{"id":13230,"date":"2020-06-20T20:51:19","date_gmt":"2020-06-21T00:51:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/?p=13230"},"modified":"2020-07-05T15:23:30","modified_gmt":"2020-07-05T19:23:30","slug":"coronavirus-nursing-homes-begin-refilling-beds-emptied-by-pandemic-worrying-families","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/coronavirus-nursing-homes-begin-refilling-beds-emptied-by-pandemic-worrying-families\/","title":{"rendered":"Coronavirus: Nursing homes begin refilling beds emptied by pandemic, worrying families"},"content":{"rendered":"

(June 19, 2020)<\/p>\n

By: Stewart Bell and Andrew Russell, Global News<\/p>\n

The Markhaven nursing home lost 17 residents to the\u00a0coronavirus<\/a><\/span>, but now that its outbreak has been declared over, the management has told families it is refilling beds emptied by the pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to start admitting new residents this week, and will continue to do so, over time, until our home is full once again,\u201d the home in Markham, Ont., told families in a June 15 email.<\/p>\n

New residents must be tested for\u00a0COVID-19<\/a><\/span>\u00a0and isolate for 14 days upon admission, but some families are uncomfortable with it and say staff have told them they are concerned about the added workload.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s too soon,\u201d said Cameron Robson, whose 91-year-old mother is at Markhaven.<\/p>\n

He said the residents have been through a tough time during the outbreak, which ended just a month ago, and he was worried.<\/p>\n

The home said it was \u201cfollowing the directives given by Public Health to mitigate the risk of infection in the home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

As infection rates across Canada decline and more long-term care homes are deemed virus-free, they are beginning to take in new residents to fill the hundreds of beds left vacant by those who succumbed to the virus.<\/p>\n

The latest Ontario\u00a0government figures<\/a><\/span>\u00a0put the number of care home residents who have died of COVID-19 at 1,797. But 36,000 people are waiting for care home beds, according to the Ontario Long Term Care Association.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to be cautious,\u201d said Donna Duncan, the industry association\u2019s CEO. \u201cWe have to take whatever steps we can and we have to make sure that we\u2019re protecting our seniors.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said most of the province\u2019s more than 600 long-term care homes did not have outbreaks, and with vigilance and proper infection prevention measures they could accommodate new residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that COVID-19 is very dangerous for people over the age of 80 with chronic conditions and that is our resident population,\u201d Duncan told Global News in an interview.<\/p>\n

The Ontario government has permitted homes without active outbreaks to\u00a0take in new residents<\/a><\/span>. Those being admitted must have tested negative for COVID-19 within 24 hours of admission.<\/p>\n

Care homes must also ensure they have a plan to isolate new residents for two weeks. The same requirements apply to residents being re-admitted to homes after hospital stays.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a massive shortage of beds so I can kind of see why, if you\u2019ve got 80 empty beds in your home, you do want to fill them,\u201d said Sharleen Stewart, president of SEIU Healthcare, the union that represents many long-term care workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s the same with our hurry to open up the province. I think we need to wait a little longer.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said the staffing shortages that exacerbated the long-term care crisis during the pandemic continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we were already in a crisis, so if they\u2019re bringing in residents, I would be asking, if I was a family member in there, what is the staff quota before you bring in more?\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked about the concerns, Markhaven\u2019s executive director Mike Bakewell said the facility was \u201cvery confident in the directives authorities have put in place to screen new residents.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately, the healthcare system must continue functioning for the people of Ontario, and this includes those who are in need of long-term care,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cStaffing levels in long-term care are predicated by the funding levels decided upon by the Provincial Government. I would recommend redirecting your questions around staffing levels to them. They are currently affording additional funding to homes to allow for increased staffing levels in light of the current pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the Ontario Health Coalition also said it was too soon.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a concern,\u201d said Natalie Mehta. \u201cI mean, we are seeing that there are outbreaks that are declared over and then a new outbreak starts. That has happened both in long-term care homes and in hospitals.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd so we\u2019re not out of the woods.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the 96-bed Markhaven home said in a June 5 email to families that admitting new residents would be a \u201cvery labour-intensive process\u201d and staff were being reassigned to the task.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough this will no doubt make it a busy time for everyone here, we certainly welcome another step back to some degree of normalcy,\u201d the facility wrote in its most recent message.<\/p>\n

Robson said one concern is that even if new residents are isolated, the staff will still move between rooms.<\/p>\n

Families have had \u201cno say, no input and definitely no assurances\u201d about bringing in new residents so soon after the outbreak,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a huge anxiety.\u201d<\/p>\n

Click here for original article<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(June 19, 2020) By: Stewart Bell and Andrew Russell, Global News The Markhaven nursing home lost 17 residents to the\u00a0coronavirus, but now that its outbreak has been declared over, the management has told families it is refilling beds emptied by the pandemic. \u201cWe\u2019re going to start admitting new residents this week, and will continue to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ohc-in-the-news"],"yoast_head":"\nCoronavirus: Nursing homes begin refilling beds emptied by pandemic, worrying families - Ontario Health Coalition<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"(June 19, 2020) By: Stewart Bell and Andrew Russell, Global News The Markhaven nursing home lost 17 residents to the\u00a0coronavirus, but now that its\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/coronavirus-nursing-homes-begin-refilling-beds-emptied-by-pandemic-worrying-families\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Coronavirus: Nursing homes begin refilling beds emptied by pandemic, worrying families - 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