Hotel-dieu Grace Healthcare to assist long-term care home battling outbreak
Hotel-dieu Grace Healthcare is stepping in to help a Windsor longterm care home overwhelmed by more than 160 COVID-19 cases.
The post-acute care hospital announced on Christmas Eve it had “strengthened” its partnership with Schlegel Villages and will now have “an even more extensive collaboration” in dealing with an outbreak of the novel coronavirus at The Village at St. Clair.
Starting on Thursday, HDGH “will be establishing a deepened and more closely supportive presence at the Village,” said a news release from the hospital.
Hotel-dieu Grace Healthcare will take over responsibility for “enhanced oversight” relating to communications, infection prevention and control and education, resident and family relations, reporting, physician oversight and on-site leadership.
Janice Kaffer, president and CEO of Hotel-dieu Grace Healthcare, will be on-site at The Village at St. Clair (1800 Talbot Rd.), along with other members of the hospital's management team and staff, “as part of an interim arrangement as a lead management resource.” The hospital's team will work closely with Joanne Potts, vice president of operations for Schlegel who is stationed at the Windsor facility.
According to the most recent update by the Windsor-essex County Health Unit, 97 residents and 67 staff members have tested positive since the outbreak was declared on Dec. 8.
Hospitals across Ontario have been engaged with long-term care homes during the pandemic to provide assistance and deploy staff on an as-needed basis.
The local hospital, Schlegel Villages, the Ministry of Long-term Care and Ontario Health “have identified several priorities and the HDGH team plans to respond as quickly as possible to start identifying and assisting the Village with their needs,” the news release said.
HDGH said the “unique collaborative partnership” had been endorsed by all parties involved, and called it “an industry-leading initiative that can be a template for other communities.”
Both the hospital and The Village at St. Clair are working closely with public health and other partners.
In a written statement on Wednesday, Christy Parsons, a vice
president with Schlegel Villages, said the organization deeply appreciates the support it has been receiving from its partners, including the hospital, the Local Health Integration Network (LHIN), and the union that represents its employees (Unifor Local 2458).
Parsons said the facility is short “a number of staff” who have symptoms and are testing positive. Volunteers had been brought in at that point, and the management team had begun to work as personal support workers.
Her statement followed Unifor national president Jerry Dias calling upon Premier Doug Ford to intervene at The Village at St. Clair.
Brought in to replenish staffing levels by Wednesday were 45 workers from other Schlegel village facilities and offices, the LHIN, an environmental agency, and Hotel-dieu Grace Hospital. The home had also welcomed 25 volunteers to help with the nutrition and hydration of residents, Parsons wrote.