COVID outbreak infects 20 at Martinos’ Victoria Manor home

A fast-moving COVID outbreak has infected more than half the residents of a residential care facility owned by the Martino families.

Seventeen residents and three staff members have become infected since an outbreak was declared Jan. 15 at the 30-bed Victoria Manor I, located at 121 Victoria Ave. S., near downtown.

Another Martino home - the Rosslyn Retirement Residence near Gage Park - was the site of a large COVID outbreak in May that sent virtually all of the 66 residents to hospital and left 16 people dead.

Brothers Aldo Martino and the late John Martino previously owned the Royal Crest Lifecare chain of long-term-care homes until it collapsed into bankruptcy in 2003.

The Martinos' current chain of 11 retirement homes and residential care facilities has been hit with a wide array of licence revocations, sanctions, regulatory orders, evacuations, concerns about COVID infections and allegations of poor living conditions over the past eight months.

So far, there has been no COVID outbreak at the Martinos' Victoria Manor II, a separate residential care facility located right next door at 115 Victoria Ave. S.

Right now, I can tell you everybody is co-operating," said Paul Johnson, director of the city's Emergency Operations Centre. There has been no issue with the owner or the on-site management. They've been open to all the suggestions as to how to manage this."

Members of the Martino families did not respond to a request for comment made through their lawyer.

Johnson said public health and housing staff, along with assistance from the city's hospitals, have been working with the management at Victoria Manor I to contain the outbreak.

At this stage it's not a situation where there's a concern that the place can't operate," Johnson said. We have been working with the operator to look at ways to make sure their staffing stays strong.

Now, these things can change on a dime, particularly if additional staff members test positive," he added.

Residential care facilities often house people with low income who have complex needs, including mental health issues, physical health problems and addiction issues.

Some of the behaviours and some of the realities of people who reside there also make compliance with some of the public health measures difficult," Johnson said. They're not always willing to wear masks at all times, movement is hard to control.

That's not meant as a negative comment on people in general," Johnson added. It's just those are the realities of residential care facilities."

On top of that, the facilities often have shared living spaces and shared washrooms, which makes infection control difficult.

They're not designed in a way that makes it real easy to do these public health measures," Johnson said. People don't have their own suite with everything they need."

Recently, neighbours raised concerns about the Victoria Manor homes after hundreds of pills were found dumped at the back of the property with identifying information attached. The pills included antipsychotic medications, antiseizure pills, and diabetes medications, among others.

Michelle, a neighbour of the homes, said she has complained to the city frequently about the lack of measures being taken by residents and staff to prevent the spread of COVID. She doesn't want her last name used because she fears for her family's safety and fears retaliation for speaking out.

Michelle said she's not surprised the home has seen an outbreak.

She said she observes staff and residents gathering maskless in a small makeshift shelter at the back of Victoria Manor I where they share cigarettes. She also said residents constantly wander in and out of the two homes.

Outside is like a free-for-all," Michelle said.

She said she feels as if her complaints, and those of her neighbours, have fallen on deaf ears at the city.

These are the same owners as the Rosslyn," Michelle said. You would think that the city would do better.

It's like nobody cares about the people at Victoria Manor."

Johnson said the city has stepped up inspections of the Victoria Manor homes since the Martinos indicated last year they were attempting to arrange a bulk sale of their properties.

We're aware of the complaints and they've been relayed to the owner who is ultimately the one that needs to take action on that," said Johnson.

Beyond that, Johnson said, there's no mechanism that would allow the city to restrict the residents of the facilities from leaving the property.

People can move around," Johnson said. In terms of police action or military action to actually lock people away, that's just not something that can happen."

Steve Buist is a Hamilton-based investigative reporter at The Spectator. Reach him via email: sbuist@thespec.com