The Rosslyn, evacuated amid COVID-19 outbreak, working to reopen as early as Monday

The Rosslyn Retirement Residence is working to bring back residents as early as Monday.

That's according to public health and families with loved ones who were living at the home before it was evacuated.

"Our understanding is they are working towards that plan," wrote public health spokesperson Kelly Anderson in an email.

Nearly all residents of the home, which was emptied on May 15, have been hospitalized following an outbreak that infected 86 people including 64 residents and 22 staff members. Eight people who lived there have died.

News their loved ones could be returning to the place where so many contracted COVID-19 has left families with mixed emotions, especially those feeling left in the dark by a lack of communication from the home they say hasn't contacted them since the Rosslyn was cleared weeks ago.

"The trust level is completely gone. So if they bring back the same staff there's going to be lots of animosity. Nobody will trust anybody down there," said Brian Melnike, whose 87-year-old mother Joan Wallace is currently being cared for at Hamilton General.

At the same time, Melnike figures once its doors do open again, the ordeal residents have been through could lead to something good.

"We know that if they do open up it's going to be one of the safer places to go to," he explained. "They'll be under the microscope by public health."

The home has not responded to repeated requests for comment.

Officials previously said the Rosslyn would only be able to reopen once it had complied with the outstanding orders issued by public health and the Retirement Home Regulatory Authority (RHRA), which found it "did not follow certain sections of the Retirement Homes Act pertaining to infection prevention and control and failure to protect residents from neglect."

The home will not be able to bring any residents back until it addresses those issues and hires a regulated health professional (RHP) to protect those living there from the virus, according to the RHRA.

A deep clean of the facility has been carried out and deemed "acceptable," said Anderson, but public health officials haven't completed a full inspection yet.

"We want to see where they're at when they are ready to accept people back in," she explained.

That inspection will happen once the home gets to a point where it's ready to bring residents back and the RHRA, as the provincial regulator of retirement homes, gives the Rosslyn the green light to reopen, Anderson added.

But both the RHRA and public health appeared to point to each other as the agency that would rule when the home could reopen.

Anderson said public health will only inspect the home again once the RHRA is "agreeable to reopening" the home, and directed further questions to the regulator.

However Phil Norris, manager of communications for the RHRA, said staff there were working with the local health unit "which is leading the COVID-19 response to ensure that no residents return to the home until it is deemed safe to do so."

RHRA says residents 'anxious' to return

When exactly people will be able to go back to the home is unclear.

Norris said the regulator has been in regular contact with the Rosslyn to make sure it's taking steps to comply with the order and that the RHRHA is conducting a review of what's been done to protect residents from exposure to COVID-19 and ensure they get the care they need. But, he noted, those requirements haven't been met yet so he couldn't confirm when they will be able to return.

"Residents may return to the home only once it is deemed safe to do so, in consultation with the local public health unit," said Norris, adding once it does welcome people back the regulator will "conduct ongoing monitoring, including on-site inspections, review of data submissions and through regular inquiries to assess the home's compliance with the law."

The RHRA "understands that residents are anxious to return to their home," he added.

Public health said that as of Thursday, the Rosslyn had not complied with its order either.

Tina Smith said her family was told during a phone call with someone at the home Wednesday that the facility had been sanitized, a nurse had been hired and people would be returning Monday.

She's anxious, but not out of impatience for her grandmother to return to the Rosslyn.

Instead, her family is concerned about the level of care that awaits 87-year-old Edna Lightowler and left worried by questions about how the situation at the home could spiral so quickly.

Smith's mother was in contact with the home several times every week before the outbreak began on May 10 because they were so worried about COVID-19.

"We were reassured everything is fine, there was no cases, everything was locked down, they were not worried about it, there was PPE, all of that kind of stuff," said Smith.

"It was a day later she got a call from some nurse … saying my grandma had actually tested positive for COVID. We didn't even know she had been removed from the home until the following day."

They're still not sure when Lightowler was removed from the home and Smith said she hasn't been contacted by anyone from the Rosslyn since residents started testing positive.

"It was really hard because it was nobody communicating at the Rosslyn," she said. "It was a horrific experience because we couldn't find her."

Smith said she feels someone should have informed families about the inspections that identified infection prevention and control issues at the home, adding learning about them "made me feel quite sick."

"In my opinion we were lied to," she said.

"Those are people's lives in there and a lot of them can't speak for themselves."

Lack of communication 'unacceptable'

Melnike said he's also heard rumours the Rosslyn will be opening up sometime next week, though he hasn't heard from anyone with the home itself in weeks.

"That part is unacceptable," he said. "It's public relations and they suck at it."

"Just communicate. It would make things better for everybody even if somebody has done something wrong. Obviously I realize they can't admit it because of possible lawsuits, but at least reaching out to people saying 'We have a situation here. We're really sorry, we are trying are darndest to get things back up and running properly.'"

Melnike said he accepts that the evacuation of the home presents a practical problem — where can you place dozens of seniors who need care and support after they leave hospital?

"You've got 60-some-odd people that were taken out of there, eight have died so far, so you still have 50 people that you're going to have to place relatively quick. There's not enough space."

The Rosslyn might be the only option, at least in the short term.