NDP leader slams Ford government for LTC homes ‘humanitarian crisis’

NDP leader slams Ford government for LTC homes ‘humanitarian crisis’

ANDREA HORWATH, Ontario NDP Leader

By Mila Astorga-Garcia
The Philippine Reporter

Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath lashed out at the Ontario government for ignoring the “humanitarian crisis” happening in long term care homes, with the upsurge of deaths in these facilities, reaching to 3,000 and increasing.

“It’s a total systemic failure…and it comes from management, from the province,” Horwath said Wed., Jan. 13, during an online press conference she held with University Rosedale MPP Jessica Bell to address the COVID-19 outbreak at Toronto’s St. George Care Community, where at least 156 residents and 28 staff have tested positive for the virus.

Horwath and Bell were joined in the virtual press meeting by a personal support worker at Toronto’s St. George Care Community who had COVID-19, and a paramedic who had visited St. George multiple times. The two frontline workers’ identities, upon their request, were not disclosed due to fear of reprisal from their employers.

In the press conference, Horwath charged that the Ontario government had not instituted changes in the province’s long term care system because it did not want to spend money. “The government is sitting on billions of dollars but does not want to spend the money,” she says despite possible changes that can be done.
“They decided to save the money rather than save lives,” she charged.

The long term care crisis is a priority, she said, but even the Liberal government did not prioritize it, while the Ontario government did not build the “iron ring” it said it would, to improve the dire conditions of nursing homes already revealed in reports. She expressed concern that the protective measure for nursing homes now simply meant vaccination as the solution to the crisis. What happens while waiting for the vaccination? Will they just let seniors die? she commented. She noted that in the Ontario government’s Commission on Long Term Care Report, it had noted that the government of Ontario forgot to prepare for long term care at all…and the result is the loss of lives, she added.

DOUG FORD, Ontario Premier

The report recommended, among other things, that the Ontario government should conduct more proactive inspections of its long term care homes and follow up with harsher enforcement measures when homes fail to address concerns.

Horwath cited the following measures that should have been done, among them:

• Hire 10,000 more personal support workers

• Make sure every every single PSW is equipped with proper personal protective and is trained in infectious disease prevention and control

• Every PSW is paid decently, with benefits and fair working conditions

• Every PSW is able to have the opportunity the take a leave when they are sick.

The paramedic, when asked about what he had observed in long term care homes he had been to, said he noticed the “low staffing levels, overworked staff with overwhelming workload,” and the absence of nurses at the nursing station, among them.

The PSW who has been working in nursing homes for the past 20 years and had contracted COVID-19 at one point, gave some observations but because of voice modulation problems, his message was not heard clearly.

Horwath commented that during Premier Doug Ford’s announcement Tuesday (Jan. 12) regarding the Stay-at-Home Order and the Emergency Measures operational on Thursday, January 14, 2021, there was no mention at all about the LTC crisis which the NDP leader said was a priority considering the seriousness of the issue.

The only mention of long term care during Tuesday’s Ontario Goverment update was when a health official released Ontario’s New COVID-19 Modelling where it is stated that “almost 40% of long term care homes have active COVID-19 outbreaks. Since January 1st, 198 LTC residents and two LTC staff have died of COVID-19. Forecasts suggest more deaths in wave 2 in long-term care than in wave 1.”

This statement was one of the Key Findings of the new modeling which could have prompted the Stay-at-Home order, given that the Modelling’s release was timed with the announcement of the Stay-at-Home order. (See Key Findings below)

The Philippine Reporter contacted by e-mail the office of the Premier for a comment on the statements made during the NDP Leader’s press conference where Horwath stated that the Ontario government did not institute needed changes in the system because it did not want to spend money.

An email response was received from Krystle Caputo, Press secretary to the Minister of Long Term Care Dr. Merrilee Fullerton. It stated in part:

“Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, our government has invested $1.38 billion dollars to ensure that our long-term care homes have the resources they need to battle this terrible virus.

“There is no question that the rise in community spread during the second wave is posing a serious threat to our most vulnerable residents, as well as the staff that are working tirelessly to keep them safe.

“The single most important thing Ontarians can do right now to protect our most vulnerable is to stay at home. As we continue our vaccine rollout, this is our best defense against this virus.

“Ensuring that all residents and workers in long-term care homes receive a COVID-19 vaccination is our government’s top priority as we continue with the roll-out of our vaccine distribution plan. It’s absolutely critical that provinces continue to receive a steady and consistent supply of vaccines. We need the federal government to deliver more COVID-19 vaccines as soon as possible to keep up with Ontario’s capacity to administer, which continues to increase every day.”

Caputo continued: “We have taken further action to address urgent staff shortages in long-term care homes. Hospitals have deployed rapid response teams of health care professionals, the Ontario Workforce Reserve for Senior Support program is recruiting Resident Support Aides. In addition, we have put in place a Personal Support Worker Return of Service program and are fast tracking Personal Support Worker education and providing supports for new nursing graduates.

Community paramedics have also assisted in homes, providing care and help with testing.” She mentioned additional dollar investments during the second wave “to improve COVID-19 prevention and containment,” for capital improvements and repairs, for an eight-week supply of personal protective equipment, for hiring more infection prevention and control staff and other initiatives.

During Wednesday’s media update by the Ontario government, Premier Ford, while emphasizing his Stay Home Order said that staying at home would help hospitals and long term care homes, referring to the overwhelming number of COVID-19 cases in these facilities.
He also said that health care workers, or anyone entering LTC facilities should make sure they are tested for COVID-19 first before they can work in these homes.

However, Ford’s emphasis was vaccination as a solution to the situation. He then asked Gen. Rick Hillier, Chair of the Ontario Vaccination Task Force who was at the press conference, to explain the vaccination rollout further. Hillier said nursing home residents and staff would be a priority for vaccinations, which have already started, and all of them would have been vaccinated at least once by February 15, 2021.

Ford was asked by journalists about the possibility of the military coming into long term care homes again, as what happened during the first stage of the pandemic. He said that Prime Minster Justin Trudeau had offered the military’s help, saying he would accept the help as needed.