{"id":14648,"date":"2020-10-16T14:37:21","date_gmt":"2020-10-16T18:37:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/?p=14648"},"modified":"2025-06-05T12:36:39","modified_gmt":"2025-06-05T16:36:39","slug":"event-quick-cross-ontario-summary-media-from-powerful-day-of-action-for-ltc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/event-quick-cross-ontario-summary-media-from-powerful-day-of-action-for-ltc\/","title":{"rendered":"EVENT:<\/FONT> Quick Cross-Ontario Summary & Media from Powerful Day of Action for LTC"},"content":{"rendered":"

(October 16, 2020)<\/p>\n

Congratulations on a Powerful Day of Action for Long-Term Care<\/strong><\/p>\n

See just a small sampling of the media coverage from communities across the province below, including heart-wrenching stories from residents’ families and care workers. Thank you all for helping to send a powerful message!!!<\/em>
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\nOur Day of Action for Long-Term Care on October\u00a08 saw massive participation from across the province. Events were held in Almonte, Chatham, Dryden, Durham, Guelph, Hamilton, Haliburton, Kawartha Lakes, Kingston, Kitchener\/Waterloo, London, Newmarket, Niagara, Oakville, Oxford, Peel, Peterborough, Sault Ste. Marie, Scarborough, Sudbury, Thunder Bay, and Windsor following public health guidelines, with lots of support. Family members who lost loved ones or who currently had loved ones in long-term care homes spoke of their heart-breaking experiences, and staff spoke of the monstrous challenges they faced in caring for residents. Very visual car cavalcades were also held in many of these towns, and reportedly there were lots of people honking in support. There is no doubt that the public is supportive of our call for the Ford government to improve care and staffing levels, end for-profit care and bring in a mandatory staffing standard.\u00a0Toronto and Ottawa held their press conferences online, in lieu of public gatherings. All across the province, the events were widely reported by local media, as you will see below. The events were sponsored by 38 organizations, as well as Health Coalitions throughout Ontario.
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\nCheck out the Facebook album here.<\/a><\/span>
\nTo have pictures added to the album, please email them to ohc@sympatico.ca<\/a>.
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\nIf you like our work, please help support it if you can: <\/span>donate here<\/a><\/span>.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

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Almonte<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Workers, families hold protest for long-term care changes<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

By Julie Ireton, CBC News, October 8 2020<\/p>\n

Amy Ayers, a personal support worker at Almonte Country Haven, has worked throughout the pandemic, except for 14 days when she was sick with COVID-19 herself.\u00a0(Francis Ferland\/CBC)<\/p>\n

Workers, unions and families gathered in Almonte, Ont., Thursday\u00a0to\u00a0call for immediate action by the Ford government to recruit\u00a0staff\u00a0and to improve working conditions in Ontario’s long-term care homes.\u00a0Amy Ayers, a personal support worker at Almonte Country Haven who helped organize the day of action, has been at the long-term care facility throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and she even contracted the virus herself last spring.\u00a0“What we’re doing here is coming out to make people who are unaware, aware of the crisis in long-term care centres,” said Ayers.<\/p>\n

Similar protests happened\u00a0in more than 20 municipalities\u00a0across Ontario.<\/p>\n

Last spring, 72 of 82 residents, along with several staff members at Almonte Country Haven, tested positive for COVID-19. There are currently no cases in the long-term care home right now.<\/p>\n

“I’m kind of coming out of my shell to speak up about the very damaged system and I hear a lot from coworkers, other PSWs … they’re afraid to come out, talk and stand up for what they believe is right. So I’m here to say, it’s OK,” said Ayers.<\/p>\n

More needs to be done<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The Ontario Health Coalition said\u00a0the problems include understaffing, testing backlogs, sharing of four-person rooms, and insufficient infection control provisions. It’s calling for a minimum daily standard of four hours of hands-on care for every resident.\u00a0Ayers says a lot of lessons have been learned, but more is needed across the care system.<\/p>\n

“Number one would be more staffing per ratio of residents. With that we can give more quality of care,” said Ayers. “Our elderly in long term care deserve better. They deserve to have top notch care. I can’t stress that part enough.”
\nMae Wilson lived at Almonte Country Haven for four years until she died of COVID-19 in May.Her daughter, Karen Thompson, attended the day of action with her own signs and ideas about how the system can be improved now.\u00a0“We have to make the system better. We’re going into the second wave, and we haven’t really done a thing to make it better,” said Thompson.<\/p>\n

Patient ombudsman report<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The day of action for long term care in Ontario happened on the same day as the\u00a0province’s patient ombudsman released a report<\/a><\/span>.\u00a0The report\u00a0details complaints\u00a0about the safety of residents and staff\u00a0and points to a crisis in the province’s long-term care homes.<\/p>\n

At Queen’s Park on Thursday, Ontario’s minister of long-term care, Merilee Fullerton was asked when changes in nursing homes can be expected.\u00a0\u00a0“Staffing is a priority and our government is putting dollars behind that as we speak,” said Fullerton in the legislature.<\/p>\n

Karen Thompson hopes the system\u00a0improves but she is worried\u00a0that the government doesn’t have an accurate account of what’s going on inside many care homes because workers like Amy Ayers who\u00a0speak out, are rare.\u00a0“Everyone clams up. I know a lot of the PSWs. They say everything is fine. They just can’t talk. They’re afraid to say stuff and then get in trouble later and get fired,” said Thompson.<\/p>\n

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All in a Day with Alan Neal:\u00a0Oct. 8, 2020:\u00a0Personal Support Workers say LTC’s are xxx<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Carleton Place Almonte Canadian Gazette: \u2018We need to put the pressure on\u2019: Fight continues for long-term care changes with Almonte day of action<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Chatham<\/span><\/b>
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Rally Calls For Long Term Care Help<\/a><\/span>
\nBy 99.1 FM CKXS, October 9, 2020<\/p>\n

Unifor Local 127 President Nicole Grainger with chair of the local Ontario Health Coalition, Shirley Roebuck. Photo credit: Chris Taylor. Health care advocates are calling on the provincial government to do more to protect residents in long term care.<\/p>\n

A small rally was held in front of MPP Rick Nicholls\u2019 Chatham constituency office yesterday with a motorcade of vehicles circling by the Heritage Road building, honking their horns.<\/p>\n

Last week, the province announced more than half a billion dollars to help long term care hire workers and purchase more equipment, but Shirley Roebuck, chair of the local chapter of the Ontario Health Coalition, says that\u2019s still not enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter if you\u2019re making a bad wage or a good wage, if there\u2019s only an insignificant or inadequate number of people to take care of our folks in long term care, then the residents are going to suffer,\u201d Roebuck says.<\/p>\n

Nicole Grainger, president of Unifor Local 127 says attracting new people to train as personal support workers is a challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe it\u2019s gotten a bad rep because of the burnout, the lack of staffing, the lack of vacations,\u201d Grainger says. \u201cPeople don\u2019t want to go into that department in that industry because you\u2019re not guaranteed to finish. You could come out injured, you could never get time off the job, and you could work around the clock and it still wouldn\u2019t be enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Ontario Health Coalition demands the Ford government recruit and train more staff and provide a minimum daily standard of four hours of hands-on care for every resident.<\/p>\n

Staff shortages heighten concern if COVID outbreak hits C-K long-term care homes<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

By\u00a0Ellwood Shreve, Chatham Daily News, October 8 2020<\/p>\n

Chatham-Kent has, so far, avoided a COVID-19 outbreak at any of its long-term care homes but, due to staff shortages and burnout, a health-care advocate and union official fear the result if it does happen.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough there have not been any COVID-19 outbreaks, the bad conditions are still there,\u201d said Shirley Roebuck, chair of the Chatham-Kent, Wallaceburg, Walpole First Nation and Sarnia chapters of the Ontario Health Coalition during a protest Thursday at the Chatham constituency office of Chatham-Kent-Leamington MPP Rick Nicholls.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very scary\u201d said Unifor Local 127 president Nicole Grainger of the thought of an outbreak happening locally because long-term care facilities are already short-staffed.<\/p>\n

The local health coalition chapters were part of a provincial day of action that occurred in several communities across Ontario to call on the provincial government to take immediate action to address a staffing crisis and improve staffing ratios to implement a minimum of four hours care for long-term care residents, as well as end for-profit facilities.<\/p>\n

Roebuck said the day of action is to \u201cmake everyone aware that, despite the provincial government\u2019s announcement of significant funding, they haven\u2019t done anything to increase the number of (personal support workers) available for work.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said the health coalition is pleased wages have increased but noted residents will still suffer if there isn\u2019t enough people to provide care.<\/p>\n

\u201cCOVID-19 exposed the conditions in long-term care, but they have been there for years,\u201d Roebuck said.<\/p>\n

The Ontario Health Coalition says more than 1,900 Ontario residents and staff have died of COVID-19 in long-term care.<\/p>\n

Grainger said workers in all departments in car homes are routinely working short-staffed, especially personal support workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s not even enough bodies to fill the staffing needs, let along giving out vacations,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Staff are only getting time off unless they are on a medical leave, she added.<\/p>\n

The long-term care industry has expressed a desire to hire more personal support workers, but there is little interest among the workforce to do this type of work.<\/p>\n

Grainger believes this is due to publicity surrounding the poor pay and working conditions.<\/p>\n

Roebuck said employers need to start offering full-time positions with suitable benefits.<\/p>\n

It can take several years of working part time before someone can get a full-time job in the long-term care industry, she said.<\/p>\n

Grainger said she\u2019s finally secured a full time position after working 15 years in the industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s got to change from precarious work,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

A request for comment from MPP Rick Nicholls office was not returned by press time.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, the provincial government announced $243 million in emergency funding for staffing, supplies and capacity, along with another $78.2 million to preserve front-line staff and maintain current levels of service provided for resident care and accommodation.<\/p>\n

Grainger said employers need to be more innovative, citing her employer, Riverview Gardens, has a program where it covers the schooling for someone willing to become a personal support worker, as well as pays them to go to school.<\/p>\n

She noted 11 people are currently in that program.<\/p>\n

Judy Wolanski, a retired nurse who took part in the local protest that saw several vehicles drive around Nicholls\u2019 constituency office, is worried about her step-father, who is in long-term care.<\/p>\n

She told reporters she\u2019s often seen staff work while injured because they refuse to add to the workload of their colleagues.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey really care about each other,\u201d Wolanski said.<\/p>\n

The delays involved in requiring a COVID test in order to visit a care facility means Wolanski can only see her step-dad every one or two weeks.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s seen a difference in him.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not as focused when you talk to him. He lacks that stimulation,\u201d Wolanski said. \u201cI\u2019m worried the homes will lock down again in the coming second wave and how this will impact residents, staff and family members.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dryden<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

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Long-term care workers lobby for improvements<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

By Mike Aiken, Dryden Now, October 8 2020<\/p>\n

Long-term care workers in Dryden took part in a province-wide rally.<\/p>\n

Katrina Peterson is a Unifor member, who works in long-term care. She’s helping to lead a rally in Dryden that’s part of a province-wide lobbying effort to get the Queen’s Park to improve conditions in facilities, as we enter the second wave of the pandemic.<\/p>\n

“Their PR work is great. They’ve been out in the news throwing all this money out there. It looks good, but it really isn’t the dollar amount we need to fix long-term care. It’s just a quick-fix. It isn’t going to fix long-term care permanently,” Peterson emphasized.<\/p>\n

Union members say they spend five or six minutes with residents in the morning, but they would like to be able to spend more like four hours a day with residents.<\/p>\n

“With the first wave, it looked like maybe they could see what was happening in long-term care, but we don’t see any push again for ending for-profit organizations,” she said this morning.<\/p>\n

During the first wave, 81 per cent of COVID-19 deaths were linked to long-term care homes.<\/p>\n

According to the Canadian Medical Association Journal, the analysis included:<\/p>\n