Hospital hit with another outbreak
Less than two weeks after a major COVID-19 outbreak struck the Lakeshore General Hospital, the Pointe-claire acute-care facility was hit with yet another cluster of cases on Monday.
The latest incident occurred after officials at the West Island health authority pledged to test all patients and staff for the coronavirus following the outbreak in late April. However, a source told the Montreal Gazette that not everyone had been tested.
Of particular concern is the fact five out of 10 patients contracted the pandemic respiratory illness on 3 South, where all the rooms on that floor are private. Another six patients were infected on 3 North, reserved for those recovering from surgery.
The Canadian Red Cross has since made a series of recommendations to help the Lakeshore bring the situation under control.
“Following another outbreak (Monday) at the hospital, we have a team on site reorganizing the containment zones,” Guillaume Bérubé, a spokesperson for the CIUSSS de l’ouest-de-l’île-demontréal, told the Montreal Gazette by email.
“It should be noted that 11 patients have tested positive for COVID-19. Hospitalized patients who test positive are transferred to a containment zone that is adapted for this purpose, with all of the required protective measures. For all other patients, the precautionary measures recommended by the public health authorities are applied.”
The two outbreaks in quick succession underscore not only the highly contagious nature of the coronavirus but the immense pressures the Lakeshore is under during the crisis. In the first outbreak, 30 patients and 34 healthcare workers tested positive.
In response to that outbreak, workers were sent home to self-isolate, while the Lakeshore closed its geriatric ward to new admissions and transferred all its psychiatric patients to the Douglas Mental Health University Institute in Verdun.
Bérubé maintained that all staff and patients were tested after the first outbreak. He added that “since the situation is constantly evolving, we are making sure to conduct ongoing follow-ups with health-care personnel to ensure that protection and infection-control measures are properly applied.”
Meanwhile, the union representing health workers at the Lakeshore has complained of a shortage of N-95 masks, accusing the West Island CIUSSS of forcing employees to wear expired masks despite numerous concerns raised about them.
“The (Quebec Public Health Institute) warns that the elastic straps or nose bridges of expired masks can degrade and affect the seal, so (we) immediately asked the employer that these masks be removed from the units,” union leaders said in a statement.
“The employer then informed us that there was a shortage of stock for certain models or sizes of the N-95 mask and that it is for this reason that the (expired) masks were in circulation.”
Bérubé confirmed that expired masks are being used because of a shortage. He also acknowledged that unexpired N-100 masks are currently under lock and key at the hospital. In a previous email, he noted that the Lakeshore foundation purchased the more effective N-100 masks.
“We have a procedure in place to ensure that (the expired masks) are used safely by our staff,” Bérubé said.
However, the source — who agreed to be interviewed on condition of anonymity for fear of professional reprisals — recounted an incident in which an expired mask fell from the face of a doctor who was intubating a patient infected with COVID-19. It is during an intubation when virus particles spew from the mouth of a patient in great quantities.
Despite the fact the West Island CIUSSS has its own communications team, it has hired a public-relations firm, TACT Intelligence-conseil, to handle questions about its handling of the pandemic. Bérubé works for TACT Intelligence-conseil.