Unconscionable Situation in Manitoba Long-Term Care HomesManitoba is experiencing uncontrolled spread of COVID-19, and both health officials and health care workers say the health system is being overwhelmed. There are now 7,011 active cases, with record breaking numbers of new cases and deaths being reported day after day. Manitoba has 172 reported COVID-19 deaths, with most deaths occurring during the second wave which began in October. There are COVID-19 outbreaks at more than three dozen long-term care homes and assisted living centres, with at least 642 cases.
Revera claimed that it had adequate staffing at the Maples home, reporting the "normal" staffing levels for the November 7 afternoon shift -- 19 personal care attendants and seven nurses -- and the health authority repeated this claim publicly. The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) which represents the health care aides issued a statement on November 8 exposing this misleading information, and clarifying that there were actually only seven personal care attendants to care for 200 residents. Revera claimed this "mistake" was due to reporting scheduled workers, not workers actually providing care. Maples also failed to report deaths from COVID-19 as required. Revera stated this was because the nursing staff were involved in direct care as opposed to "paperwork." The
Winnipeg police homicide unit is investigating the deaths, and the
Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA) is conducting a safety
review. There are widespread calls for the WRHA to take over the
long-term care homes, which have shown they cannot be trusted with the
care of our seniors. It is apparent that the drive for profit has
trumped everything. Even "normal" staffing would have been totally
unacceptable with the greatly increased care needs, and when everyone
knows this old "normal" was never adequate. Under conditions of an
active outbreak, to allow staff levels to drop below established
requirements in the opinion of Workers' Forum shows
that continued control by those motivated by maximizing profits is to
be outlawed. Both those directly profiting from the understaffing and
refusal to care for residents/patients and staff, as well as
those in government permiting this to happen and claiming
ignorance should be held to account. Workers must identify and hit at
the mechanism which permits
this state of affairs to continue. Notes1. A report prepared by the Manitoba Nurses Union in 2018 entitled "The Future of Long-Term Care Is Now: Addressing Nursing Care Needs in Manitoba's Personal Care Homes" can be found here. 2. On October 27, CUPE issued a letter to public health officials stating, "We need to be proactive and have public officials inspect these privately-operated homes," says Shannon McAteer, CUPE Health Care Coordinator. "The results of the inspection during the Parkview Place outbreak yielded important findings and recommendations, including staffing and personal protective equipment (PPE) that can help that facility fight the spread of COVID-19, but we cannot let other facilities get to that point." "Government and private operators dragged their feet before, and we cannot have a repeat of what happened at Parkview Place," said McAteer. "We are asking for public health inspectors to immediately conduct in-person reviews at all private care homes with current outbreaks, and automatically launch inspections at future outbreaks to ensure each home is prepared for, and can prevent an outbreak." (Photo: OHC)
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Sixty-four
deaths have occurred in just two Winnipeg long-term care homes, both
with ongoing outbreaks, Maples and Parkview Place. The homes are owned
by Revera, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Public Sector Pension
Investment Board (PSP), a federal Crown corporation, and operated on a
for-profit basis. The extent of the outbreak and gross neglect of
patients at the Maples home became public only after staff called 911
on November 7. Paramedics who responded found residents who had died
and residents who were critically ill and were severely malnourished
and dehydrated. Maples had 121 residents and 55 staff members infected
with the coronavirus at the time.