Personal care homes in Winnipeg hit by COVID-19 outbreaks as case numbers continue to soar
Illness among staff means many homes are operating shorthanded
COVID-19 is hitting personal care homes in the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, with 19 reporting outbreaks as of Thursday.
That's up from eight declared outbreaks at personal care homes on Dec.31, according to a spokesperson from the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.
"It's hit the staff pretty hard," said Laurie Cerqueti, CEO of The Saul and Claribel Simkin Centre.
Cerqueti says the personal care home, which is currently in the midst of an outbreak, has had more staff test positive for COVID-19 in a week than during a seven-week outbreak in 2020.
She says while nearly all the home's staff are double-vaccinated, 29 have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last two weeks or so. Currently, one resident has COVID-19.
She says the rapid rise in cases among employees has left them short-staffed, with no additional support from Manitoba Shared Health.
"It's kind of an all hands on deck situation where everybody needs to chip in and help," she said.
Cerqueti says she doesn't think anyone is doing anything wrong, but believes the number of staff cases shows just how infectious the Omicron variant is.
"Really, it's been a variety of staff," said Cerqueti, who estimates there's about 250 staff total at the home. "There hasn't been one department more affected than the other."
Volunteers lend a hand
Staff, volunteers and designated caregivers are doing their best to handle the situation, she says, but must prioritize what gets done due to the recent staff shortages. That means bedding might only be changed if it's soiled, beds might not get made, and residents might receive a sponge bath instead of a tub bath, she says.
Cerqueti says some staff members are able to return to work this week, which means the home is in a better position right now than it was this past weekend: "At the moment in time we're stable but, like I say, that could change tomorrow."
A spokesperson from the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority said in a statement that staffing shortages due to illness and isolation requirements are affecting most Winnipeg health-care facilities.
"We are closely monitoring the situation, and we continue to meet regularly with PCH operators and assess and address all requests for assistance as best we can given the system-wide shortages," the authority said in a statement on Friday.
Cerqueti says when her team requested assistance through Shared Health's provincial recruitment and redeployment team (PRRT) around Dec. 31, they were given the name of one person who wasn't available to start working until a week later.
"We have reached out and, unfortunately, there is not a lot of availability for staff to be sent … because the pandemic's hit very hard now throughout the health-care sector," Cerqueti said.
A spokesperson for Manitoba Shared Health said in a statement the PRRT "reviews requests for staffing support from across the province and maintains a list of available health-care workers who are available to work casually in a variety of roles."
Actionmarguerite reports outbreak
The statement says 39 staff have been deployed to personal care homes since the start of December.
"Contingency planning continues to identify, assess and address system needs, including services and sites that may be in need of additional support. Decisions are being made based on clinical criteria by experts working across the health system," the spokesperson said.
On Monday, CBC News reported Actionmarguerite, which runs three Winnipeg care homes, has had at least 18 staff and 18 residents test positive for COVID-19 recently.
In a post on the care home's website, the organization's CEO issued a warning last Sunday, saying "As we begin a third year of this pandemic, we can say that this has been the most challenging time yet."
A spokesperson from the WRHA told CBC News earlier this week staff had been redeployed to help the outbreaks at Actionmarguerite sites.
WATCH | Actionmarguerite CEO talks about staffing 'crisis':
The CEO and director of care at the Convalescent Home of Winnipeg says a COVID-19 outbreak was declared there on Thursday.
Sharon Wilms says they first suspected there was a case of COVID-19 a couple of days ago and, as of Thursday, three residents and five staff members had tested positive.
While she's anticipating they'll have more staff cases, she says for now they are managing.
"Unfortunately, I had two nurses out and, you know, they're a vital part of our care for residents," Wilms said. "Yeah that's made an impact, but like I say we have amazing staff here and they have picked up overtime, they have picked up extra shifts."
Cerqueti says she would like to see more rapid tests provided to the care home so that staff could use them before coming into work : "I think all of us dread being the one that might bring COVID here and spread it to a coworker or a resident"
A spokesperson for the province said Friday that "personal care home staff are being provided access to rapid antigen tests when they are symptomatic to allow for a safe return to work, and for asymptomatic staff when these staff are a close household contact of a COVID positive case."
With files from Sam Samson