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\r\nEditor\u2019s Note: The following article contains graphic descriptions of conditions inside long-term care facilities.<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Rooms infested with cockroaches and contaminated with feces.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Patients force-fed to the point of choking.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Staff afraid to use vital supplies and personal protective equipment \u201cbecause they cost money.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n People with COVID-19 allowed to wander from room to room.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Residents bullied, sedated and left alone for hours as they cried for help.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n When Canadian Armed Forces personnel entered five Ontario long-term care homes that had been struck by COVID-19 earlier this month, they found a litany of horrors and abuses, a disturbing military report made public Tuesday alleges.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cI think it\u2019s appalling. I think it\u2019s disgusting, what has happened,\u201d Premier Doug Ford said, looking visibly emotional.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cReading this report was the hardest thing I\u2019ve done as premier.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called for national action to fix troubled long-term care systems.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cI was sad. I was shocked. I was disappointed. I was angry,\u201d Trudeau said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n A report released publicly Tuesday details a long list of horrors found at five COVID-stricken long-term care homes. Premier Doug Ford says criminal charges are possible, while the critics are calling for officials responsible to resign. #onpoli<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cI believe we are talking about a situation that clearly is a reality associated with COVID-19, but has also existed for quite some time.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n On Tuesday, Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath called for the resignation of Long-Term Care Minister Merrilee Fullerton, while health-care advocates criticized Ford\u2019s government for allowing the situation to happen.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Ford said the province has launched an investigation into the situation at the homes, and criminal charges could be laid. Fourteen military members working at homes in Ontario have tested positive with COVID-19.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Here\u2019s what you need to know about the report\u2019s findings and what will happen next.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n A ‘crisis situation’ inside nursing homes<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n The report details abuses inside five long-term care homes that have been among the hardest-hit by the novel coronavirus: Orchard Villa in Pickering (77 deaths), Altamont in the Scarborough area of Toronto (52 deaths), Eatonville in the Etobicoke area of Toronto (42 deaths), Hawthorne in Toronto\u2019s North York (43 deaths) and Holland Christian in Brampton (11 deaths).<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Ford, who said the findings described a \u201ccrisis situation,\u201d called for military assistance in the five homes on April 22. Roughly 250 Canadian Armed Forces members \u2060\u2014 including nurses, medics and general personnel \u2060\u2014 were deployed in early May.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n The report is based on what personnel saw during their first two weeks.\u00a0National Observer\u00a0<\/em>has not independently confirmed the allegations in the report, and none of the five long-term care homes responded to requests for comment, save Altamont.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n In an emailed statement, Altamont’s operator, Sienna Senior Living, said it has already increased staffing levels and slowed the rate of new infections in its facility.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n “To deliver the level of care that our seniors deserve, the staffing challenges we face in the long-term care sector must be addressed,” the statement said. “We are committed to working with the government, and our health system partners, to solve this urgent issue.”<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Though the Armed Forces were not originally tasked with writing a report, military brass decided it was necessary, Ontario officials said Tuesday. Dated May 14, the report was sent to the Ontario government Sunday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n All five homes faced staffing shortages and failed to meet basic standards of care for their patients. In some cases, military personnel reported they were concerned that the homes would not be able to care for patients if they left (Ford has requested an extension on the military help).<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Ford also said he believes that similar problems likely exist at other long-term care homes in the province. In a background briefing for reporters, government officials said the situation at the homes was stabilizing, though four of them had been asked to produce plans for how they would move forward.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Here\u2019s a list of some of what the report found:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Eatonville Care Centre in Etobicoke<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Hawthorne Place Care Centre in North York<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Orchard Villa in Pickering<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Altamont Care Community in Scarborough<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Holland Christian Homes in Brampton<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Whose fault is this?<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n On Tuesday, Ford said he took full responsibility for the neglect and abuses documented in the military report. He also repeatedly said he \u201cinherited\u201d a broken system, and vowed to \u201cmove heaven and earth\u201d to fix it, no matter the cost.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Ontario\u2019s long-term care system has been underfunded and has faced staffing shortages for decades. Systemic issues came to light in 2019, after an inquiry prompted by serial killer Elizabeth Wettlaufer, a long-term-care nurse who murdered eight elderly patients.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Advocates have been pushing for government action on the issues for years, even before the Wettlaufer inquiry. Now, COVID-19 has ravaged long-term care, spreading like wildfire to infect staff and vulnerable elderly patients who are especially susceptible to the virus.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n On Tuesday, Fullerton said her ministry had been working to address issues raised in the Wettlaufer inquiry. And Ford said he believed the Progressive Conservative government had done well to act when it did.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cI don\u2019t feel our government failed seniors,\u201d he said. \u201cMatter of fact, we saved a lot of lives by doing what we did.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n But critics said the Ford government worsened conditions in long-term care and contributed to the crisis.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Last month,\u00a0CBC News revealed<\/span><\/a>\u00a0the Ford government largely stopped doing unannounced inspections of long-term-care homes. The province continued conducting investigations done after complaints, but in those cases, the facility knows an inspector is coming.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Issues and complaints had been reported at several of the five homes in the military report, government officials told reporters in a background briefing.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n The government also\u00a0cut $34 million<\/span><\/a>\u00a0from its long-term care budget last year, and the Ontario\u00a0NDP and health care groups<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>have said the government did not act quickly enough to stop long-term care staff from working at multiple facilities and potentially spreading the virus.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n The Ontario Health Coalition, which has raised issues with long-term care for years, said Tuesday that it was \u201cfrustrated.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cShortages of PPE and incompetent and negligent management are compounded by the leadership failure in our provincial government,\u201d said executive director Natalie Mehra in a statement.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cThousands of staff and residents alike have been infected with COVID-19, almost 1,500 residents and staff have died, yet we are still waiting for a coherent, coordinated plan from Ontario\u2019s government to intervene actively in long-term care homes with outbreaks.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n The Ontario government also failed to take advantage of a pool of nurses available to work in long-term care before calling in the military,\u00a0National Observer\u00a0<\/em>previously reported<\/a><\/span>.\u00a0The Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario had assembled lists of qualified staff that were ready to go into long-term care, and may have better suited to it than military personnel without nursing home experience.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Doris Grinspun, CEO of the RNAO, said in an interview Tuesday that she was aware of issues at one of the homes, Orchard Villa, more than a week before the military was called in. No one was answering the phone when she called to ask about giving them nursing resources, she said. (Orchard Villa did not respond to a request for a response.)<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cThis could have been fixed before the military if the government would have listened to the RNAO,\u201d she said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Grinspun also said the government should have acted weeks before it did to bring extra help into long-term care.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cIt\u2019s horrifying that it came to this and it\u2019s horrifying that it took this long,\u201d she said. \u201cThere needs to be accountability.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Others have pointed to issues with privately owned long-term care homes, where residents are far more likely to die of COVID-19 than they are at not-for-profit homes, the\u00a0Toronto Star\u00a0<\/em>found<\/a><\/span>. Three of the largest operators in Ontario have paid out $1.5 billion in dividends to shareholders over the last decade, the\u00a0Star\u00a0<\/em>reported<\/a><\/span>. And three for-profit long-term care companies in Ontario have\u00a0hired lobbyists with Conservative ties<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Four of the five homes examined in the military report were privately owned, but it\u2019s not clear whether that played a role in what happened, Ontario officials said Tuesday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
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