The Canadian Forces report into the five long term care homes they were asked to take over talks about “blatant disregard” for infection control measures, mistreatment of residents and a level of care described as “horrible.
The report described the care as ranging from below best practices to “borderline abusive, if not abusive” and worse, the documents show.
Infection prevention and control measures were found to be a particular problem, with Personal Protective Equipment protocols going unheeded by staff, many of whom were not properly trained, according to the documents obtained from a source familiar with the mission.
The soldiers reported witnessing cockroaches, flies and rotten food, residents left in soiled diapers and crying out for help for lengthy periods without any response, the documents allege. At one facility, residents had not been bathed in weeks, they said.
Staff at a Brampton nursing home allegedly recorded a Taylor Swift Dance Video showing them dancing through the facility, passing between areas deemed COVID-19 positive and negative without wearing any protective equipment, the documents claimed.
At a facility in Etobicoke, residents who tested positive for COVID-19 shared rooms with uninfected residents, separated only by a curtain, the documents said.
Announcing the release of the report Premier Doug Ford vowed to do whatever it takes to fix the long term care system in Ontario. At times he approaching tears he said, “reading those reports was the hardest thing I have done as Premier. As hard as it will be to read some of these details, I believe the public has to know. I take full ownership of this. Well make sure we can fix this. No matter what it takes, we are going to fix the system.”
Ford was asked if he was now prepaid to call for a full public enquiry into long term care and he replied that “everything is on the table.” Asked why it took the army to find out what was going on in the homes, Ford pointed out that the military were present in the homes 24/7, making it difficult to keep conditions from becoming evident.
Some excerpts of the Canadian Forces report follow.
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