Anson Place resident celebrates 94th birthday by leaving her room after weeks of quarantine

Dorothy Bier celebrated her 94th birthday on Wednesday by leaving her room at Anson Place Care Centre in Hagersville for the first time in nearly two months and going for a walk.

Wearing a floral pink gown, her gloved hands gripping her walker, Bier smiled under her blue surgical mask as the four staff members accompanying her down the hallway broke into a rendition of Happy Birthday.

She's thrilled. A nice birthday present, too," said Bier's daughter, Sharon Beecroft, who spoke with her mother shortly after the birthday promenade.

Bier had been talking on the phone with a granddaughter when staff knocked on the door and invited her to come for a walk.

And mom said, What? Is this a joke? Really? I don't believe it,'" Beecroft said.

She could hear in her mother's voice how much the short outing had lifted her spirits.

She's happier," Beecroft said. This was getting to her. The last few days especially, she was getting more antsy to get out of her room. More forlorn-sounding. But it's been a good day for her."

The news also came as a pleasant surprise to Beecroft, who had been told by Anson Place executive director Lisa Roth as recently as Tuesday night that residents couldn't leave their rooms, despite Dr. Shanker Nesathurai, Haldimand-Norfolk's chief medical officer of health, telling reporters on May 11 that he thought it was safe for healthy residents to do so.

It's quite frustrating, because we were led to believe mom would be walking very shortly. Then all of a sudden there's ambiguity there," Beecroft said.

But something changed by Wednesday afternoon, as Bier told her daughter that other retirement home residents had also left their rooms.

Mom said they were letting others out after her, one by one," Beecroft said.

The health unit confirmed on Wednesday that Nesathurai had formally given Anson Place permission to have COVID-negative residents leave their rooms more than a week ago. Spokesperson Matt Terry said the health unit relies on Anson Place's operational expertise" to implement programs based on their staffing levels and other considerations.

They know their situation best," Terry said.

Reached for comment on Wednesday, Roth confirmed that a walking program for retirement home residents had begun.

Working closely with our local public health unit and our medical officer of health, the walking program has been adapted to maintain infection prevention and control measures to make sure residents can get out of their rooms to exercise, but stay safe while doing so. This includes physical distancing, the use of personal protective equipment by residents and staff members, and increased cleaning and sanitization of all door handles and touch points," Roth said.

It is our aim to slowly reintroduce programs to make our residents' lives comfortable and enriching. Since we are not completely out of the woods yet, the walking program will be closely monitored along with daily COVID-19 symptom checks for both residents and staff."

Roth noted that the latest of the 27 resident deaths officially attributed to COVID-19 occurred almost a month ago, and that at present there are just two active COVID-19 cases on the retirement floor.

She said one additional resident in long-term care recently tested positive, bringing the number of patients on that floor to 20.

It's been more than a week since Bier received her second negative COVID-19 test result. She contracted the disease in late March, running a high fever at the outset but otherwise not experiencing any symptoms.

The fever went away and she slowly got better in her room," she said, adding that getting the all-clear from the health unit was a cause for celebration.

We'd been so worried," Beecroft said.

Self-isolation, she added, has taken a toll on her mother, who has limited vision, diminishing muscle strength after weeks of inactivity, and back problems exacerbated by the enforced confinement.

We're concerned for mom's well-being physically, being 94. For anybody at any age, it would be horrendous," Beecroft said.

Care workers have started massaging Bier's back to ease her discomfort, and some employees decorated Bier's room for her birthday.

They've been very good to mom," Beecroft said of Anson Place staff.

She hopes the walking program is a positive sign after months of hardship at the place Bier has called home since moving from the family farm in Selkirk seven years ago.

She did lose some of her friends (to COVID-19), and she just found out about one or two of them recently. We didn't want to tell her right away and upset her," Beecroft said.

She was very sad, but she seems to cope quite well. She's a calm, easygoing person. She puts on a brave face."

J.P. Antonacci's reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative. The funding allows him to report on stories about the regions of Haldimand and Norfolk.