Katy called our office concerned about a decision made by a residential care facility in Vancouver Coastal Health to cancel virtual visits during a COVID-19 outbreak. She was scheduled to have a virtual visit with her mom but received an email advising her that all virtual visits were cancelled until further notice in accordance with direction from the Medical Health Officer (MHO). Believing the decision was unfair, Katy followed up and requested further explanation and was told that the facility was minimizing all unnecessary staff and resident contact for everyone’s safety.

During our investigation, we were advised that the MHO had provided the facility with guidance on infection control measures and activities that needed to be cancelled. However, we were not provided with any evidence that supported deviating from the facility’s own COVID-19 safety policy of providing access to virtual visits.

We asked Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) to apologize to Katy in writing for denying her access to her mom through a virtual visit. We also asked VCH to ensure that it did not restrict virtual visits during future COVID-19 outbreaks unless specifically required to do so. Vancouver Coastal Health agreed to implement both of these actions.