Military Says It Found Disturbing Conditions In Ontario Care Homes
TORONTO — Soldiers deployed to five Ontario long-term care homes struggling with COVID-19 outbreaks found disturbingly bad conditions, a new report says.
When they arrived at the homes to help with the novel coronavirus pandemic in early May, members of the Canadian Armed Forces found cockroach infestations, force-feeding and residents left crying for hours.
“I think it’s appalling. I think it’s disgusting what’s happened,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford told reporters shortly after the document’s release Tuesday.
“It was hard to get through. It was the worst report, the most heart-wrenching report I have ever read in my entire life.”
Ford’s government called in the military to assist at five homes in late April. Soldiers were not sent with a mandate to write a report but felt obligated to bring the conditions to the government’s attention, Ontario officials said at a background briefing Tuesday. The federal government told Ford’s Progressive Conservatives about the situation.
Four of the homes in the report are privately owned and one is run by a not-for-profit, the officials said. The full report can be read here.
At Eatonville Care Centre in Etobicoke, where 42 people have died of COVID-19, soldiers’ observations included:
A dozen patients had bleeding fungal infections caused by “very poor” catheter care;
There was a “general culture of fear [among staff] to use supplies because they cost money” and vital supplies were left under lock and key;
Much of the medication in stock had expired months prior;
COVID-19-positive residents were allowed to wander around the home;
Residents who tested positive for COVID-19 continued to share rooms with those who tested negative;
Staff were not following protocol for personal protective equipment (PPE);
Residents were “often sedated with narcotics when they are likely just sad or depressed in a context where there isn’t the staffing to support the level of care and companionship they need”;
