Grandview to reopen in-person services

By Courtney Bachar/The Oshawa Express/LJI Reporter

Grandview Children’s Centre is preparing to resume in-person services as part of the province’s recent announcement of Phase I to re-open the economy amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to CEO Lorraine Sunstrum-Mann, Grandview was required to shut down in-person services in March due to the pandemic and immediately began to re-tool to offer services to families virtually.

She says approximately 200 clinicians were set up to work from home to continue to offer services virtually, adding there was a lot of training and restructuring of how certain processes are handled, such as appointment scheduling, communicating with families, as well as the “therapeutic interventions.”

“There was a tremendous amount of support and education for staff who had not typically delivered services virtually,” says Sunstrum-Mann, adding while some therapies lend themselves very well to virtual Tele-practice, others do not, as every child tolerates it differently.

Since the pandemic began, Grandview has seen approximately 13,000 patients, which Sunstrum-Mann says is an overall drop in volume of about 55 to 60 per cent, adding Grandview can see up to 100,000 visits in a typical year.

Sunstrum-Mann says Grandview’s family engagement team is another group doing fantastic work during this pandemic.

“They worked to support the families to manage their own health and wellness during COVID-19 so they can be there to support their kids,” she explains. “While we’ve been heads down working, thinking about clinical outcomes and providing clinical therapy, [the family engagement team] have been doing virtual dance parties, craft classes, paint parties, virtual coffee connections, making sure families are reaching out if they’re feeling isolated or having difficulty at home.”

She notes staff are also reaching out to families to offer coaching, support and strategies for coping at home during this time.

Now, nearly three months after the provincial shut-down, Sunstrum-Mann says Grandview is moving forward with the first steps to begin the re-opening of in-person services.

The Oshawa location will be the first of its seven sites to open with a slow increase of in-person activity, as she says there will be a lot of new health and safety protocols in place. She says the first phase of the re-opening process will likely continue through the summer, increasing gradually based on need and the ability to maintain safety.

“We have had to reconsider virtually every aspect of how we deliver our service,” she says. “The work we do is very high contact. Health and safety is first and foremost.”

She explains every process has been redesigned, from scheduling appointments, to added health screening measures, to removing waiting areas and limiting the amount of people in the building at one time.

“Flow through the building is important,” she adds, noting there will be designated traffic flow inside and visitors will be escorted to where they need to be. Staff will also be wearing appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), as well as all visitors, when possible.

“It’s tricky for kids,” she says, as a child wearing a mask may hinder some services, such as speech therapies. However, with help from the community, Grandview has been able to acquire masks with transparent shields.

“We’re really hoping the children will be comfortable wearing these,” she says.

Furthermore, Sunstrum-Mann says staff will be operating on two separate shifts – mornings and afternoons – to help eliminate the need for common areas, and only one parent or caregiver will be allowed to accompany their child to appointments.

Extra care is also being taken with infection prevention and control practices as Sunstrum-Mann says the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the need for additional health and safety measures.

“This involves a fair amount of training for staff so we’re organizing to do that training before we invite more families into the building,” she says,

She notes some staff are still in unique situations with children of their own at home, or who are dealing with other home pressures.

“We’ve been reaching out wherever possible predominantly supporting mental health and offering tools and tips trying to find ways to help staff take care of themselves,” she says, adding there’s an individual at Grandview who focuses on the health and wellness of the staff.

“Everybody is having all of the usual reactions and we’re doing our best to support staff to make decisions that are best for them and their families.”

In addition to reopening for in-person visits, Sunstrum-Mann says Grandview will continue to provide telepractice virtual therapy whenever possible.

Since appointments are sometimes booked months in advance, Sunstrum-Mann says it’s possible some families may receive cancellation phone calls for appointments previously booked for June if they don’t meet the criteria for an in-person visit. Sunstrum-Mann says these appointments would be switched to virtual sessions, and says it’s best for families to check with Grandview to confirm any future appointments.

“We are doing everything we can to reach out to families and let them know we are here for them and we look forward to seeing them, in the new way, over the summer months.”