Our Difference

We understand the decision to transition to long-term care is one of the most important decisions you will ever make. We want to ensure your decision is a positive one. Below are some of our home’s points of difference:

The calendar is always full. You can be as active as you like.

For some people, the key to living better is filling every day with meaningful activities that bring people together, build bonds and create shared experiences.

Whether it’s tapping the power of music to engage a resident with dementia, attending worship services, participating in exercise classes, or reminiscing with a friendly volunteer, there’s always something going on at Extendicare Rouge Valley.

Here, residents lead active and engaged lives.

This is home. Your home.

We want you to feel at home. We’ll support you in becoming an active and engaged member of your new community and enjoy life to the best of your ability.

We have a welcoming and inclusive environment.

Not only do we work very hard to integrate residents into our community and feel at home, we’re also committed to making families feel at home here too. The following are some of the measures we take to help our residents settle in and also help family members feel comfortable and get involved:

• Modern Building: Our home is state-of-the-art in design and features an abundance of natural light that floods in create a bright open and airy ambiance that is very welcoming. The beautiful main lobby and entrance is the focal point of the building’s design with a large main activity room, chapel, central common area and the Celebration Room for residents to host private dinners with their family members.
• Meet Your Care Team: Upon arrival, new residents and their family members are greeted by our Social Worker and the resident’s Primary Caregiver as a way to immediately begin establishing a relationship of trust.
• Family Participation: Family members are encouraged and welcomed to participate in activities with their loved one.
• Resident Care Plan: Family members, along with their loved one, participate actively in all aspects of the development of the resident’s Care Plan.
• Family Council: New family members are given information about Family Council and encouraged to get involved as a way to meet other family members and make a difference in our home.
• Residents Council: Our Residents Council Welcoming Committee engages all new residents and introduces them to other residents and encourages them to get involved in social and recreational activities.
• Friendship Social: The Activities Staff hosts a Friendship Social once a month to introduce new residents.
• Personalize Your Room: New residents are encouraged to bring personal items from home such as family photos, a blanket or other items to help make their room feel more like home.
• Quarterly Memorial Service: Once every quarter, we host a Memorial Service to celebrate the lives of residents who have passed away. Family members are invited to attend and participate. Many return often to participate and remember their loved ones.
• Open Door Policy: Our open door policy means we are available any time to family members should they want to talk.

We connect you to the community.

Maintaining strong connections to others is essential to keeping people active and involved.

Getting you out into the community and bringing the community into our home is important to your quality of life. Here are some of the ways in which the residents and staff get involved with the community, and how the community connects with us:

• Resident Outings: The residents look forward to our monthly outings. These outings can include everything from shopping excursions, picnics in the park and trips to the casino to tours of the Ontario Science Centre, museums and The Ripley’s Aquarium.
• Fall Colours Tour: In the fall, we organize a tour out into the countryside to enjoy the breathtaking colours of autumn.
• Christmas Lights Tour: Every Christmas, our residents are taken on a tour of the city to enjoy the bright festive lights.
• Student Placement Opportunities: We provide placement opportunities for students in the RN, RPN, PSW and Social Work programs at York University, Ryerson, George Brown College and Centennial College.
• Community Service Opportunities: We provide opportunities for local high school students to earn the 40 hour community service credit.
• Music and Memory:Our Music and Memory program is in collaboration with the Alzheimer Society of Toronto. With the help of staff, many residents enjoy their own personalized playlist on iPods.
• Intergenerational Program: Our Intergenerational Program brings elementary school students into our home to spend time with residents talking, reading, playing games, doing crafts and more.
• Donation Program: Our home donates used beds and wheelchairs to local service organization who, in turn, ship them to underdeveloped countries where they can have a second life.
• Community Fundraising: We regularly and actively support fundraising efforts of the Alzheimer’s Society and the Canadian Cancer Society in our home and in the community.
• Community Volunteers: A number of our managers donate their time and expertise to various organizations in the community.
• Summer Carnival Celebration: Every summer we host our own Summer Carnival Celebration to which the whole community is invited. It includes a petting zoo, dancers, costumes, steel bands, singers, food and more.