Anson Place owner must follow directives
Nurses’ union wins injunction forcing Rykka Care Centres to supply adequate equipment
The Ontario Nurses’ Association was granted an injunction from Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice on Thursday that requires management at Anson Place Care Centre in Hagersville and three other long-term care homes to follow Ministry of Health directives and provide staff with adequate personal protective equipment (PPE).
In its filing, the nurses’ union says management had failed to adequately protect staff and patients at Anson Place, Eatonville Care Centre and Hawthorne Place Care Centre — privately run facilities owned by Rykka Care Centres — and Henley Place in London.
As of Monday morning, 45 residents at Anson Place had COVID-19, including 28 in long-term care and 17 in the retirement home.
In the past month, 27 COVIDpositive residents have died and at least 30 staff members have contracted the disease. The cause of a 28th death is under investigation.
The Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA), which represents the registered nurses working at Anson Place, asked the courts to order Rykka Care Centres to urgently address alleged PPE shortages in the homes, as well as breaches of provincial infection control and health and safety standards.
Justice Edward Morgan ruled that nurses, not management, were best suited to determine what PPE was needed and how best to follow directives from public health.
“Nurses are not to be impeded in making an assessment and determination at point of care as to what PPE or other measures are appropriate and required under the circumstances,” Morgan wrote in his ruling.
Anson Place executive director Lisa Roth says the facility has always followed directives from Public Health and that PPE supply was never in doubt.
“Public Health-directed measures remain in place including the continued focus on isolating residents, providing meals directly to their rooms, and screening for COVID-19 symptoms twice daily,” said Roth, adding that staff members are also screened twice daily for COVID-19 symptoms and wear PPE throughout their shift.
Roth initially appeared to turn down the province’s offer of extra staff in the form of a medical “SWAT team,” a decision that drew public criticism from Premier Doug Ford.
Roth later said it was a miscommunication, in that her message to the health ministry that staffing levels were adequate referred only to Anson Place’s retirement home and not its long-term care floor.
On Friday, an eight-member team from Ontario Health West was due to arrive at Anson Place.
“We are grateful for the continued commitment of all our partners in providing ongoing support to help us alleviate current staffing challenges, especially in our long-term care centre,” Roth said. Responsive Management Inc., the management group that oversees Rykka Care Homes, said in a statement that it was “comfortable” with the court’s ruling.
“It confirms for all parties that the chief medical officer of health’s directives are appropriate to protect staff in long-term care,” wrote operations president Linda Calbarese. “We will continue to comply with all the chief medical officer of health directives and the order of the court.”
ONA president Vicki McKenna called the court’s decision “a huge relief.” “ONA is thrilled that our members will have access to the proper protective equipment they need to protect themselves, and therefore their residents, and that the homes’ administrators will be forced to follow infection control practices — and put safety over profit,” she said.
In another ruling handed down Friday, the Ontario Labour Relations Board ordered weekly inspections of Anson Place by the Ministry of Labour in response to an emergency application from SEIU Healthcare,
the union representing over 60,000 health-care workers in Ontario.
The labour board’s decision, which applies to three homes in the province hit hard by COVID-19, orders ministry inspectors to physically visit the facilities and conduct inspections under the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act. The inspector’s written reports will be shared with management and the SEIU staff representative within 24 hours.
The inspector will also sit in on every meeting of Anson Place’s joint health and safety committee. The order decrees that management must make daily reports to staff and the union detailing COVID-19 cases and deaths among residents and staff. Furthermore, management must provide the union with a weekly staffing report and ensure that all staff and visitors are wearing appropriate PPE.
“It’s a stain on our province that it required filing these applications to have the provincial government and for-profit long-term care corporations do the right thing, especially in a time of crisis when people are getting sick and dying,” said SEIU Healthcare president Sharleen Stewart.
J.P. Antonacci’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative. The funding allows him to report on stories about the regions of Haldimand and Norfolk.