Unique Visitor pods impressing retirement home residents

Patricia Wilson admits having family visits is very difficult these days. 

The former Haileybury resident who now makes her home at the Empire Living Centre in North Bay.   

She is one of a handful of residents that have tested out the unique Vemde Visitor Pod which allows them to have family visits inside the tent. 

"This way the kids can come in and they can see their grandmother, it is just perfect," Wilson said. 

Barb Spencer, General Manager of the Empire Living Centre, is impressed at what she has seen. 

"Due to the pandemic, we had to shut down visitors for quite some time," said Spencer.  

"Had we had something like this where we knew the residents themselves would be in a safe environment and they could still see openly their family members. It would have been a huge help. So now that this is in place this is something we would look at in the future for various reasons, even for weather conditions."

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Louis Brown, CEO of NorEnvironmental International, says this is their second stage of testing. 

"The first stage was operationally to see if the system would run and do what we wanted it to do," said Brown.  

"The second part of the philosophy was to bring into a facility like this and do an evaluation. So we had parts of this week and last week having residents go through it to see what their comfort level is. We checked noise and distraction levels. If they do not have a good experience they are not going to use it. But so far, everyone seems to be quite happy."

Brown says the pod also includes very high-quality HEPA medical-grade filter that ensures there is positive pressure in the residents' section 

Nipissing-Timiskaming MP Anthony Rota and Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli were both invited do the Empire Living Centre to see the pods first hand. 

Brown says they will continue the evaluation process at other retirement homes with a large-scale manufacturer on board to help facilitate what they hope will be massive interest across the country; possibly around the globe. That's why Brown feels government support is critical. 

"It is important that the government support and the mass number we would need government support."