St. Vincent’s: Honoria Conway-Heather tenant, family & visitor guide

For your security, the main entrance is locked at all times. Follow these steps when a visitor arrives:

• Your telephone will ring when guests type in your suite number on the enter phone panel at the front entrance
• You will be able to speak to the person requesting entry over the telephone
• To open the front entrance door for your guest(s), press number “6” on your phone
• If you do not wish to open the door, simply hang up the telephone

How to stay safe

• Always identify your guests before allowing them to enter. This is for your safety, and the safety of staff and other tenants.
• For your privacy and security, Honoria Conway staff will not open the door for visitors, including family members, unless you ask us to do so
• To use the enter phone system, you must have a phone unit connected to the phone outlet in your suite
• It is not possible to access the enter phone system or to release the front door with a cellular phone

Recycling bins and garbage bins are located near the kitchen on each floor. There are also chutes in the garbage/recycling room on the main floor.

We encourage you to keep your apartment clean and tidy. Weekly light housekeeping includes:

• Stripping bed sheets and remaking the bed
• Changes bathroom towels
• Washing your sheets and towels on a weekly basis
• Dusting all exposed surfaces (we will not move or remove your possessions)
• Vacuuming carpets and around furniture
• Kitchen and bathroom cleaning
• Removal of garbage and recycling

You may arrange extra housekeeping with an outside service at your own expense.

Your weekly laundry service includes washing your sheets and towels. There is also a laundry room on every floor with two washers and two dryers for you to do your personal laundry. You may arrange additional laundry with an outside service at your own expense.

There are individual locked mail boxes by the elevator on the main floor. Canada Post will deliver to these boxes. There is a Canada Post mailbox for outgoing mail across the street at 33rd Ave. and Heather St.

If any of the equipment we provided is not working, please contact the Front Desk. You can find instructions for appliances in one of your kitchen drawers. You are responsible for maintaining any of your own equipment you bring to Honoria Conway.

There are four handicap accessible parking spaces assigned to tenants. There are also two loading spaces at the front entry to the building. This area is not intended for long-term visitor parking. Tenants and visitors can find more parking on the North side of the building. You can access it by stairs or the city sidewalk. Parking is free when spaces are available.

You can arrange for a telephone or cable company to provide you with telephone, cable and/or internet service at your own expense. Once you know your move-in date, you should contact these providers to arrange for service.

• You can enjoy cable on the television in the main floor lounge.
• The library on the main floor has a computer where you may access the Internet free of charge

Our community is one of the best things about living at Honoria Conway. Learn how you can get involved, and download our Tenants’ Handbook for more details.

There are many opportunities for you to volunteer at Honoria Conway. Share your volunteer ideas with the Activity Coordinator. They will help you get started.

The activity program at Honoria Conway provides both therapeutic and recreational activities. It also includes health and wellness workshops. We encourage you to attend programs and get to know your neighbours. You will have opportunities to have input into the activity plans.

Your Personal Service Plan provides direction and information to staff. It reflects your unique needs and service requests and provides a plan for the delivery of your services. For example, your plan could include help with dressing, bathing, and other aspects of daily life. It could also include assistance with medications.

The LPN Supervisor will meet with you to discuss your plan when you move in. They will update it at regular intervals.

You are welcome and encouraged to continue seeing your own family physician. or, you can call 604-733-7758 to find a Family Physician nearer to Honoria Conway. They are accepting new patients.

If you need help with your medications, please transfer your prescriptions to the Pharmasave at Oak and 42nd Avenue in Vancouver. Providence Health Care has arranged with this pharmacy to provide Honoria Conway tenants with special services. Pharmasave will deliver medications and anything else you order weekly at no charge.

Our goal at Honoria Conway is to provide a safe, secure and clean environment for tenants and staff. Unfortunately, outbreaks or infestations may occur. We must prepare ourselves to deal with them quickly and effectively. Please read the Tenant Handbook [link] for full details of insect or rodent control. It also explains what happens if there is an outbreak of a communicable disease.

You can do your part in helping to keep everyone healthy and safe by:

• Washing your hands often
• Obtaining the influenza (flu) vaccine and notifying the LPN after it's done
• Informing staff when you are not feeling well

Anyone can request an assessment from the Palliative Outreach Consult Team  for help with pain and symptom management or to arrange palliative community supports from the hospital. They can also establish goals of care or receive end-of-life care.

Talk to the LPN Supervisor if you would like us to request access for you. You or your family can self-refer by calling 604-290-2283 from 8:00am to 4:00pam, Monday through Friday.

Honoria Conway has a non-smoking policy and offers a smoke-free environment. Smoking is prohibited both inside the building as well as on the grounds. Smokers must go to the street level to smoke.

Even though this is your home, it has many people coming and going. It is best that you have your family keep your valuables, jewellery or valuable keepsakes. Items do go missing from time to time. We suggest you get insurance for the valuable belongings you do have with you, to insure against loss and damage. Your insurance should include coverage for glasses, hearing aids, dentures, and watches. It should also cover your wheelchair or walker. If you wear glasses, hearing aids, or dentures, it is a good idea to have them engraved with your name. Our insurance only covers items that we have damaged or lost.

You may only be away from your suite for personal reasons for more than 30 days in a calendar year. This excludes hospitalizations. Please get advance approval from your case manager for any exceptions. If you are, you may have to pay the full, unsubsidized cost for any unapproved period.

If you have a scooter or electric wheelchair, you must operate it in a safe manner, so as not to harm yourself or others or damage the property. You cannot bring scooters into the building except directly into the scooter room.

There is a scooter room located on the main floor with a limited number of scooter parking spaces. The spaces have direct access from the front of the building and electrical outlets for charging the scooters. If you are thinking about buying or bringing a scooter, please let the Front Desk know. We will either assign you a space or put your name on a waiting list for a space. For security reasons, staff will keep a description and a photograph of your scooter on file.

For more information on residents' rights see the  BC Residents' Bill of Rights.

We provide a 24-hour response to personal emergencies, and our staff is available 24 hours a day. Our system alerts staff to a tenant calling for help as well as the location of that tenant. The system links to the telephone. Push-buttons and pull cords to activate it are located in your suite, common areas, and stairways. We will train you in how to use the emergency response system when you move in.

Preventing falls is important to maintain health and independence. Ways to help prevent falls include:

• Slow down and take your time
• Do one task at a time
• Look where you are going and don’t get distracted
• Sit for a moment before getting out of bed
• Get out of chairs slowly
• Get your balance before you walk
• Wear good, supportive shoes with slip resistant soles

The building has a 24-hour Emergency Response System for fire safety, linked to the telephone. Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services are familiar with Honoria Conway and have approved our Fire Safety Plan. Staff is trained in fire prevention and emergency procedures, but tenants can also do their part.

See your Tenant Handbook for more information on fire safety and prevention.

In the event of a power outage, Honoria Conway has battery power to return the elevators to the main floor. This means you will not be trapped in an outage. The battery power also maintains the emergency response system and keeps the hall and stairwell lighting on. Please bring your own flashlights for use in your suite.

We will respect your right to privacy and independence. However, for your safety we ask that you sign in and out of the residence in a book located in the lobby. This ensures that we know who is in the building if there is an emergency. If you will be out overnight, please let the staff know several days in advance. That way, we can cancel your meals and prepare any medications you will need.

If you are not at lunch or dinner, or are not in your suite for a scheduled service, and we're not aware that you were going out, staff are trained to respond appropriately.

For more about our process for missing persons, please read your Tenant Handbook.