FACT CHECK: The need for intervention in long-term care management

QUEEN’S PARK – On Wednesday, the Minister of Health stated that the Ontario Government has seen co-operation from long-term care homes in terms of implementing COVID-19 protection plans.

Court documents filed in a variety of lawsuits and legal challenges paint a very different picture:

• According to a Statement of Claim filed in a class-action lawsuit on April 24, the for-profit Anson Place Care Centre refused the province’s offer of a “SWAT” team, saying that with its current staffing levels, it was “comfortable that we are currently able to meet the care needs of our residents.” To date, 23 residents have died at the 61-bed home.
• The same claim states that at Eatonville Care Centre Facility, despite knowledge of an outbreak at the Facility, residents exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 were not tested for several days, reportedly due to the lack of testing swabs. The failure to test these residents for COVID-19 was in direct contravention of the Acute Respiratory Outbreak Guide and of Directives 1, 3, and 5.
• In a court decision on April 23, Justice Edward Morgan of Ontario Superior Court granted an injunction to ensure nurses in long-term-care homes had access to the personal protective equipment they needed after nurses were denied such access in Anson Place and Eatonville.