January 8, 2021
Dear St.Amant Families,
We have one new case of Covid-19 in an employee in CRP this week. The person is recovering well at home.
We continue to advocate for vaccine priority for people with disabilities, particularly people who live in congregate and/or group care settings. We are eagerly anticipating a date for people supported within Health & Transition Services to receive their vaccines, and continue to advocate through the Department of Families. We are also advocating for staff and everyone we support in our community residential programs to be included in phase two of the vaccine roll out. I participated in an interview with CBC today that should air next week to talk about the importance of vulnerable people receiving priority access to the Covid-19 vaccine. Our advocacy will continue until we see concrete plans that include our sector.
We’ve added a fact sheet about the vaccine to our resource page on the website and are committed to sharing information as we receive it to help you make informed decisions for yourself and your family members. We will also be sharing a few resources with Leaders next week to support the conversations with everyone we support. We want to ensure that each person has had enough time and information to make an informed decision when the time comes.
The Premier shuffled his cabinet this week with some significant changes for St.Amant. The Minister of Families, Heather Stefanson moved over to the Department of Health. She knows the disability sector well, and we feel we have gained a very informed Minister in that portfolio. We had a very good working relationship with Minister Stefanson and look forward to continuing to work with her on the health side of our organization.
Minister Rochelle Squires is now the Minister of Families. She also happened to be our MLA and has been very involved with St.Amant. We feel very confident that she will a strong representative for disability services. I had an opportunity to speak with her just a few minutes ago and she’s keen to work together.
As we all continue to navigate the pandemic, I hope that you are taking care of yourself physically and mentally. A reminder that we have some resources on our website, should you be looking for support.
Thank you for your unwavering support and feedback, it’s always appreciated.
John Leggat
President & CEO
