Military report details horrors of five Ontario nursing homes
Premier believes more facilities are likely affected, asks for federal help
Cockroach infestations, residents left to wallow in soiled diapers, COVID-19 patients allowed to wander around, forceful feeding of the elderly, and a “culture of fear to use supplies because those cost money.”
Those are some of the horrifying findings uncovered by Canadian Armed Forces personnel dispatched to help in five Ontario nursing homes during the coronavirus pandemic.
In a searing 23-page military report by Brig. Gen. Conrad Mialkowski made public Tuesday, Ontario’s troubled long-term-care system — where 1,538 residents and six staff members have died of COVID-19 — is laid bare.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who alerted Premier Doug Ford to Mialkowski’s revelations, expressed outrage at the situation in the four for-profit homes and the one nonprofit facility.
“I was sad. I was shocked. I was disappointed. I was angry. I believe we are talking about a situation that clearly is a reality associated with COVID-19 but has also existed for quite some time,” said Trudeau. “We need to take action as a country.”
Ford, who was visibly upset as he spoke with reporters during his Queen’s Park teleconference, said a provincial coroner’s investigation has begun and its findings could be referred to police for possible criminal charges.
The premier, who has already promised an “independent commission” to examine the long-term-care crisis, conceded a full public inquiry
may be “on the table.”
“I don’t believe it’s just five. We have to do a deep, deep dive into all the homes and we’re going to need the resources to do that,” Ford said, adding all nursing homes must be “stabilized” as quickly as possible and requesting federal help.
“I inherited this system. The buck stops with me. I take full ownership. My job is to fix a broken system that’s been broken for decades. We’re going to fix the system, no matter what it takes, no matter what cost,” he said. “Did we know the absolute extent until I read this report? Not at all. It was gut-wrenching. It’s appalling, it’s disgusting what has happened.”
Asked why it took the military to blow the whistle when Ontario
has 175 inspectors for 626 nursing homes, the premier appeared to fault his government’s own inspection regime.
“Yes, inspections happen and these folks come in there, but it took the military to be there 24-7 every single day,” he said. Long-Term Care Minister Merrilee Fullerton, who installed temporary management in two other homes in North York and Sutton on Monday, said COVID-19 pushed nursing homes “over the brink.”
But an outraged NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, pointing to investigations by media outlets like the Star over the years, said “this is not news” that some nursing homes are “inhumane. We cannot allow Doug Ford to waste another second. We need inspections. We need takeovers of all homes that are not safe,” said Horwath. “This was happening in long-term care and everybody knew it.”
Some 1,650 troops were deployed in response to provincial calls for help to care for residents in the homes — about 250 in Ontario and 1,400 in Quebec. At the Eatonville Care Centre in Etobicoke, where the report said workers were “afraid for their jobs,” there were “COVID-19 positive residents allowed to wander” and not enough personal protective equipment to keep staff safe.
Military personnel discovered a “general culture of fear to use supplies because they cost money (fluid bags, dressings, gowns, gloves, etc.)” as well as “expired medication” being used on patients. At least 42 people have died at Eatonville.
Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca tweetedwe need a full public inquiry into long term care deaths.”