Third long-term-care worker in GTA dies of COVID-19,
Union says not enough has been done to protect health-care employees
A third front-line worker at a GTA long-term-care home has died after testing positive for COVID-19.
The worker was identified as 59-year-old Sharon Roberts by SEIU Healthcare, a union representing front-line healthcare workers. She worked at Downsview Long Term Care in North York for 24 years. The union said Saturday she tested positive for COVID-19 on April 27. Her last day at work was April 25.
“This news is heartbreaking and we offer our most heartfelt condolences and support to their family and friends during this incredibly difficult time,” said a statement from James Balcom, chief operating officer of Halifax-based GEM Health Care Group, the owner of the facility.
Balcom confirmed the positive test result in the statement, which does not name Roberts, and said the cause of death was still being determined.
The union said in a news release that the third death of a PSW in less than three weeks “demonstrates ongoing negligence and failures in the longterm-care system.”
The union expressed its condolences and said it is in the process of reaching out to Roberts’ next of kin. SEIU Healthcare president Sharleen Stewart said not enough has been done to protect health-care workers, and that there continues to be a lack of personal protective equipment (PPE).
“How many deaths is enough? Who’s in charge? Where does the buck stop?” Stewart said.
Balcom said that preventative measures have been in place as early as March 14 and that the company’s pandemic plan continues to be updated.
“All staff across all of our facilities are wearing masks and staff who are caring for a resident that has tested positive for COVID-19 are wearing full PPE. This includes a mask, face shield, gown and gloves,” said the statement. “Residents at Downsview Long Term Care Centre have also been given masks when possible to further reduce the spread.”
A total of 56 residents and 46 employees at Downsview had tested positive for COVID-19 as of Saturday morning, according to an update from GEM Health Care Group. Fourteen residents have died.
The company said the administrator and some staff members from Groves Park Lodge, a facility it owns in Renfrew, Ont., would be arriving Sunday to help out at Downsview.
In a statement of condolences Saturday, official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath said health-care workers continue to raise the concern that they don’t have enough access to personal protective equipment, including N95 masks.
Roberts’ death follows that of two other personal support workers due to COVID-19: 51year-old Arlene Reid, who was with the Victorian Order of Nurses in Peel Region and also worked at a nursing home, and Christine Mandegarian, 54, who worked at Altamont Care nursing home in Scarborough.
Meanwhile, Hawthorne Place Care Centre said on Saturday the total number of COVID-19 related deaths at the facility has risen by two to 23. Executive director Gale Coburn said in a statement 41 residents and 78 staff have confirmed cases.