Adult care home has 37 residents, seven staff test positive for COVID-19
Thirty-seven residents and seven staff members from an Ottawa centre for adults with mental illness and physical disabilities have tested positive for COVID-19, Ottawa Public Health has confirmed.
Between 120 and 130 adults with mental and physical disabilities live at the Edgewood Care Centre on Stevens Avenue in Vanier. The centre is dealing with staff shortages in addition to the challenge of trying to contain the outbreak, say the parents of one of the residents.
“They need help,” said Amanda Coaker, whose son lives at the residence and has tested positive for COVID-19.
Coaker said the residents of the facility are “just as vulnerable as those in long-term care, but the facility is not under the provincial health umbrella.” That means it gets less funding directed toward health care.
Coaker said she has been happy with the care her son has received at the facility and said staff are doing a great job. But with some staff gone because of the outbreak, said Coaker, the facility is finding it more difficult to keep up.
She said she was told that Ottawa Public Health came in to do testing and give advice on protocol.
“But that's it. They need assistance. They need help.”
No one from the facility was made available to talk.
The residence includes people between the ages of 18 and 64.
It is considered a congregant living residential centre.
Coaker said she advocates for the fact that because the facilities are not under provincial health care, they receive little money for access to nursing and other health care.
“Staff are really struggling,” she said. “They are working long days.”
Edgewood is a member of an association of homes in Ontario that is partnered with some municipalities and the province to provide housing options for adults who cannot live independently, but do not require or qualify for longterm care.