Lambton's medical officer of health says it appears there are fundamental issues to be addressed in Ontario's long-term care system.
Dr. Sudit Ranade commented Wednesday on the findings of Canadian Forces members deployed to five nursing homes mainly in the Greater Toronto Area. The report, released Tuesday, identified many concerns including insect infestations, hygiene problems, and failure to isolate COVID-19 infected patients from others.
Dr. Ranade told Sue Storr on CHOK (103.9 FM, 1070 AM) the findings are very, very concerning.
"There's no question that there's going to be lots of investigation into what happened and what's going on and how does it work," said Ranade. "From our public health perspective, we really focus on infection prevention and control behaviour and activities in a home. But, none of those things can happen the way they need to happen unless there are fundamental building blocks in terms of the organization and how is the organization managed."
Dr. Ranade said the focus must be on infection prevention and control.
One detail was that people were afraid to use supplies because of costs. Those kinds of things really get in the way of the ability of staff to do the things that they're supposed to do to stop infections from going from one person to another person. And then there were things that were just basic sort of cleanliness kinds of issues that were highlighted. It seems like there's lots of issues that need sort of work on the fundamental building blocks of how the system works, he said"
There are currently four institutional outbreaks in Sarnia-Lambton at Vision Nursing Home, Lambton Meadowview Villa, Marshall Gowland Manor and Village on the St. Clair
Of the 21 COVID-19 deaths in the community, 12 are linked to seniors facilities.
-With files from Sue Storr