Special health teams head to two long-term care homes

A resident at a long-term care home in Port Coquitlam has tested positive for COVID-19, while a deadly outbreak at a Langley seniors home is proving difficult to control, health officials said Thursday.

The Fraser Health Authority said the resident at Nicola Lodge, owned by Sienna Senior Living, is in isolation.

Sienna Senior Living runs the Altamont Care Community in Toronto where 52 people have died from the virus. A military report found Sienna was one of the companies running care homes with what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called “deeply disturbing ” conditions that allowed the virus to spread.

Military members reported residents at Altamont had been bedbound for weeks, with inadequate supplies, not enough staff and arguments between staff members.

Sienna owns 37 long-term care facilities in Ontario and eight in B.C.

Fraser Health says it has brought in its “COVID SWAT team” and implemented enhanced control measures at the care home. The virus was identified on Wednesday, but health officials said they don’t know yet how it spread to the home.

Meantime, the health authority says the COVID -19 outbreak at another care home, Langley Lodge, has been challenging to control because it hit a behavioural stabilization unit. Residents in this unit often cannot understand and follow safety measures, said Dr. Martin Lavoie, Fraser Health’s chief medical health officer.

Two more residents of Langley Lodge died Wednesday, bringing the total to 22 people who have died from COVID -19 in B.C.’s worst outbreak. Lavoie said this outbreak is taking a toll on staff who are working long hours. More support is needed, so Fraser Health has appointed its director of pandemic response to provide oversight at Langley Lodge.

It will also deploy its ultraviolet germicidal irradiation machine to the site with infection control specialists. Additional nurses, care, and cleaning staff will be deployed to help overworked staff, Lavoie said.