Province to probe Maples care home

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This article was published 08/11/2020 (1546 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The bodies of eight deceased people were pulled from Maples Personal Care Home in Winnipeg during a 48-hour period this week — a grisly series of events that has sparked a provincial investigation and the involvement of police.

The death toll at the for-profit nursing home — one of 19 long-term care facilities in the city currently battling an outbreak of the novel coronavirus — has risen to 22, with more than 120 residents and 50 staff infected.

Health Minister Cameron Friesen announced the provincial probe Sunday, saying Manitobans needed to know what — if anything — could have been done differently to avoid the recent spate of deaths.

“I think the tragedy in Canada is that despite best efforts COVID has gotten into personal care homes. That is why today, with this set of actions, if there is something to be learned from this event that happened at Maples, we’re going to learn that lesson — and fast,” Friesen said.

But despite an atypical Sunday press conference — where Friesen, alongside Shared Health chief nursing officer Lanette Siragusa, was put up to speak to the media— direct answers about the deadly events that transpired at the facility late-this week were few and far between.

Health officials have refused to directly answers questions on whether the public would have been informed about the deaths if not for an anonymous social media post from a Winnipeg paramedic that blew the whistle on the situation.

The social media post was published early Saturday. The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service later confirmed it spent roughly seven hours at the facility Friday night after receiving multiple 911 calls.

Upon the arrival of emergency crews, three people were dead, three others needed to be taken to hospital, and a dozen residents required treatment.

Members of the Winnipeg Police Service forensic identification unit could be seen at the facility Saturday night, and a police spokesman has confirmed the force has launched an “preliminary” investigation.

After the anonymous post began circulating on social media — in which the writer characterized the situation at the care home as a “nightmare” — the province hastily called a press conference Saturday night, followed by another with Friesen and Siragusa on Sunday.

Friesen said he had a briefing on the situation at Maples care home Thursday and did not leave with the impression a severe and deadly crisis was on the horizon. He said the provincial probe will look at whether staffing levels and the quality of care were adequate.

Details on the timeline of the investigation, and when it’s findings will be made public, weren’t provided, with Friesen only saying the province will move rapidly. The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority will supervise operations at Maples and Parkview care homes for the time being, he said. The extent of that supervision remains unclear at this time.

Both Maples and Parkview nursing homes are run by Revera — a company currently at the centre of a $100-million class-action lawsuit in Ontario. The plaintiffs have alleged negligence amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The lawsuit remains before the courts.

Friesen said the province would develop a rapid-response team — staffed around the clock with two advanced-care paramedics, a respiratory therapist and a supervisor — that will be deployed to facilities in the future if they are overwhelmed.

The health minister also called for the creation of a long-term care home task force.

But in a fiery speech delivered in the provincial legislature after Friesen’s press conference, Manitoba Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont said the time for the province to act was months ago.

“Six months ago, we called for the creation of a rapid-response team… And it’s only today, when we have people being called to an emergency at Maples, when people are dead, that we’re getting a rapid-response team. It’s unbelievable,” Lamont said.

“One of the things that happened to so many of these people is they were dehydrated. They were not getting the water they needed. When EMS have to come and give an IV to someone to make sure they’re hydrated, because they haven’t been drinking, that is a sign of neglect.”

Lamont accused Friesen, the provincial government more broadly, and Revera of lying about the measures they’ve taken in response to the ongoing outbreaks of COVID-19 at Manitoba care homes. He called on Pallister and Friesen to step back from the pandemic response, saying medical experts should take over those roles.

“(Neglect at care homes) happen because there is no staffing and lousy pay. The abuse of seniors at personal care homes is nothing new… I said in the house that this verges on criminal negligence, and it does, and it is long past due that people need to pay the price,” Lamont said.

“There is going to be a time to sort all that out in the future. We need an inquiry.”

NDP Leader Wab Kinew said it is time for the provincial government to call in the military to take over Maples and Parkview care homes. He said not only would the military be better capable of handling the ongoing outbreaks, but it would also be able to produce a transparent report about what has gone wrong at the facilities.

“The provincial government was in this facility on Monday. The minister said he heard a report on Thursday. And yet on that day and the following day we had eight deaths. There is clearly a problem with the information reporting system and the information sharing that’s going on here,” Kinew said.

“The military has the people power, including medical skills. The military has the logistical capability to create a plan to get us out of this mess. But we also know they will be transparent. They will report on poor conditions if they see them.”

On Saturday, Revera spokesman Jason Chester said staffing levels at Maples care home were adequate when eight residents died during a 48-hour window this week.

But on Sunday, both the Manitoba Nurses Union and the Canadian Union of Public Employees disputed that account, saying — according to their members — there was a significant shortage of staff at the site when people began dying in quick succession.

The crisis at the Maples nursing home comes amid mounting criticism of the Manitoba government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic — community transmission is widespread, the test-positivity rate has skyrocketed, and the province boasts the worst infection rate in Canada.

And for many critics, the ongoing situation at the Maples nursing home seems to typify the provincial government’s failure to adequately prepare for a second wave of COVID-19. This weekend, someone stapled five flyers on a tree directly outside the facility. All of the flyers were the same: emblazoned with a stylized photo of Health Minister Cameron Friesen.

Under the photo was a single word in block letters: Resign.

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @rk_thorpe