Canadian Red Cross to help at long-term care homes in Nova Scotia

The Canadian Red Cross has been called in to help out at Nova Scotia long-term care homes.

Barbara Adams, Nova Scotia's minister of seniors and long-term care, said the organization will provide two teams of up to 10 people who will go into long-term care facilities that need extra support.

"This sector has been so short-staffed that most of these homes are working between 70 and 80 per cent staffing," Adams said. 

"They have been beyond crisis. They haven't had vacations. They're being mandated to work overtime almost on a weekly, if not biweekly, basis. They're exhausted. They're hanging on by their fingernails."

Adams said the organization will help support staff with cleaning, visitors, taking residents to and from the building and maybe some light feeding.

The teams will be available seven days a week until the end of March, Adams said. They will be deployed to the "facilities most in need where we haven't already placed nursing students or other allied health professionals who stepped up."

The teams will likely spend a week at each long-term care facility that needs it, Adams said. She estimated around 14 long-term care facilities would benefit from the extra help.

Adams said the province is hoping more staff will be recruited to work in the long-term care sector by March 31.