Daughter worries for mother’s well-being amid COVID-19 outbreaks in long-term careJudy Beattie, whose 87-year-old mother lives at Carleton Lodge, says she arrived for a visit last month to find her mother covered in dried feces. She says she’s worried COVID-19 outbreaks will lead to staff shortages and have an impact on patient care.
"Nobody was present," she recalled to CBC. "Obviously, mom is not being checked for many, many hours based on the dried feces. I said this is unacceptable, absolutely unacceptable practices."But now she fears it could happen again, after 20 residents and nine staff at Carleton Lodge tested positive for COVID-19.Beattie worries the outbreak could trigger further staffing shortages that might impact her mom's care.
In an emailed statement to CBC News, Jacqueline Roy, Ottawa's administrator for long-term care, said the home is able to "maintain staffing levels and has additional measures in place to ensure the appropriate number of staff are able to provide care and services to residents, if the number of positive staff increases."
Sam Peck with Family Councils Ontario says the staffing shortages at long-term care homes pre-date the pandemic.