Personal Belongings

St. Joseph’s Health Centre takes every effort to make your stay with us as comfortable and safe as possible. With that in mind, the following points will help you and your family determine what to plan on bringing in with you and what restrictions, for safety reasons are necessary.

General Information:
• Televisions and electrical equipment list in the Residents’ Handbook need to be approved by Environmental Services of your neighbourhood before they can be brought in to your room.
• Phones must be checked by the IT Department at extension 4100 to ensure that they do not interfere with St. Joseph’s phone system.
• St. Joseph’s Health Centre is not responsible for loss or damage of personal belongings or valuables kept in your room.
• A checklist will be completed at the time of admission which includes furniture and other personal possessions. This document will be kept on your chart.
• The Director of your neighbourhood must approve all items of furniture and electrical equipment. Family will be asked to remove any items not approved.
• If your medical condition changes during your time with us and space for care becomes an issue, some furniture may need to be removed. This will be addressed by the Director.

Clothing
Generally speaking, clothing should be washable and comfortable to wear. You will also find it easier to dress yourself (or to have others assist you with dressing) if your clothing is loose-fitting.
Your clothing is laundered every 72 hours (see additional details about laundry service later). For this reason, it is suggested that you begin by bringing 7 or 8 changes of clothing on admission. If your health condition or personal hygiene needs require more frequent changes, please bring enough clothing to last for a one week period.

Suggested Items to Consider Bringing Include:
• underwear
• brassieres and/or undershirts
• dresses and slips (if appropriate)
• pants and/or trousers
• powder, soaps, lotions
• sweaters, shirts or tops to wear with pants and/or trousers
• cardigan sweater(s) and/or sweatshirt(s)
• socks and/or pantyhose
• nightdresses and/or pyjamas
• housecoat(s) and slippers
• at least one pair of supportive shoes with rubber soles
• a coat or jacket and a hat
• mittens or gloves and boots (if applicable)

Some residents may also wish to bring make-up or costume jewellery if they usually wear these items.

Please feel free to approach the nursing staff if you would like further suggestions about clothing.

“Resident needs” (see appendix A) list may be posted on the closet door if staff need to communicate a request for any items that you may require.

Additional Information About Clothing
For your convenience, the Centre organizes regular visits from companies that specialize in adaptive clothing (or clothes designed to make dressing/undressing easier for people with special physical needs). You can find out more about the suppliers of adaptive clothing and the next scheduled clothing sale from one of our recreation therapists or your nurse manager.

Due to limited storage space, we ask that “out-of-season” clothing (such as winter coats in the summertime) be stored with your family.

We also rely on you and your family to remove clothing that is no longer being used and to purchase new clothing when necessary. Nursing staff will help residents and families in identifying clothing that needs to be replaced.

Laundry
When you arrive in the first 24 hour staff will label all your clothing.

We do not provide any dry cleaning services; wool, suede and leather clothing is not recommended.

Laundry service (once weekly) and minor repairs of personal clothing are provided at no charge.

If you prefer not to use the personal laundry service, please ensure that your laundry is done on a regular basis. You and your family are welcome to use the resident washer and dryer on Level One to launder personal clothing, please bring your own detergent.