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Residents celebrate the first day of summer with a leisurely bike ride

What a better way to celebrate the first day of summer than to go for a leisurely bike ride! Thanks to the 2018 Chip in for Charity golf tournament sponsored by Schuster Boyd McDonald and the planning efforts of the Life Enrichment Department, eight lucky residents of St. Gabriel Villa were able to “feel the wind through their hair” as St. Joseph’s Health Centre launched the Cycling Without Age Program on June 21st in Chelmsford. Cycling Without Age is a movement that started in 2012 by Ole Kassow in Denmark. Mr. Kassow wanted to help the elderly get back on their bicycles, but first had to find a solution to their limited mobility. The answer was a trishaw bike and with his first bicycle purchase he was able to start offering free bike rides to the local nursing home residents in Copenhagen. Since that time the program has expanded into over forty countries worldwide. Villa St. Gabriel Villa and St. Joseph’s Villa are the first long-term care facilities in Sudbury to offer this unique program with the plan to extend the program to St. Joseph’s Continuing Care Centre.

Cycling Without Age promotes accessibility and overcoming barriers; reconnecting residents and patients with nature and their communities. The program also provides opportunity to develop new intergenerational friendships between drivers (referred to as “pilots”) and the passengers. Families will also have the opportunity to ride with their loved one as the program progresses.

Villa St. Gabriel Villa as well as St. Joseph’s Villa received a grant from Canada Summer Jobs to hire a summer student to drive the bike in its first year. Other Cycling Without Age chapters depend on volunteer drivers to sustain the program. Both Villas will be looking to develop this unique volunteer role in the years to come. All interested parties are encouraged to speak to any member of the Life Enrichment Department to express interest in becoming a pilot.

The community of Chelmsford warmly welcomed their new bike riders with an abundance of friendly hand waves and horn honks from passing motorists. It was truly a day to remember and reinforced that life unfolds at all ages and that it is never too late to pursue a new adventure!

VSGV Staff and Residents celebrate Hand Hygiene Day

The evidence based Just Clean Your Hands program, launched by the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care in 2008 which was developed to help reduce health care-associated infections, has become a friendly competition between St. Joseph’s Villa, St. Joseph’s Continuing Care Centre and Villa St. Gabriel Villa staff over the past years.
Congratulations to our winners and thank you to all staff for “Just Cleaning Your Hands!” stated Jo-Anne Palkovits, President and CEO, St. Joseph’s Health Centre. Practicing hand hygiene is a simple yet effective way to prevent infections. Cleaning your hands can prevent the spread of germs, including those that are resistant to antibiotics and are becoming more difficult, if not impossible, to treat. “Over the past years, our organizations have implemented strategies to increase our hand hygiene compliance rates. The data demonstrates that our strategies have and continue to be very successful” stated Ms. Palkovits.

Villa St Gabriel Villa Volunteers

In honour of National Volunteer Week, St. Joseph’s Health Centre and its affiliate sites, St. Joseph’s Villa, St. Joseph’s Continuing Care Centre and Villa St. Gabriel Villa celebrated their many volunteers at a special event held at the Caruso Club. This year’s national theme was “The Volunteer Factor – Lifting Communities”. St. Joseph’s Health Centre and its affiliates are value-based organizations that promote service, integrity, dignity and excellence. Our volunteers demonstrate these values when working with our residents, patients, family members and staff. Because of their involvement, they allow us to be a more effective workplace and home to many. Thank you for being a valued and integral part of our community!

From left to right: [photo) Claire Vincent-Viau Volunteer Coordinator, Gisele Henri, Rejeanne Fredette, Dianne Falcioni Volunteers,
Alanna Lahay Program Manager Volunteer Sudbury, Ray Ingriselli Site Administrator.

To celebrate National Volunteer week from April 7 to 73,2019, Volunteer Sudbury presented a Twiggs coffee and cookie treat along with a certificates of appreciation to Volunteers at Villa St. Gabriel Villa in Chelmsford.