Future of 58 Rosslyn residents remains unclear two weeks after evacuation
Orders from regulator and public health must be complied with before residents are allowed to return — if they want to
Another person with COVID-19 in the city has died as it remains unclear when residents of the Rosslyn Retirement Residence will be able to return.
Some may never go back.
On Thursday, Hamilton public health reported the city’s 35th COVID death involves an 87-year-old woman who died in hospital Wednesday. She did not live at the Rosslyn Retirement Residence, as eight others who recently died in hospital did, but in the Hamilton community.
The Rosslyn, a privately owned retirement home located on King Street East near Gage Park, was evacuated May 15 amid a devastating COVID outbreak.
A total of 64 residents and 22 staff have tested positive for the virus. All but two of the home’s 66 residents were sent to hospital.
Now, nearly two weeks since the evacuation, it’s unknown when the remaining 58 residents — eight have died — will be allowed back, or where they’ll go if they can’t or don’t want to go back.
Prior to the evacuation, both public health and the regulatory authority that oversees retirement homes investigated the Rosslyn. They each flagged issues related to infection prevention and control and had concerns about residents’ safety.
Subsequent orders issued by both authorities must be complied with before residents are allowed back.
“There is an outstanding order under the Health Protection and Promotion Act (issued by public health May 14) and the Rosslyn has not yet complied,” said public health spokesperson Kelly Anderson in an email on Thursday.
The Retirement Homes Regulatory Authority (RHRA) said Thursday it is reviewing what steps the home has taken to comply with its May 15 order.
“The registrar must be satisfied that the necessary policies, precautions and procedures are in place to protect residents from exposure to COVID-19 and provide them with the care they need,” said RHRA spokesperson Phil Norris in an email. “As these requirements are still outstanding, we can’t confirm when residents will be able to return to the home.”
As part of the RHRA’s order, the home must hire a “regulated health professional,” such as a physician, to ensure the home is protecting residents from COVID.
Norris said the RHRA’s review is taking place in collaboration with Hamilton public health, local hospitals and the health professional the home was ordered to hire.
The home did not respond to a request for comment Thursday, nor has it responded to media requests throughout the outbreak. The Rosslyn is run by the Martino family, which has a checkered past when it comes to running retirement homes.
Both Hamilton Health Sciences and St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, which are caring for residents, directed questions about their eventual return to the home to the Rosslyn, public health and the RHRA.
It seems some might never return.
“St. Joe’s continues to care for 31 patients from the Rosslyn,” said Maria Hayes, spokesperson with St. Joe’s. “When they leave St. Joe’s, some of them will require a higher level of care than a retirement home, and we are helping them to find that care.”
For those who are able to go to a retirement home, “it will be their choice where they wish to go and we will help and support them with their choice.”
There were a total of 657 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Hamilton on Thursday, four more than the day before. There are also seven probable cases of COVID-19. A quarter of all cases involve community spread.
In the last 10 days, there were 29 new cases. Of those, seven involve community spread, meaning public health doesn’t know how the person caught the virus, 27 involved close/casual contact spread, meaning public health knows who the person got sick from, and five are still under investigation. None were travel-related.