Premier Doug Ford says the province will take action to try to slow the spread of COVID-19 in long term care facilities.
Saying the spread in nursing homes has been like a "wildfire," Ford announced Tuesday that he will issue an emergency order on Tuesday night that will prevent workers in long term care facilities from working in more than one nursing home. He added more plans to address the outbreaks in nursing homes will be announced on Wednesday.
Ford said his heart breaks for those who have lost loved ones in long term care homes. He said long term care homes are quickly turning into the front line in the fight against the virus and his top priority is to get the "troops" and the resources needed to the front.
"We're dealing with a wildfire at our long term care homes right now," Ford said. "This is extremely difficult on people and families. Families are separated from loved ones right now and people are dying."
The premier said the province will spare no expense to protect the most vulnerable and will redeploy all available resources to long term care homes right now. He said specialized hospital-based teams are needed to help manage outbreaks at long term care facilities.
"Thanks to collective efforts we have not seen the surge in our hospitals that we were so worried about. As a result, we have capacity within our health sector and I want available resources from our health system to be redeployed to those homes when there is a serious outbreak," he said.
Ford told reporters at his Tuesday briefing that limiting nursing home employees to working in one facility is only possible now because the province has the staffing it needs to do it. He said there is $243-million allocated to help homes add staff and do more testing. Health Minister Christine Elliott said the extra staffing will include retired nurses and medical students.
"We are immediately directing funding to cover much needed additional staffing. There will be more staff for the homes that need it most and cover the costs of increasing hours for part-time staff and we're prepared to spend more as required," Ford added.
The move to address staffing at long term care facilities is being welcomed by the opposition at Queen's Park. But NDP leader Andrea Horwath said she is wondering why it took so long.
“The NDP has been calling for an end to the practice of staff working in multiple long-term care homes for some time, so we are relieved to see the government finally take this step," she said in a statement released Tuesday afternoon. "It shouldn’t have taken weeks to put a stop to something that put vulnerable seniors in the crosshairs of COVID-19, and I am heartbroken knowing that this announcement is simply too late for some families."
Ford also announced enhanced infection control for all high-risk homes and stricter isolation protocols to keep residents and staff safe. The premier added the province is now responding to most calls for personal protective equipment at long term care homes within 24 hours.
Ford said this is just the beginning and he'll do everything he can to get resources to the front lines.
The premier said Ontario has 626 long term care homes and 114 have residents who have tested positive for the virus. He said that number is too high.
As far as making long term care staff permanent full-time and working exclusively at one facility with higher pay, Ford said he'll have to consult with his health professionals.
The province is under pressure because long term care experts are calling for more to be done to save lives. Critics have said COVID-19 is exposing historic shortfalls in long term care and all levels of government are being confronted with the stark reality that many residents and families witness in long term care homes on a daily basis.
A group called CanAge said there's a fundamental lack of coordination and a cohesive set of protocols that could save lives and minimize harm to families and health care professionals.
“COVID-19 has exposed gaping holes in responses and services that have put the lives of older Canadians at risk,” said Laura Tamblyn Watts, CEO of CanAge.
Other groups such as the International Longevity Centre of Canada and the International Federation on Ageing are joining CanAge in asking the government to demonstrate leadership by implementing the following steps:
• Establish a COVD-19 Advisory Committee on Seniors to advise and inform governmental directions, and create a “seniors toolkit” for the government during the pandemic;
• Develop emergency legislation to addresses the human rights violations in both health and long-term care systems which includes, but is not limited to, discrimination on the basis of age, the lack of basic needs by older persons, lack of staff, lack of equipment and staff abuse;
• Implement funding immediately for a coordinated national elder abuse response linked to elder law programs which include a public information campaign and the collection of data to advise future policy and programming;
• Establish an international working group on building standards in long-term care facilities, as the current standards do not mitigate even the spread of common infections such as influenza;
• Action by the Government of Canada to lead and support a United Nations Convention on the Rights of all Older Persons, which will see older people as rights holders and ensure that future human rights violations are mitigated.
