Horrific conditions seen in Canadian nursing homes

Conditions at Ontario nursing homes hit-hard by COVID-19 outbreaks, as described by Canadian soldiers helping out there, are “deeply disturbing,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday.

The Canadian military deployed troops at the height of the pandemic in April to five elderly care homes in the nation’s most populous province to fill severe staffing shortages.

In a report they said they found blatant disregard for infection control measures and “horrible” care of seniors that verged on abuse.

The soldiers said that among other forms of maltreatment, residents had been “left in beds soiled in diapers,” crying for help and forcefully fed, causing choking.

“It is deeply disturbing,” Trudeau told a daily briefing.

After reading the report, he said: “I had obviously a range of emotions of anger, of sadness, of frustration, of grief.”

“We need to do a better job of supporting our seniors in long-term care right across the country, through this pandemic and beyond,” he said.

The military report said that, in one extreme case, a patient was believed to have choked to death while being fed lying down. Attempts to revive him failed.

Soldiers said they found “significant fecal contamination in numerous patient rooms” and dirty diapers often leading to “skin breakdown.”

Medical charts were inaccurate and families were given wrong information.

Residents who tested positive for the coronavirus were allowed to roam around their respective care homes, risking infecting others.

Nurses and support workers were also observed not changing their masks and other personal protective equipment for several hours as they moved between patient rooms.