Staff shortages mean no new shelter space despite COVID-19 outbreaks, cold weather

Hamilton's already strained shelters are packed but, despite plummeting temperatures and numerous COVID-19 outbreaks, a city official said staff shortages are making it difficult to open up more space.

"For the most part they are near or at capacity," said Jason Thorne, director of the emergency operations centre, said of shelters across the city.

The city's COVID-19 tracking website showed outbreaks at six shelters for a total of 80 cases as of Tuesday.

"We're hanging on by a thread but we have so far managed," said Wendy Kennelly, an associate executive director for Missions services Hamilton, which runs several of the sites in outbreak.

Among those facilities with cases is an overflow shelter at a local hotel and the Missions Services Men's shelter, though that outbreak was declared on Monday and hasn't been made public yet, she said.

"There are not enough beds in the isolation spaces in the city," Kennelly said, calling that a "concern."

The need for shelter became even more urgent when a cold weather alert was issued for the city on Monday.

Kennelly said health officials wanted to halt them from accepting any new people at the men's shelter, despite having four beds open. In the end they negotiated to fill the spaces and are now at capacity.

"We just did not feel that we could leave people outside … on such a cold night," she said.

Dr. Jill Wiwcharuk, who works with people who are homeless or use drugs, said she goes to bed every night worried her patients are going to freeze to death.

"We were literally having to say, 'You have COVID, no you can no longer access a drop-in centre … and all the shelter spaces are full and the isolation spaces,'" she said.

The shelter situation means people can't even drop somewhere for a cup of coffee or to warm up, the doctor said, and will leave them "desperately trying to stay warm wherever they can."

Dr. Elizabeth Richardson, Hamilton's medical officer of health, said the city has been "very aware of the challenges in our shelters" throughout the pandemic and public health has been working to balance the risk of cold weather and COVID-19.

Public health's outbreak team is working with each shelter to find ways to isolate people where they are, in some cases grouping people who have tested positive together while they isolate.

"Some [shelters] are still able to move people to the isolation facility but in other cases they've been able to work out a situation where they've been able to isolate them appropriately on site," said Richardson.

City looks to 'maximize' existing space

When asked during a media update on Monday afternoon where homeless people who have contracted COVID-19 are supposed to stay and whether the lack of beds could have been predicted, Thorne said even temporary facilities set up to increase shelter space are struggling.

"The staffing shortages do create a challenge in terms of bringing on additional capacity within those facilities," he said.

Last year, the city opened up an emergency isolation shelter at the Bennetto Recreation Centre, where people with the virus could stay, but Thorne said the lack of staff right now creates "pressure" around opening up any more sites.

"At the moment what we're looking at is to maximize the capacity we have available within out existing, staffed shelters," before again acknowledging they're either at or near capacity.

Kennelly said some of the cases Missions Services has seen among users have been mild, but added the Omicron variant has "just thrown a whole new set of challenges at us."

Workers are "tired and burned out" after being on the frontline of the pandemic fo so long, she added.

Staffing is a primary concern right now, but Kennelly said Mission Services has so far managed to keep going with the help of staff who are returning from isolation as others go off.

"People are doing everything they can to keep our doors open, to serve the clients that we need to serve."