St. Mary’s working collaboratively with Forest Heights to manage outbreak
Province appointed hospital to step in at long-term-care home to help contain spread of virus
KITCHENER — A plan is being put together for Forest Heights long-term-care home in Kitchener to reduce any further spread of COVID-19 following the province’s order that St. Mary’s General Hospital temporarily manage the outbreak.
St. Mary’s president Lee Fairclough said the hospital is working with the home and its owner, Revera, on a plan which will be submitted to the province on Friday.
“It’s a very collaborative approach,” said Fairclough, who was on site at Forest Heights.
The Ministry of Long-Term Care appointed St. Mary’s to temporarily manage the COVID-19 outbreak at Forest Heights on Tuesday, saying the home has been unable to contain the spread of the virus despite weeks of hospital support.
The outbreak at the privately run home is the most significant and long-lasting in Waterloo Region. A total of 175 residents and 69 staff have tested positive, and 51 people have died since the outbreak was declared April 1.
Forest Heights has been getting support from the three local hospitals, Region of Waterloo Public Health and other health system partners since late April to control the significant outbreak.
Those efforts included transferring 54 residents to hospital, the majority having tested positive for COVID -19, to lighten the load on staff and allow for more separation of residents in the older home with ward-style rooms and shared bathrooms.
The province decided more help was needed to get a handle on the situation and asked St. Mary’s to step in — a role Fairclough said they were prepared to take on.
“It’s not new for us to work in a collaborative way with this home,” she said, adding that in general the hospital has been taking a supportive approach to the region’s longterm-care homes.
Now they can bring in a team from St. Mary’s as well as St. Joseph’s Health System, a system the Kitchener hospital is a member of and the province’s largest provider of long-term care.
“It also just allows for a fresh set of eyes,” Fairclough said.
They’ll be focused on how to reduce the spread of COVID-19 among both residents and staff to stabilize the home, and safely return the residents who had been transferred to hospital.
The new oversight will also bring some relief to the home’s staff, who Fairclough thanked for their hard work through the difficult situation.
“They’ve been a very dedicated team and they’ve been working very hard through this,” she said, also thanking the public for all their support of Forest Heights staff.
Fairclough said there will be ongoing communication with residents and their families about the plan and during the change in management.
“We want to be sure that they’re well informed about what’s happening,” she said.
The province will be keeping tabs on the situation at Forest Heights, and may extend the 90 days of the mandatory management order if necessary.
Fairclough stressed St. Mary’s will be working with the team at Forest Heights, and the continuity of care will be paramount.
“Care for the residents is the most important priority,” she said. “None of that has changed with this decision.”
Unifor applauded the government’s decision to appoint St. Mary’s to temporarily manage Forest Heights. The union represents more than 250 members at the home.
“The continued severity of the COVID-19 outbreak at Forest Heights clearly illustrates the mismanagement, and are a result of a lack of health and safety protocols and an effective pandemic plan to protect residents and workers,” Unifor national president Jerry Dias said in a news release.
He hopes the decision sends a clear message to the management at Forest Heights and all other long-term-care homes that “they need to get their act together and put residents and workers first.”