Covid-19 and Canadian care homes

[pepperbird]

This is about my province and what is going on here.

Most of the fatalities from covid-19 here have been in one very large care home. Of he 44 deaths, 38 have been in that one facility (source:https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/nova-scotia-reports-3-more-deaths-at-northwood-9-new-cases-of-covid-19-1.4929168)One of the nurses  (C) who worked there was also a student at university with my younger daughter, and had permission to stay with us while she was waiting to go to a facility in TO that really needs nurses.  She tested covid-19 free, so we were told it was okay since she wouldn't be going back to Northwood before she left.

Something she told me made me angry, and her as well. The care home is run by a private corp with a lot of government funding.  The staff were up in arms because some weren't being given PPE, while others were. The ones that were? The private," assisted living" side. Those that weren't? The publicly funded nursing home side. She was lucky that she worked on the private side and had the gloves, masks and gowns. She spoke out and asked why her colleagues weren't given the same protection, but was pretty quickly shown the door.

Between that and the fact that staff who had travelled were allowed to return to work with out the 14 day self quarantine made the home a powder keg. I;m sorry, I have a lot of respect for health are workers-my mom was a nurse, my niece is an ER nurse- but why was this allowed to happen? Will someone be held responsible?

My guess is no. Meanwhile, while that goes on, cancer surgeries are being cancelled. Most medical appointments are either over the phone or online, and unless it's life or death, most medical test/procedures are cancelled. When someone has to wait months for a biopsy at the best of times and then to be told they have to wait even longer for treatment?

The "cure" is fast becoming worse than the disease. I've even read news stores about an assisted living facility in Ontario  for adults with developmental delays, and some are sick with chronic illnesses and need care.They can't be on their own. What did the staff do? They all walked out, leavingthem to fend for themselves. How lovely.

 

Edited May 8, 2020 by a LoveShack.org Moderator

[BC1980]

I read a book about the Ebola crisis in 2014, and people died of treatable illnesses like malaria. That was more because their system was overrun though. I had a sore throat for about a month during all of this. It turned out to be some residual effects of a bad sinus infection, but, in the back of my mind, I wondered if it wasn't something worse. I never saw my physician face to face but relayed information over the phone. I really wanted someone to look down my throat though. 
 

We've opened back up for elective procedures in my state. You must have a negative COVID test 48 hours prior. I was also able to schedule a dental appointment for a routine cleaning. We've got to be able to help people that need biopsies, ect. Delaying all of that stuff makes me nervous. As long as we have the room for the patients, I don't see a problem with doing elective procedures. Just test the person for COVID beforehand. 

[schlumpy]

15 hours ago, pepperbird said:

The "cure" is fast becoming worse than the disease. I've even read news stores about an assisted living facility in Ontario  for adults with developmental delays, and some are sick with chronic illnesses and need care. They can't be on their own. What did the staff do? They all walked out, leaving them to fend for themselves. How lovely.

Not exactly a Florence Nightingale moment, hmmmm?

Nothing strips the thin veneer of civilization faster then a life or death crisis.

[pepperbird]

20 hours ago, BC1980 said:

I read a book about the Ebola crisis in 2014, and people died of treatable illnesses like malaria. That was more because their system was overrun though. I had a sore throat for about a month during all of this. It turned out to be some residual effects of a bad sinus infection, but, in the back of my mind, I wondered if it wasn't something worse. I never saw my physician face to face but relayed information over the phone. I really wanted someone to look down my throat though. 
 

We've opened back up for elective procedures in my state. You must have a negative COVID test 48 hours prior. I was also able to schedule a dental appointment for a routine cleaning. We've got to be able to help people that need biopsies, ect. Delaying all of that stuff makes me nervous. As long as we have the room for the patients, I don't see a problem with doing elective procedures. Just test the person for COVID beforehand. 

We haven't here. Some things are starting to reopen, but not the medical side of things yet. I'm hoping it does soon-not looking forward to another biopsy, but it would be good to at least get it done. My rhumatologist said it could be at least another six months-I was supposed to have it two weeks ago. Lymphoma waits for no man🤣

What I've noticed more and more is that the social distancing piece just isn't happening here. We're told it is, but between the road crew I saw out working today to the guy who handed  me my coffee at the drive through-it's really not happening.
We were also lucky enough to get hardly any community spread, at least with respect to fatalities. There will be a lot of lessons learned from all of this. One that I really hope doesn't get lost in the shuffle is that it's not only seniors who live in care homes. There's younger people too. I know seniors often get lost in the shuffle, but for these young people it's even worse. They are at the very back of the line. I am so glad we've been able to work with or daughters to create a plan for our son for when we are gone. There's no bloody way in hell I'd ever let him end up in a care home, at least not the way they are now.

[BaileyB]

This pandemic has certainly exposed issues that are prevalent throughout the country related to long term care. Nursing homes have been underfunded and understaffed for years, much like the entire health care system but worse because it’s not as attractive to fund long term care as it is to fund cancer care or hip and knee replacements or cataract surgery - for example. So, people work for little more than minimum wage, there is constant turnover, and/or people work in different sites (my experience has been that some will work long term care as their primary job because it’s “less demanding” and has good benefits - but pick up overtime shifts in the acute cRe settings to make more money).

This pandemic has shone a light on the issues in long term care, and I hope it prompts a serious change in how these facilities are funded and staffed. These poor people are literally sitting ducks, they are the most vulnerable and they have suffered terribly. I’m so glad that I don’t have a family member in long term care now. 

Much as the pandemic has shone a light on daycares - another underfunded service, where many people are not able to make a living wage and keeping good, qualified staff is difficult! Considered and “essential service” - essential in that they need to risk their lives to care for the children of the health care workers but not “essential” enough to pay these people a living wage.

And don’t even get me started on the other health care providers... nurses, allied health professionals, lab techs, the list goes on and on... many in my province (myself included) has been working for years without a contract. Wages have been frozen, positions have been lost, health care “reorganization” has created a stress unlike any other that I’ve seen in my career... and now, the government is praising the health care workers who have risen to the challenge despite the fact that this government has treated them so disrespectfully throughout their term. 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m very grateful for our publicly funded services. But, they are simply not funded in such a way that they provide good quality service, as a standard. There are good people within the system, but there are many problems WITH the system. And let’s not forget, people pay for their long term care placement - the amount they pay is based on their assets but it’s not cheap! Just as daycare placements are not cheap! And still, these systems are woefully underfunded... It’s very sad. 

 

Edited May 8, 2020 by BaileyB

[pepperbird]

4 hours ago, BaileyB said:

This pandemic has certainly exposed issues that are prevalent throughout the country related to long term care. Nursing homes have been underfunded and understaffed for years, much like the entire health care system but worse because it’s not as attractive to fund long term care as it is to fund cancer care or hip and knee replacements or cataract surgery - for example. So, people work for little more than minimum wage, there is constant turnover, and/or people work in different sites (my experience has been that some will work long term care as their primary job because it’s “less demanding” and has good benefits - but pick up overtime shifts in the acute cRe settings to make more money).

This pandemic has shone a light on the issues in long term care, and I hope it prompts a serious change in how these facilities are funded and staffed. These poor people are literally sitting ducks, they are the most vulnerable and they have suffered terribly. I’m so glad that I don’t have a family member in long term care now. 

Much as the pandemic has shone a light on daycares - another underfunded service, where many people are not able to make a living wage and keeping good, qualified staff is difficult! Considered and “essential service” - essential in that they need to risk their lives to care for the children of the health care workers but not “essential” enough to pay these people a living wage.

And don’t even get me started on the other health care providers... nurses, allied health professionals, lab techs, the list goes on and on... many in my province (myself included) has been working for years without a contract. Wages have been frozen, positions have been lost, health care “reorganization” has created a stress unlike any other that I’ve seen in my career... and now, the government is praising the health care workers who have risen to the challenge despite the fact that this government has treated them so disrespectfully throughout their term. 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m very grateful for our publicly funded services. But, they are simply not funded in such a way that they provide good quality service, as a standard. There are good people within the system, but there are many problems WITH the system. And let’s not forget, people pay for their long term care placement - the amount they pay is based on their assets but it’s not cheap! Just as daycare placements are not cheap! And still, these systems are woefully underfunded... It’s very sad. 

 

After spending a lot of years on the board of a government funded not for profit that operated on a similar funding model to health care, I really do believe a significant portion of the available funding gets eaten up in admin. I'd love to see a deep dive audit of my province's system, including the regional health authority. See if the funds are being used wisely.

[BaileyB]

Agree. Very top heavy with management and administrators. 

[Ellener]

Caregivers in nursing homes are generally unsung heroes, they work for near minimum wage long hours and hard work physically and emotionally, with inadequate training and support. Or appreciation, since the promised better pay never seems to arrive although it's been discussed many times over the years.

 

[Ellener]

In care homes here where group activities and all visitors were cancelled at the very start of the outbreak there have been few infections. It's tough on everyone-but it works.

[pepperbird]

14 hours ago, BaileyB said:

Agree. Very top heavy with management and administrators. 

It could be worse- at least we don;t have dual health authorities like NB does. That's so wasteful! I get the desire to preserve Acadian culture, but I have yet to meet a single true Francophone from NB, even when we were up in the Miaramachi.

Edited May 9, 2020 by pepperbird

[pepperbird]

1 hour ago, Ellener said:

Caregivers in nursing homes are generally unsung heroes, they work for near minimum wage long hours and hard work physically and emotionally, with inadequate training and support. Or appreciation, since the promised better pay never seems to arrive although it's been discussed many times over the years.

 

My mom was a nurse in a guest home ( what they call nursing homes in some parts of the province). She worked mostly with dementia/alzheimer's patients. Some were so lonely. They were the last in their family and had no one. She'd go in on her days off to spend tine with them if she could, and she'd take us too.
It seems fundamentally unfair to me to live a long life and end up all alone.