
Children will be screened prior to entering the centre and their time of arrival will be recorded. Daily health checks will continue as usual. Centre staff will work with families to ensure they have a good understanding of the enhanced illness policy so that children remain home when ill. Families must have a back-up child care plan as their child may have to miss some days at the Centre if they are exhibiting symptoms of illness or if they must self-isolate.
Covid-19 Immunization Disclosure Policy
All employees, volunteers, students on educational placement, licensees, and anyone who provides services to children at Parkwood Children’s Centre must adhere to our Covid-19 Immunization Disclosure Policy. This policy has been enhanced to align with St. Joseph’s Health Care London’s Covid-19 Vaccination Policy.
The aforementioned individuals must provide proof of Covid-19 vaccines or proof of a medical exemption from the vaccine. The individuals who are not fully vaccinated due to a medical exemption must participate in antigen point of care testing three times weekly and provide proof of negative test results to the screening team at the Centre.
Hours of Operation
The Centre will be open to families Monday – Friday from 6:45 am – 5:30 pm. Families are required to confirm drop off and pick up times for their child as children cannot move between cohorts. Each cohort will be staffed with assigned educators based on the drop off and pick up times shared with our child care centre team. If your child arrives before their designated drop off time, the assigned educator for your child’s cohort may not be able to receive your child if they have already reached their mandated ratio capacity, causing the family member to wait with their child, outside of the Centre. While we will attempt to staff the cohorts efficiently as possible, designated pick up times must be adhered to so the educators can finish their assigned shifts in a timely manner.
Families will not have swipe card access to the Centre while entry into the centre is being monitored. This will support the screening team in adhering to physical distancing protocol. Members of the child care centre screening team will support your child’s transition during arrival and departure.
Essential Visitors
All essential visitors to the Centre must pass through screening at the perimeter of Parkwood Main and pass the secondary screening login at the child care centre. Essential visitors to the Centre will be limited to inspectors, facilities, environmental services, and special needs resourcing. Facilities and environmental services may need to access to the Centre during operational hours. All essential visitors’ entries into cohort areas will be planned, in advance, to ensure the cohort can be distanced by more than 2 metres.
Special Needs Resourcing
A Program Assistant may be required to support children with special needs. The Program Assistant will be assigned to a specific cohort for seven days when possible and will not be counted in ratio. The Program Assistant will be one of our regular employees who will work in an enhanced ratio capacity to support children with special needs.
Group Events
All large group events have either been postponed or cancelled. The Annual General Meeting will be provided through an email format. We will not be hosting a holiday pageant or large fundraisers until further notice. Picture day has been cancelled until non-essential visitors are allowed back in the child care centre.
Stroller Storage
Families’ strollers cannot be stored in the hospital. Centre strollers will be sanitized after each use and will not be removed from the Centre, other than to the playgrounds.
Food Sharing
Meals may now be served in a family style setting. Children will be spaced out by using more tables to support physical distancing. Highchairs will be placed further apart to ensure children are not touching one another’s utensils or trays. Each child will receive their food on an individual plate and will be served by the educator to reduce the number of hands sharing utensils. In alignment with St. Joseph’s Health Care London only single serving outside food in its original packaging is allowed at this time for employees. Outside food in its original packaging may be provided in adherence with our nutritional policy for children with special dietary restrictions. Proper hand hygiene will be conducted by all staff members and children prior to all mealtimes.
Mental Health
We are aware that the pandemic has provided all of us with challenging situations to manage. Our organization continues to engage alongside the children, families, and one another in learning, discovering, researching, and co-constructing meaning of encounters by regularly documenting activities, events, and special moments. We are guided by Building on How Does Learning Happen? to support us in navigating these unprecedented times.
Communication
In person communication must be limited as often as possible. Communication between families and child care centre employees can take place via telephone or through virtual meetings, arranged in advance. Educators will continue to post documentation on Storypark to keep families updated about activities your child has been participating in during the day. Virtual tours will be provided for any new families, considering enrolling in the Centre when space permits.
Contact Information
519-685-4058
Preschool Cohort One x42994
Preschool Cohort Two x42070
Toddler Cohort x42996
Infant Cohort x42997
Program Supervisor x42070
Screening Team x42070
Kitchen x42995
Executive Director barbara.jackson@sjhc.london.on.ca
Administrative Assistant Fatima.Darwish-Soufan@sjhc.london.on.ca