Andrea Horwath slams province, says Hamilton COVID death ‘could have been prevented’

The leader of Ontario's NDP is calling on the province to take action to protect vulnerable seniors after an 87-year-old Hamilton grandmother died after being exposed to COVID-19 by a PSW in her home.

It could have been prevented," said Andrea Horwath, leader of the Ontario NDP and MPP for Hamilton Centre. (This family) should have never lost their mother."

Michela Caruso, 87, died in hospital on May 27. Her husband, Giacchino (Jack) Caruso, 88, remains in hospital in poor health. The couple tested positive for COVID mid-May after being exposed to the virus by a personal support worker (PSW) who worked in their home. Their daughter and her son also tested positive.

The family says they were told by the PSW's colleague and a health-care provider that he was also working at the Rosslyn Retirement Residence, home to Hamilton's worst outbreak. A total of 14 Rosslyn residents have died, while 64 residents and 22 staff tested positive.

It's heartbreaking," Horwath said of the Caruso family's ordeal.

Horwath said she has pushed and pushed" the Ford government to stop PSWs from working in more than one home. While the province took some steps - including restricting long-term care home and retirement home employees from working in multiple care settings - the measures didn't go far enough, she said.

They left a lot of loopholes," Horwath said, adding: They weren't very diligent in terms of making sure people were following new guidelines."

Among the loopholes she's referring to is an exception allowing agency care workers, such as a PSW hired through a subcontractor - as was the case for the Caruso family's PSW - to continue working in more than one health-care setting.

In response, the province called Horwath's loophole reference misleading."

In order to ensure a steady supply of staff available to work on an emergency basis in long-term care homes (and retirement homes), the order for that sector does not apply to agency workers or other critical contract staff," said government spokesperson Gillian Sloggett.

Our government has taken decisive action to safeguard seniors from this global pandemic, including those requiring care in their homes," she added.

Horwath also slammed the province for allowing for-profit entities to continue to dominate the seniors' care sector.

Sharleen Stewart, president of SEIU Healthcare, a union representing 60,000 Canadian front-line workers, also pointed to for-profit care providers as problematic for workers and clients alike. Too often, decisions are made with profit - not health or safety - in mind, she said.

Why, why, why aren't these corporations and the government doing the right thing?" Stewart said. It's all about the mighty dollar."

Agency workers are more susceptible to contracting - or spreading - COVID due to the precarious nature of their work, Stewart said. Without sick pay, many may feel financial pressure to work even if they're not feeling well. And those forced to work multiple jobs in multiple settings may be inadvertently putting clients at risk, she said.

If those working are working in a nursing home in the morning and servicing four or five clients in the afternoon, well, there you go," Stewart said. The potential to spread the infection is just escalated because people are moving around."

Concepts of Care, the subcontractor which provided the PSW to CBI Home Health, which was contracted by the LHIN to arrange care for the Caruso family, has not responded to requests for comment. CBI has said they were incredibly saddened," to hear of Michela Caruso's death and that it has repeatedly reinforced" strict policies on self-screening and self-isolation with its subcontractors.

In Hamilton, nearly one-third of all health-care workers who tested positive for COVID are PSWs.

Katrina Clarke is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach her via email: katrinaclarke@thespec.com