SUN calling on province to do more to protect long-term care homes

The Saskatchewan Union of Nurses (SUN) is calling on the provincial government to do more when it comes to protecting long-term care facilities from COVID-19.

On Monday, it was reported that all 46 residents and 15 staff members at the Elmview Extendicare long-term care facility in Regina had tested positive for COVID.

An outbreak was declared on Sept. 3 at the facility. Of the 46 residents who tested positive since COVID entered the facility, three have died, but it’s not known if COVID played a role in their deaths.

SUN president Tracy Zambory wonders why protocols used previously to protect long-term care homes during COVID have been ignored.

“It’s extremely troubling to hear what’s coming out of Extendicare Elmview,” she said Wednesday. “What we’re hearing from members is the recommendations that came out of the tragedy at Parkside aren’t being followed as they should be.”

The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) is to take over operations of Extendicare’s five care homes in the province. The transition is to happen Oct. 9, but a final agreement is still pending.

The move to take control of the Extendicare operation in Saskatchewan was made after Parkside Extendicare in Regina became the site of Saskatchewan’s deadliest COVID outbreak in a long-term care home in December of 2020. Forty-two residents died during the outbreak, 39 of them from the virus.

“We’ve got 46 out of 46 residents (at Elmview Extendicare) who tested positive and now we’ve unfortunately lost three of those residents. While we don’t know what they passed away from, we know that COVID played a role at the end of the day,” Zambory explained.

“To have 100 per cent of a resident population to test positive, we have some serious concerns about what is happening there.”

Zambory pointed out the Elmview facility isn’t the only long-term care facility being hit with a COVID outbreak. Currently, there are 11 other facilities in Regina and many others across the province that have COVID-19 outbreaks declared.

It’s not known how many cases each facility has, but an outbreak is declared when two or more people test positive.

Zambory said nurses are scared and need better support from those higher up.

“We’re hearing from our members that the recommendations are not being followed as stringently as they should be,” she said. “Had they been followed as strictly as they should be, it’s highly unlikely that we’d have a 100 per cent positivity among residents.

“It’s obvious to everyone that things were not running as well as they should, because there should’ve not been that positivity rate in the patient population.”

She hopes the province starts opening up about the current COVID situation.

“The Saskatchewan Health Authority and government have to be more transparent about where COVID stands,” Zambory said. “There’s this underlying message that we’re through with COVID. This situation that happened at Elmview is a wakeup call.”

Zambory added the health-care system is already strained and the nurses don’t want to strain it more when that is avoidable.