Botched evacuation of Hamilton seniors home ‘truly a nightmare’
“Totally unacceptable” is what Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott had to say about a senior with COVID-19 being inadvertently left behind during the evacuation of Hamilton’s Rosslyn Retirement Residence.
Two more residents have died in the disastrous outbreak at the retirement home, bringing the total to four. An 86-year-old man and an 80-year-old man died in hospital Tuesday. The city’s COVID-19 death toll is now 30. During question period Wednesday, Elliott said it “certainly should not have happened” that the ill resident went without care for roughly 18 hours before family alerted St. Joseph’s Healthcare.
“That is not acceptable under any terms, not acceptable at all,” Elliott said in response to a question by Sandy Shaw, the New Democrat MPP for Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas. “We are working with our partners to review the protocols and understand why this could have happened, and to make sure that this never happens again.”
The Rosslyn was the first home in Ontario to be evacuated and temporarily shut down during the pandemic, said Winnie Doyle, executive vice-president of clinical operations at St. Joseph’s Healthcare.
In total, 62 residents went to St. Joseph’s and Hamilton General — some needing intensive care — while two seniors made other arrangements.
“They had every resident evacuated to hospital because of a horrific COVID-19 outbreak, and unbelievably, one resident was left behind in the empty home, forgotten,” Shaw said. “This is truly a nightmare.”
It’s not clear who was even in charge of the evacuation on May 15. The Ontario Ministry for Seniors and Accessibility says it was public health. But Hamilton’s medical officer of health, Dr. Elizabeth Richardson, says it was St. Joseph’s and the Hamilton Paramedic Service.
No Rosslyn staff were left at the home by the time it was evacuated and there was no master list of residents.
“It’s up to the operator ultimately,” said Richardson. “We can do everything we can in terms of supporting … but ultimately the operators are accountable.”
The health minister says the Retirement Homes Regulatory Authority is working with public health and what used to be the Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) “to understand what has been happening.” A debriefing is expected Thursday.
Ontario’s patient ombudsman is also monitoring the situation closely. While the office doesn’t have oversight over retirement homes, its mandate does include hospitals and community care.
Issues with the Rosslyn were detected even before the pandemic, with public health finding bed bugs, mice and cleaning issues in the home during food inspections from 2018 to 2020.
Richardson said the Rosslyn was one of a “small number” of homes that required orders around infection prevention and control during COVID-19. While the home complied with the order, it still ended up with an outbreak that wasn’t detected until patients started being sent to Hamilton’s hospitals and staff there realized it could be the virus.