{"id":17556,"date":"2021-07-30T17:04:03","date_gmt":"2021-07-30T21:04:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/?p=17556"},"modified":"2021-07-30T17:04:03","modified_gmt":"2021-07-30T21:04:03","slug":"its-changed-how-i-live-my-life-grace-villa-worker-still-recovering-months-after-covid-landed-her-in-icu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/its-changed-how-i-live-my-life-grace-villa-worker-still-recovering-months-after-covid-landed-her-in-icu\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s changed how I live my life\u2019: Grace Villa worker still recovering months after COVID landed her in ICU"},"content":{"rendered":"

(July 28, 2021)<\/p>\n

By: Maria Iqbal, The Hamilton Spectator<\/p>\n

Union calls for help<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Ontario, more than 7,200 COVID-19 cases have appeared in<\/a> <\/span>health-care workers linked to long-term care from Jan. 15, 2020, to July 26, 2021. Ten have died. But that\u2019s not the full story.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the untold stories of the pandemic is how many staff … got physically ill from COVID-19<\/a><\/span> and have never recovered,\u201d said Natalie Mehra, executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition. The numbers are \u201csignificant,\u201d she says, but they\u2019re not reported.<\/p>\n

Remaining staff were stretched thin in homes with outbreaks. With high levels of burnout reported among LTC<\/a><\/span> workers, staff counts are dropping drastically, Mehra added. That means worse standards of care.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe expectations have lowered in very dangerous ways,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Back at Hamilton General Hospital, staff tried to improve Outridge\u2019s oxygen levels. But she wasn\u2019t doing well. Before long, Outridge was in the ICU.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, her union, SEIU Healthcare, asked<\/a><\/span> Premier Doug Ford to order a hospital takeover<\/a><\/span> of Grace Villa \u2014 a call was supported by MPP Taylor<\/a><\/span> \u2014 saying the pandemic\u2019s impact on staffing was \u201csevere.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Dec. 11, one day later, the union escalated its calls<\/a><\/span> to the federal government. Now, they sought military intervention in \u201cwar-zone\u201d-like conditions<\/a><\/span>where there were neither enough PSWs to care for residents, nor enough cleaning staff for the \u201chorrific\u201d sanitary conditions, the letter said.<\/p>\n

At this point, there were 50 staff and 77 resident cases at Grace Villa. Eleven residents had died.<\/p>\n

Senior care needs \u2018drastic changes\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Though the threat of COVID<\/a><\/span> in seniors\u2019 homes dramatically decreased with vaccines<\/a><\/span>, Dr. Amit Arya says much work lies ahead to improving conditions in long-term care<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

Homes with big outbreaks in the first two waves had \u201ca huge turnover\u201d of staff, said the palliative-care physician.<\/p>\n

Arya, who was deployed into some of these facilities, said improving working conditions is an urgent issue that will, in turn, improve the life of residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose are really two sides of the same coin,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Basics like feeding, hydrating and bathing residents should be \u201cnon-negotiable and a given,\u201d Arya added. But staff should also have enough time to sit down with residents and support them emotionally to improve their quality of life.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very clear after what happened during COVID-19<\/a><\/span> that our entire elder care system needs drastic changes.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is a snippet of the article. Click here to read the full article<\/span><\/a>. (Note: Article accessible to Hamilton Spectator subscribers only).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(July 28, 2021) By: Maria Iqbal, The Hamilton Spectator Union calls for help In Ontario, more than 7,200 COVID-19 cases have appeared in health-care workers linked to long-term care from Jan. 15, 2020, to July 26, 2021. Ten have died. But that\u2019s not the full story. \u201cOne of the untold stories of the pandemic is […]<\/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-17556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ohc-in-the-news"],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018It\u2019s changed how I live my life\u2019: Grace Villa worker still recovering months after COVID landed her in ICU - Ontario Health Coalition<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"(July 28, 2021) By: Maria Iqbal, The Hamilton Spectator Union calls for help In Ontario, more than 7,200 COVID-19 cases have appeared in health-care\" \/>\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\/its-changed-how-i-live-my-life-grace-villa-worker-still-recovering-months-after-covid-landed-her-in-icu\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018It\u2019s changed how I live my life\u2019: Grace Villa worker still recovering months after COVID landed her in ICU - 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