Revera gave ‘less than accurate’ info on Maples staffing levels: WRHA

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This article was published 09/11/2020 (1545 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority is blaming the company that owns Maples long-term care home for providing “less than accurate” information on staffing levels during the weekend incident that drew multiple first responders and sparked a preliminary police investigation.

The bodies of eight residents were removed from the Winnipeg home over a 48-hour period.

For several hours Friday night, only seven of a scheduled 19 health-care aides were working, the WRHA says — contradicting information provided Saturday by Revera Inc., claiming a nearly-full complement was present.

“It’s really unfortunate that we’re here today to have to correct that record,” WRHA chief executive officer Vickie Kaminski said at a news conference Monday — further announcing 23 of the city’s 38 care homes are reporting COVID-19 outbreaks.

“We’re extremely concerned that the information we got, and the information that we gave both to the (health) minister and to the residents of Manitoba, was less than accurate. It certainly was not fulsome information provided by Revera.”

The WRHA had been asked to provide details on staffing at the care home the night in question, and received word from Revera’s western regional vice-president 13 of 15 aides had been on shift that night. This information was then passed to Health Minister Cameron Friesen and the public Saturday evening, said Kaminski.

However, she “began to press for more details” from Ontario-based Revera on Monday, after hearing differing accounts from the Canadian Union of Public Employees and Manitoba Nurses Union.

“I have to tell you, unfortunately, we got a slightly different picture of that staffing,” Kaminski said.

While 19 health-care aides were scheduled at Maples from 3:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. on Nov. 6, four staff were self-isolating, and an additional eight called in sick, leaving just seven on duty, the WRHA said.

Some day shift staff worked overtime, Kaminski said, but the final number was seven working from 7:30 p.m. until the end of the shift. Additional nurses and general labourers were also on-site, she added.

Kaminski said the lack of disclosure provided by Revera has “put a strain” on the health authority’s relationship with the care home company, but there are no plans to take over day-to-day operations or impose sanctions.

Instead, the WRHA plans to rectify the communication breakdown with a team of clinical staff, who will provide on-site supervision and support at Winnipeg care homes “on a regular basis.”

That team is comprised of Kathleen Klaasen, chief nursing officer at Deer Lodge personal care home, alongside three other individuals whose names will be revealed in the coming days, and an additional supplement of physicians and nursing staff, Kaminski said.

Klaasen will be on-site at Maples on a daily basis starting Tuesday, while some other city care homes may receive WRHA visits once or twice weekly.

“We are going to be pursuing with Revera what our expectations are, and we’re going to be putting in place mechanisms and people from WRHA who will be able to verify information coming out of personal care homes,” Kaminski said.

Gina Trinidad, WRHA chief health operations officer, said the authority has been in daily contact with Revera over the past several weeks, as the team at Maples has expressed ongoing concerns about challenges with staffing and had asked for assistance supplementing nursing staff and health-care aides.

No such supplements were provided directly from the WRHA, Trinidad said, noting the care home was able to pull staff from the provincial recruitment team and its own internal agency.

Trinidad confirmed a similar crisis unfolded at Winnipeg’s Parkview Place care home — also owned by Revera — in October, when several ambulances paramedics were called amid a COVID-19 outbreak. Trinidad said she was only made aware of that incident Monday, and an investigation into details is ongoing.

Health Minister Cameron Friesen said in a tweet Monday evening he was “deeply troubled” the personal care home did not originally provide accurate information.

Deeply troubled by new information indicating the PCH operator did not originally provide accurate information about how many people were working on Friday night at Maples Long Term Care Home.

This raises additional questions that demand answers.

— Cameron Friesen (@CameronFriesen) November 10, 2020

Revera, Inc. did not respond to Free Press requests for comment Monday by deadline.

Later Monday evening, the company issued a statement apologizing for the discrepancy and offering an explanation. 

“Although the disclosure of inaccurate information was not deliberate, it was significant and we truly regret that it has strained the positive relationship that Revera has had with the WRHA,” said Wendy Gilmour, senior vice-president of Revera, Inc., in a statement.

“We also deeply regret that we may have appeared to have intended to mislead the people of Manitoba, and the families of our residents, which was not the case.

“There is no excuse for inaccurate disclosure, and we will be putting processes in place to ensure that this kind of mistake does not happen again.”

On Monday, outbreaks were declared at Bethania Mennonite personal care home, Riverview Health Centre, St. Amant Health and Transition Services, and Extendicare Tuxedo Villa.

Holy Family Home in Winnipeg announced a resident had died from COVID-19.

julia-simone.rutgers@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jsrutgers

Revera Inc. statement on staffing at Maples Personal Care Home