Hawkesbury care home resident, 37, paints bleak picture of life under lockdown
Family members not yet allowed in as ‘essential caregivers’ to help residents
At just 37, in constant pain and at the mercy of Ontario's long-term care system, Carlin Pethke suffers through indignities all too common for elderly residents. The difference is, Pethke's in his prime, with all his mental faculties intact.
"I came into a place like this to let my family have some peace," said Pethke, who suffers from an aggressive form of multiple sclerosis. "My family is home, pretty much in tears."
Pethke lives at the municipally run Prescott and Russell Residence in Hawkesbury, Ont. He sees himself as the eyes and ears of the home, which has been in the grips of a COVID-19 outbreak since Oct. 9.
As of Nov. 2, a total of 83 residents and 55 staff members at the home had tested positive for the coronavirus. There have been 12 deaths.
As the home struggles to contain the outbreak, Pethke, who has not contracted COVID-19, wants the public to know what understaffing and a lack of family support has meant for his care, and that of other residents there.
Residents in bed all day, all night
While several cases have now been resolved, the virus has had a devastating impact on staffing at the home. Canadian Red Cross personnel arrived to help out on Oct. 23. Local paramedics have also assisted nurses.
But Carlin's father, Rainer Pethke, said there were staff shortages even before the pandemic, and the outbreak is causing further strain.
"Definitely, the staffing situation, from the point of view of the residents, is not under control," said Rainer Pethke. "My son can't be taken out of bed today because there's not adequate staff."
Both father and son say there have been many times Carlin and other residents have had to remain in bed all day and all night.
He hasn't had a real bath for about a month, and laundry and cleaning has been less frequent since the lockdown began. In some cases, residents wear hospital gowns because they have no clean clothes.
The home's administrator acknowledges all these issues, but said "basic care" is the staff's priority right now.
No physio, lots of pain
But it's the lack of physiotherapy that's causing the most distress for Pethke. He can't move his legs and needs someone to bend them on a regular basis, but his physiotherapist isn't allowed in.
He said he's asked paramedics and nurses to help him, but no one will do it.
"If you didn't move your joints for days, you would be in just excruciating pain, and that's what's happened to him," Rainer Pethke said.
Alexandre Gorman, administrator of the Prescott and Russell Residence, confirmed the physiotherapist can't come in during the outbreak.
"Our staff are able to assess if there's a basic need, but nothing has shown that one or many of our residents were lying in pain, that I can assure you," said Gorman.
Family support not allowed
Despite a provincial directive earlier this fall allowing "essential caregivers" into Ontario's long-term care homes, no family members have been allowed into the Hawkesbury facility.
Essential caregivers will require specialized classes before they're allowed inside. But due to the outbreak, those classes have yet to start, and Gorman said there are also concerns about liability.
The Pethke family agreed to sign liability waivers, but they haven't been allowed in to help Carlin, and are only able to stay in touch by phone.
"To see them in person would just perk me up, and them too ... plus they're going to help a little bit to make me better and ease off on the workload of the nurses and PSWs," Pethke said.
Long-Term Care Ministry spokesperson Mark Nesbitt said if a visitor or resident has a complaint about the way a home is managing its staffing, visits or communications, they can launch a formal complaint to the department.
But Rainer Pethke said launching complaints and notifying authorities isn't helping his son's situation.
Since he moved in last year, Carlin Pethke has clashed with the home's management, leading to official complaints to local and provincial authorities and inspectors. In one case, the home was found in violation of provincial rules.
"He's a young, sharp mind trapped in a body that won't function," his father said. "He's in pain and he sees the things that are going on, and the things that are not right. And he wants to help make it better."
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