SEIU Healthcare, a union representing 60,000 frontline workers in Canada, called on the Ontario government to put the Eatonville Care Centre and Anson Place Care Centre homes "in trusteeship and have the government take over administrative and operational control."
"We believe management at these facilities have failed," union President Sharleen Stewart wrote in a public letter to Premier Doug Ford and Health Minister Christine Elliott. According to the union, the COVID-19-ravaged long-term care homes have seen at least 46 deaths. The union also reported the death of Christine Mandegarian, a personal support worker at the Sienna Altamont Care Community in Scarborough.
Asked about SEIU Healthcare's request during a press conference on Friday, Minister of Long-Term Care Merrilee Fullerton said other provinces "do things differently than Ontario."
"In Ontario the Ministry of Long-Term Care does not operate homes, but we will assist where other companies need to come in and provide resources and support for struggling homes," Fullerton said.
Stewart told QP Briefing those two homes are experiencing severe staffing crises, comparing the shortages to Résidence Herron in Dorval, Que., where vulnerable residents were found neglected and many died.
At the Eatonville Care Centre 31 residents with COVID-19 have died, and 19 have died at Anson place, according to media reports. Stewart said dozens of their members at each of the homes are also infected.
Executive director of the Eatonville Care Centre Evelyn MacDonald said in a statement the home has recently had help from the local hospital network.
"Eatonville Care Centre is working in close collaboration with local and provincial health authorities to manage the COVID-19 outbreak in our home," she said. "We have forged a new partnership with Trillium Health Partners to provide additional supports in our home. They are going to help with additional staff and supplies. We are immensely grateful for the quick response and turnaround time from our community partners as we all work to protect our residents and staff."
According to Stewart, the union has been trying to get provincial inspectors to the homes, without success.
"The government's got to step up," she said. "The premier said this afternoon that these workers show up to work every day, they have our backs taking care of our families, and he has their backs — well, the members don't feel that. I'm calling on him to step up and show he has their backs. There's so much wrong right now, it's horrible."
Steward criticized Fullerton for her response to a media question about the SEIU's request to put the homes into trusteeship, as other province's have done.
"For the minister of long-term care to say that each province is different, I would hope that the care for people in Ontario is not different than it is for others," she said.
What Fullerton said was true; however, the province does have the legal authority under provincial legislation to issue a mandatory management order that forces a long-term care home to hire external management at their own expense.
Meanwhile, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath has called on the government to consider when it should replace the management of homes.
"It's up to the government to design a response to this, but it's too little too late already," she told QP Briefing. "There has to be transparency and accountability in what's going on in these homes. There has to be some kind of mechanism for problems to be raised and for follow-up to occur."
The province issued emergency orders to long-term care and retirement homes this week requiring that staff work in only one home, but there is a loophole — the orders don't apply to temp agency staff who often jump between homes.
Fullerton said on Friday that a "small percentage of workers" in long-term care come from these agencies.
"The agency nurses were not included in that because we know that during the transition time while our homes change to that policy and while our workers have to decide on where they’re going to work, we wanted to make sure all homes had necessary staffing and so the agency nurses are a supply of support to our homes," she said. "It is an imperative that we have access to staffing right now."
Meanwhile, Ford said he was committed to providing some sort of package in collaboration with the federal government to help long-term care workers. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said recently that his government would be willing to help top up wages for workers in long-term care settings.
Emergency child care
The Progressive Conservative government is expanding the list of workers who can access emergency child-care services to include shelter and power workers along with border agents.
"These workers have our back, and we need to have theirs," said Ford on Friday afternoon.
The government announced in March that it would allow some child-care centres to reopen despite the emergency declaration that forced all such centres to close. At the time, the government said emergency child-care would be available to frontline workers like doctors, nurses, paramedics, firefighters, police and correctional officers.
The workers added to the list include:
- those working in developmental, victim, violence against women, anti-human trafficking and child welfare services and in group homes
- First Nations constables, fire investigators with the Office of the Fire Marshal and Emergency Management, probation and parole officers, corrections services contractors, frontline staff with the province's forensic pathology unit, critical staff the Centre of Forensic Sciences and critical staff at the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre
- homeless shelter workers
- power workers
- pharmaceutical, medical supplies and device manufacturing workers
- non-municipal water and waste-water workers
- Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Canada Border Services Agency officers and Canada Post employees
So far 74 child-care centres and 33 licensed home care facilities are running, with 41 more centres having been approved and scheduled to open, according to the government.
iPads for low income students
Ford also said the government is partnering with Apple and Rogers to provide iPads to low-income students so they can continue learning at home.
"During these difficult times, I know that many, many parents are concerned about their kids being out of school because for our children, education is everything," said Ford. "No matter what, their education must continue and that means having the educational tools needed to facilitate online learning."
Ontario school boards are purchasing the iPads at "discounted prices" and the devices will be equipped with free wireless data that is being provided by Rogers until the end of June.
An Apple spokesperson called education "the great equalizer," and Dean Prevost, president of Rogers for Business, said accessing online learning tools while at home can be an "added burden" for vulnerable Ontarians "at a time when there is already a lot of stress." He said the company partnered with the province on this initiative in order to "help close the digital divide."
"Over 21,000 (iPads) have been and are being deployed by school boards as we speak across this province to those families in need," said Education Minister Stephen Lecce, with a government press release stating that school boards would determine which students are eligible to receive an iPad.
School closures
Asked whether Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Williams has indicated any likelihood of schools reopening before the end of the school year, Ford said "he hasn't as of yet."
But the premier added that any decision on whether or not to reopen schools would be "based on health and science."
"We don’t want to put our kids in jeopardy," he said.
When Lecce was asked shortly after whether the province would consider opening schools to support the idea of "natural vaccination" as was being discussed in Quebec, Ford stepped in with a firm response: "No, we aren’t sending our kids back into harm’s way."
Meanwhile, Lecce said they're "preparing for every eventuality" when asked whether the government is preparing for the possibility of schools remaining closed in the fall. The minister added that the government's priorities are keeping students and staff safe and enabling continued learning.
He said the government is focused on a plan for the current school year, but that "if we get the impression that we need to add more supports or take additional measures leading into the next year, we’ll do it."
New modelling information
Premier Ford said he was briefed by the province's COVID-19 command table on Thursday evening about modelling information and that updated models would be presented to the public on Monday.
Ford said he credits the people of Ontario for the fact that the province is currently seeing fewer people in the ICU than was projected in the previously released models. In the best case scenario, the models estimated there could be more than 1,200 COVID-19 patients in the ICU at this time; the latest provincial data shows 245.
The premier said while the results are "positive," he would "never say they're great."
Associate Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Barbara Yaffe said during a media briefing on Friday afternoon that the situation in Ontario is "generally looking better," but that the number of cases and deaths were still going up. The province was reporting on Friday an increase of 564 cases for a total of 9,525 in Ontario, along with 55 new deaths for a total of 478 fatalities. Of the 564 new cases, Yaffe estimated that 334, or 59 per cent, were in long-term care, while 230 were in the community. Meanwhile, the province is reporting a total of 217 deaths related to long-term care.
"We are not out of the woods," Yaffe said. "We have to keep doing what we’re doing."
Federal funding for small businesses and energy, arts sectors
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Friday new funding aimed at the energy sector along with arts, culture and sports industries.
The federal government is allocating $1.7 billion to clean up orphaned and abandoned oil wells, with Trudeau saying the reason for this initiative is that such wells could pose environmental or health risks.
Trudeau also announced $750 million for an emissions reduction fund that would focus on reducing methane emissions.
"Just because we are in a health crisis doesn’t mean we can neglect the environmental crisis," the prime minister said.
Another $962 million will go to regional development agencies and the Community Futures Network of Canada to support businesses including small employers in rural areas.
Trudeau said the government would allocate $500 million to Heritage Canada to help artists, creators and athletes for wage supports and to help organizations facing financial troubles.
-with files from Jessica Smith Cross
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