Infection prevention and control program
 27. (1) Every licensee of a retirement home shall ensure that the infection prevention and control program required by paragraph 2 of subsection 60 (4) of the Act complies with the requirements in this section.  O. Reg. 166/11, s. 27 (1). (2) The licensee shall consult on an ongoing basis and not less than once a year with the local medical officer of health or designate about identifying and addressing health care issues in the retirement home in order to reduce the incidence of infectious disease outbreaks in the home.  O. Reg. 166/11, s. 27 (2). (3) The licensee shall keep a written record of the consultation required under subsection (2) that shall include a record of when the consultation took place, what was discussed and any recommendations that the local medical officer of health or designate made.  O. Reg. 166/11, s. 27 (3). (4) The licensee of a retirement home shall ensure that a written surveillance protocol is established in consultation with the local medical officer of health or designate in order to identify, document and monitor residents who report symptoms of respiratory or gastrointestinal illness.  O. Reg. 166/11, s. 27 (4). (5) The licensee of a retirement home shall ensure that, (0.a) any guidance, advice or recommendations given to retirement homes by the Chief Medical Officer of Health are followed in the retirement home; (0.b) all reasonable steps are taken in the retirement home to follow, (i) any directive respecting coronavirus (COVID-19) issued to long-term care homes by the Chief Medical Officer of Health under section 77.7 of the Health Protection and Promotion Act, and (ii) any guidance, advice or recommendations respecting coronavirus (COVID-19) that are given to long-term care homes by the Chief Medical Officer of Health and made available on the Government of Ontario’s website respecting coronavirus (COVID-19); (a) if an infectious disease outbreak occurs in the home, the outbreak is reported to the local medical officer of health or designate and the licensee defers to the officer or designate, as the case may be, for assistance and consultation as appropriate; (b) if there is an increase in the number of symptomatic residents in the home, the increase is reported immediately to the local medical officer of health or designate and that the officer or designate, as the case may be, is consulted; and (c) processes for meeting the requirements in clauses (a) and (b) are established and the processes are recorded in writing.  O. Reg. 166/11, s. 27 (5); O. Reg. 68/20, s. 1. (5.1) The licensee of a retirement home shall ensure that an infectious disease outbreak is reported to the Authority on the same day it is reported to the local medical officer of health or designate under clause (5) (a). O. Reg. 242/20, s. 1. (6) The licensee of a retirement home shall ensure that each resident and the resident’s substitute decision-makers, if any, are given information about how to reduce the incidence of infectious disease, including the need for and method of maintaining proper hand hygiene and the need for and process of reporting infectious illness.  O. Reg. 166/11, s. 27 (6). (7) The licensee of a retirement home shall ensure that waterless, alcohol-based hand sanitizer or another form of hand sanitation that provides equivalent protection against infectious disease transmission is available for use by residents and staff in communal resident areas and in staff work areas.  O. Reg. 166/11, s. 27 (7). (8) The licensee of a retirement home shall ensure that, (a) each resident, each member of the staff of the home and each volunteer receive information about the advantages of an annual influenza vaccination and where the vaccination is available; (b) each resident is screened for tuberculosis within 14 days of commencing residency in the home, unless the resident has been screened not more than 90 days before commencing residency and the documented results of the screening are available to the licensee; (c) each member of the staff has been screened for tuberculosis and all other infectious diseases that are appropriate in accordance with evidence-based practices or, if there are no such practices, in accordance with prevailing practices; and (d) the screening for each of the infectious diseases described in clause (c) has been done using procedures that accord with evidence-based practices or, if there are no such practices, with prevailing practices.  O. Reg. 166/11, s. 27 (8). (9) The licensee shall ensure that each staff member who works in the retirement home receives training on how to reduce the incidence of infectious disease transmission, including, (a) the need for and method of maintaining proper hand hygiene and method of preventing cross contamination, including proper handling of soiled linens, the protection of uniforms, and the separation of clean and dirty items; and (b) the need for and process of reporting, providing surveillance of and documenting incidents of infectious illness.  O. Reg. 166/11, s. 27 (9). Standards for Care Services Provided by Regulated Health Professionals