The CEO of the BC Care Providers Association says he will be asking the Federal Government to strike up a task force to look at the well-being of seniors in long care homes in light of COVID-19.
Speaking on NL Newsday, Daniel Fontaine says it is important to take action while there are ongoing coronavirus outbreaks in care homes across the country.
“I think we should have – in my opinion – been reinforcing and making sure that long term care homes are immediately the top priority,” he said.
“There are a number of things that we could have done and I think a task force would come out and hopefully capture some of those ideas and recommendations and there would be finally the political will to make it happen.”
Fontaine thinks the task force should be led by the Federal Government with input from numerous stakeholders across Canada.
“I think there should be provincial partners on that task force. I think there should be seniors on that and industry experts and a whole bunch of folks who have first hand and front line knowledge of what needs to be done,” he added.
“We need to go into it with the understanding that this is not going to be cheap, probably in the billions of dollars. I put that all into perspective of how much money we are spending now in this pandemic, and how many people have died.”
Federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu says the devastating effects of the COVID-19 virus on long-term care residents has focused government efforts on finding ways to improve care for Canada’s aging population. The country’s chief public health officer called outbreaks in long-term care homes the most pressing epidemic problem facing the nation.
Dr. Theresa Tam says nearly half of the nearly 900 COVID-19 deaths in Canada have been in long-term care facilities. Across B.C., as of Monday, there have been 69 COVID-19 deaths, with most deaths linked to outbreaks at these long-term care facilities.
Fontaine says only about 5 per cent of BC’s care homes are affected by COVID-19, but he is hoping the seriousness of the issue will lead to swift action from government.
“I’m hopeful that given the impact to our economy and given the fact that we’re likely going to have another pandemic – it could be in two years or two months – we have to get prepared,” he added.
In a bid to limit the outbreaks, long-term care homes have been restricting visitors, screening all staff and approved visitors, and ensuring that any staff with symptoms are sent home to recover. It also includes regular cleaning and where possible, limiting employees to working in a single facility only.
