As Quebec plans to reopen, care homes still a virus battleground
Overburdened workers toiling in ‘war zone’ conditions, union says
MONTREAL—Quebec Premier François Legault said this week there are “two worlds” in the province: the world of facilities providing long-term care to seniors, and the rest.
In one of those worlds, schools, stores and factories are preparing to reopen, albeit with restrictions, and sunny spring days have some people musing about the return of fishing, camping and gyms if COVID-19 cases stay under control.
But the situation is very different in the province’s long-term care homes, where dozens of residents die every day and overburdened workers toil in conditions one union leader likens to a war zone.
Seniors residences and longterm care homes account for about 80 per cent of the deaths in the province, and a handful of long-term-care homes have more than 100 cases and dozens of deaths each.
Hailey Doane, a nurse who was transferred from her usual workplace in a hospital to a long-term-care home in westend Montreal, says stopping the spread of the virus remains a challenge in the homes, despite the creation of “hot” and “cold” zones.
“They are in private rooms, but sometimes in the middle of a hallway where there are a lot of COVID patients, there are a couple that have tested negative,” she said in a phone interview. While residents are supposed to stay in their rooms, some get confused and wander.
Maintaining a normal routine of feeding, care and medication for the residents can also take longer when some workers simply don’t show up and others are new, she said.
On one bad day, she checked in for a report only to learn that three patients had died. Two orderlies cried as workers in full protective gear removed the bodies.
The spread of the virus through the facility despite best efforts to contain it has some staff wondering if they’re the source. “We’re starting to question, ‘Is it us?’” Doane said. “Are we just asymptomatic? They’re not proactively testing us.” Jonathan Deschamps, the president of a union representing several thousands workers, says patient attendants in some homes have described “war zone” conditions.
In some cases, he says an attendant who would generally care for seven residents is left with 20, leaving no time for basic care such as bathing or moving patients to avoid bed sores.
He said that while the government has largely addressed shortages of masks, gowns and gloves, distribution problems remain. Some managers are reluctant to give workers more than two masks per shift, even if theirs get dirty or wet, he says.