Family members of residents at Extendicare Kapuskasing are calling for more transparency amid the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak.
A virtual town hall was held by Mushkegowuk-James Bay MPP Guy Bourgouin Thursday night to discuss the outbreak at the long-term care home.
Fifteen residents have died since the outbreak was declared at the facility on Jan. 7. Seventy staff and residents have tested positive.
“We’re hurting. When you’re a community like Kapuskasing of 9,000, we know mostly everybody,” Bourgouin said. “And families, friends are losing people in our community in such a bad way that families can’t even be there at the end.”
Family members of Extendicare residents Melissa Caron and Monique Isabelle were on hand at the virtual town hall as well as the Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing MP Carol Hughes and Ontario NDP Critic for Seniors, Home Care and Long-Term Care Sara Singh.
During the virtual meeting, Caron and Isabelle shared their concerns and experiences of having family members at the nursing home.
Isabelle, whose mother moved to Extendicare in July 2020, said it seems the nursing home has been in “total chaos” since the outbreak started in January.
“This has been a great anxiety for us because, as the family, we intend on ensuring our mother’s well-being,” she said.
“Residents have been moved to different rooms without notice to them or their families. Although we recognize there are logistics behind the move, these are fragile individuals who deserve to be treated with compassion and dignity. These issues appear to reflect on the dire need for additional help while residents continue to succumb to COVID.”
Extendicare Kapuskasing has been sending out daily updates that include information on the number of new cases, recoveries and how the facility is working with the Porcupine Health Unit and other health care partners.
Feb. 11 the facility reported one new resident had tested positive. There are 11 residents and 14 staff with known active cases. One of the positive tests linked to the outbreak was flagged as a potential variant of concern (VOC). It was reported last Thursday, Feb. 4. The health unit has said it could take up to seven days for further testing to identify if it's a variant and what strain it is. Those results have not been reported yet.
According to the update, Extendicare staff have been meeting daily with the health unit, Kapuskasing's Sensenbrenner Hospital, Ontario Health, the Local Health Integration Network and Ministry of Long-Term Care. A team from Timmins and District hospital is on-site to help with infection prevention and control (IPAC) practices. An IPAC specialist from an Ottawa Extendicare home is also on-site.
Isabelle said although there have been daily updates from Extendicare, individual communication throughout the outbreak has been difficult and their emails and phone calls have not been returned.
She questioned how nurses, personal support workers and staff are coping with the situation and whether their mental health care needs are being met.
“We feel the interventions continue to be reactive instead of proactive,” Isabelle said. “We do not wish to blame any particular individuals. We’re just advocates for our family members. Moving forward, we’re asking for a solid plan to be put in place to protect our loved ones in the wake of the third wave.”
On Feb. 5, Bourgouin sent a letter to Premier Doug Ford asking to send the Ontario Red Cross or the armed forces to take over the management at the nursing home.
During the virtual town hall, a question was asked why help isn’t being sent to the nursing home. Hughes said the province has to ask the federal government to bring in the army.
“It’s the province that has to ask for the military to come in, so obviously that responsibility falls on the provinces. What we have seen over and over again is the lack of interest to bring in the additional help,” she said.
Hughes added a task force needs to be put in place that will work with the provinces and territories to make sure when situations like these arise, they can be under control. She also said had the vaccine rollout been quicker, more people would’ve been protected.
Singh echoed Hughes’ comments saying there’s been a lack of “political will” to send help to long-term care homes across the province.
“They’ve also failed to invest in long-term care the way we need to from the start of the first wave to now, and that’s why we continue to see ratios at the levels that they are,” Singh said.
As the event was wrapping up, Bourgouin called for a clear, detailed and transparent dialogue with families and the community. He invited community members to share their anonymous testimony on the impact of COVID-19 on long-term care homes through a Google document.
“It is sad that we have to create sites like these so people can testify without being afraid of reprisal or being criticized. We shouldn’t have to do that when we’re in crisis,” he said. “It’s wrong. They should be entitled to whistle blow when things are wrong, when people are dying, when services are not maintained.”
