Hamilton PSWs face ‘strenuous’ days coping with Omicron-fuelled outbreaks
Staff are off sick. Residents are isolated in their rooms. Workloads continue to grow, while morale plunges.
Those are just a few of the repercussions rippling through Hamilton's long-term-care homes as the province deals with a tsunami of COVID-19 cases, said Cindy Hasler, a personal support worker (PSW) at Blackadar Continuing Care, an Extendicare home in Dundas.
It's very heartbreaking to see our residents go through this again," said Hasler, whose facility is coping with an outbreak. That's the hardest part of my job."
As of Jan. 7, at least 16 long-term-care homes across the city are dealing with COVID outbreaks - accounting for 25 per cent of all active outbreaks in Hamilton.
Of all the outbreaks, at least 62 staff, 50 residents and three visitors have been infected with the virus - with the largest ongoing long-term-care outbreak being at The Wellington Nursing home.
At Blackadar, five staff along with two residents have been infected as of Jan. 7, according to the city's data. Hasler said the outbreak has mostly affected" staff working in the kitchen, but the entire facility is feeling the effects.
The Spectator reached out to the home for comment but has not received a response.
Residents have been confined" to their rooms and PSWs are responsible for tray service to each room, meaning their workload has doubled in size, said Hasler, who is also Unifor Local 504's vice-president.
But with a pre-existing staffing shortage made even worse" by COVID isolation, Hasler said workers haven't been able to make time to talk or give companionship" to their residents.
Instead, they have to spend more time taking off and putting on fresh personal protective equipment between each room. Management is, however, working to fill positions with agency workers, Hasler added.
It makes for a very strenuous, difficult day," said Hasler. Morale is really down and the N95s are cutting into our faces ... we're tired and we just want it done."
Staff shortages across province, city
What's happening inside of Blackadar is just a snapshot of the situation unfolding in long-term-care homes in Ontario.
Across the province, nearly 210 long-term-care homes were in outbreak as of Jan. 7, according to provincial data.
Staffing levels at long-term care-homes across the province have been severely impacted by the latest wave of the virus, which is being fuelled by the Omicron variant.
Last week, Minister of Long-Term Care Rod Phillips said homes in areas hard hit by COVID-19 are dealing with staff absences of between 20 and 30 per cent.
That means more than 1,000 workers are off sick on any given day, according to Sharleen Stewart, president of the SEIU Healthcare union, which represents staff at Ontario's long-term care homes.
And those types of shortages are happening locally, according to operators of homes in Hamilton that are currently in outbreak.
At Shalom Village, 12 staff members were off work as of Jan. 7, wrote CEO Ken Callaghan, in an email to The Spectator.
Even (one) key person off can strain things, but overall we are fine," wrote Callaghan.
An unknown number of staff at St. Peter's Residence at Chedoke were also in isolation Jan. 7, wrote Renee Guder, senior administrator at Thrive Group, in an email.
Guder wrote that the home has been able to maintain adequate staffing levels" and those levels are being closely monitored on an ongoing basis.
The Spectator reached out to the City of Hamilton for data on staffing levels at Macassa Lodge, but did not receive a response by deadline.
This is a disaster'
In a virtual news conference Jan. 7, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath and long-term-care advocate Vivian Stamatopoulos called on the province to take immediate action to increase staffing and send assistance to homes coping with outbreaks.
That included calls to permanent wage increases, bringing back workers who have left the sector, ensuring all workers have access to N95 masks, and having both residents and staff prioritized for fourth booster shots.
The government needs to do more to address the crisis unfolding in long-term care," said Horwath. This is a disaster that's unfolding before our eyes again."
In a statement to The Spectator, Phillips defended the province's management of COVID-19 in long-term-care homes, pointing to the deployment of HEPA filters and the use of N95 masks for staff caring for infected residents.
With files from Canadian Press
Fallon Hewitt is a reporter at The Spectator. fhewitt@thespec.com