With long-term care facilities in the crosshairs of COVID-19, should Canadians bring loved ones home?
Minister of Seniors Deb Schulte weighs in on difficult decisions families are facing across the country
Also on this week's show:
- Infection control and prevention expert Dr. Michael Gardam on modelling COVID-19 data and what to expect next.
- Former federal health minister Jane Philpott on her return to the medical frontlines.
- Minister of Public Services and Procurement Anita Anand on addressing a shortage of critical medical supplies and equipment.
- Vancouver mayor Kennedy Stewart on tackling two simultaneous health crises in his city.
Korie-Lynn Townsend lives about an hour and a half outside Bobcaygeon, Ontario.
The small town of about 3,500 quickly became the focus of national attention this week when 20 residents of a local nursing home died due to COVID-19 complications.
Townsend wasn't expecting to make the drive in on Monday. But as soon as she received word from Pinecrest Nursing Home that her mother, Heather Budway, had fallen ill, she jumped into the car with her sister — suddenly faced with the possibility of having to say goodbye.
"My mom was already in the home. You already have in your mind that, you know, it's getting closer to the time," Townsend told The House earlier this week. "But I didn't think right now, through this. I'm thinking years down the road."
As Townsend and her sister pulled up to Pinecrest, staff members opened the blinds of her mother's window. They told them that Heather Budway had just passed away.
"I thought I'd be able to be there, and hold her hand and hug her, and say 'bye," said Townsend. "To say 'bye through a window — it's not fair. That's not the way it should have happened."
'A very difficult decision'
Townsend's story and others like it coming out of Bobcaygeon this week are forcing some families to decide whether now is the time to bring relatives home from long-term care facilities.
"I think this is a challenge that our own family has been trying to cope with," Minister of Seniors Deb Schulte told The House on Friday. Schulte's mother-in-law is in a long-term care facility, while her father-in-law lives in a seniors' home.
When asked for her thoughts on calls urging Canadians to pull their loved ones from seniors' homes during the crisis, Schulte said doing so comes with serious considerations.
"I just think families need to really think about how they can cope," said Schulte. "The reason their family members are in long-term care is because they typically need round-the-clock and special supports to keep them healthy and happy."
"If family members have the ability to do that at home, then that's a possibility," she added. "But that's a very difficult decision that families are having to grapple with, and often families don't have the supports at home or have the isolated environments that might be needed to keep them safe."
'Not all doom and gloom'
The minister said she had a message for anyone worried about relatives currently on "lockdown" in a seniors' or nursing residence.
"We're in this together," Schulte told guest host Tom Parry.
"There's a lot of work being done within long-term care facilities to help families connect," she added, saying her own mother-in-law has been connected to the family via Skype with the help of staff at her long-term care facility.
"So it's not all doom and gloom, but it is very worrisome. And we are working very hard with the provinces and territories to make sure they have the supports that they need to keep seniors safe in these facilities."
