NOSM University’s Response to COVID-19

As the Government of Canada and the provincial governments continue to remove COVID-19 travel restrictions, NOSM U will now permit all necessary travel across Canada and to international destinations. Necessary travel could include (but not limited to): conferences, workshops and professional development activities. The supervisor of the individual traveling must confirm that the travel is necessary and ensure that funding is available for this purpose as NOSM U Finance has reduced the budget for travel across all NOSM U portfolios.

All international travel must have supervisor approval as travel disruptions may hinder learners’ and employees’ ability to carry out their work duties on or after the date of the scheduled return from travel. A plan to mitigate such potential issues must be in place before departure.

With the evolving characteristics of COVID-19 and emerging variants of concern, international travel may continue to be subject to significant disruptions, including enhanced screening and border measures that are suddenly put into force. It is critical that NOSM U employees and learners follow the Government of Canada travel directives, including reviewing Global Affairs Canada advisories, completing pre-departure/re-entry requirements, possible post-travel isolation/quarantine and reviewing insurance coverage, etc.

Given that a risk remains with international travel, NOSM U employees and learners must be aware of (and assume) these risks as they may impact on academic and employment obligations at NOSM University.

If you have any questions or require additional clarification, please do not hesitate to contact hr@nosm.ca

NOSM University no longer requires active screening to enter campus buildings.

Everyone is expected to monitor themselves daily for COVID-19 symptoms and stay home if they are feeling sick.

While not mandatory, you are encouraged to screen for COVID-19 prior to entering NOSM University Campus buildings through the COVID-19 Self-Assessment.

Should you experience COVID-19 Symptoms or are generally feeling unwell while you are on campus, please follow these steps:

1. Immediately return home and self-isolate (secure alternate mode of travel if you are not able to drive).
2. Take the online COVID-19 Self Assessment for further instructions.
3. Report the illness:

1. 1. Staff and full-time faculty are to report to their supervisor (Division Head for Human and Medical Sciences) via email or telephone. Supervisors must notify Human Resources (hr@nosm.ca) when their employee has reported symptoms of COVID-19 if they were on campus within the last 5 days.
   2. Learners are to email the Learner Affairs Office (LAO) at learneraffairs@nosm.ca  LAO to notify hr@nosm.ca
   3. Clinical stipendiary faculty are to email Program Schedulers at p1scheduling@nosm.ca (Lakehead campus) or phase1schedulingeast@nosm.ca (Laurentian campus). Program Schedulers to notify hr@nosm.ca.

4. Contact tracing is now everyone’s responsibility. If you have symptoms of COVID-19 or have tested positive on a COVID-19 test, tell your close contacts that they have been exposed. A close contact is:
   1. anyone you were less than two metres away from for a minimum of 15 minutes, or multiple shorter lengths of time; and
   2. Without personal protective equipment in the 48 hours before your symptoms began or your positive test result, whichever came first.
5. Follow guidance from the COVID-19 Self Assessment for information on when your self-isolation period ends and you may return to campus.
   1. If you are eligible for a PCR test or a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) is available to you: You may return to campus if a single PCR test, or two consecutive RATs, separated by 24-48 hours are both negative, AND you do not have a fever and your symptoms have been improving for over 24 hours (or 48 hours for GI symptoms).

If you have been exposed to COVID-19, please follow guidance from the COVID-19 Self-Assessment.

While working on campus, if you are notified that you are required to self-isolate as a result of a close contact, please leave campus immediately and advise your supervisor. You may return to campus when your self-isolation period ends.

In accordance with the advice of the Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health, effective May 1, 2022, NOSM University has paused its COVID-19 Vaccination Policy for Staff, Faculty, Volunteers and Visitors and no longer requires proof of vaccination to enter NOSM U buildings. All employees are encouraged to receive their booster vaccine(s) before coming to campus to help protect themselves and those around them.

As Learners who engage in clinical placements through NOSM University are required to follow the COVID-19 vaccination policies of their clinical location, the COVID-19 Vaccination Policy for Learners in Clinical Settings remains in effect.

In support of Public Health Ontario’s recommentation, NOSM University is strongly encouraging everyone entering NOSM U campus buildings to wear a mask when in public (common) areas, classrooms and within any space where social distancing is not possible. While masking is not mandatory at this time, we ask everyone to be respectful of individuals’ preferences to wear a mask.

Masks will be available in various public areas. If you require additional masks for a scheduled event, please contact Facilities at facilities@nosm.ca.

• Building Services will be completing increased environmental cleaning and disinfection of public spaces and high-touch areas including washrooms, doors and entranceways (door handles, plates and push bars), elevators, kitchenettes, handrails, and other high-touch horizontal and vertical surfaces.
• Hand sanitizer dispensers is placed at the entrance and exit points for buildings on campus, as well as near elevators.
• Additional signage is posted.
• Shared areas and common spaces such as lunchrooms are open.
• Additional cleaning will occur in these areas and sanitization kits will be available in lunchrooms. Please do your part to wipe down surfaces after use with the available sanitization kits if you will be using these rooms/desks, sinks, fridges, etc.

Medical Students

• Contact your Learner Affairs Officer and/or Program Supervisor

Staff/Faculty

• For working environment/sick leave, contact your direct supervisor cc. to hr@nosm.ca and laubryyates@nosm.ca
• For facility issues (e.g. PPE supplies, building access, etc.), contact your direct supervisor and cc. facilities@nosm.ca
• For general concerns, contact hr@nosm.ca, cc. Lyne Aubry-Yates at laubryyates@nosm.ca and Melanie Tremblay at metremblay@nosm.ca

EMERGENCY (after hours) CONTACTS:

Ray Hunt, Vice-President, Administration and Chief Operating Officer
Telephone: 705-923-4443
Email: rhunt@nosm.ca

Lyne Aubry-Yates, Director of Human Resources
Telephone: 705-280-7023
Email: laubryyates@nosm.ca

Grace Vita, Director of Planning and Risk
Telephone: 807-252-7455
Email: gvita@nosm.ca

Lance Dyll, Associate Vice-President, Finance and Administration
Telephone: 807-631-5726
Email: ldyll@nosm.ca

Campus Security is available 24/7/365

Laurentian University: 705-673-6562
Lakehead University: 807-343-8911

Library Resources

Sophie Regalado, Director, Health Sciences Library
sophie.regalado@nosm.ca

Media and Communications

For any media queries:

Joanne Musico, Director, Communications and External Relations

jmusico@nosm.ca