I am appalled, angry and frustrated with the unnecessary number of deaths in long-term care homes (LTC).
My wife is in LTC and I know firsthand that the staff and front-line workers are incredible and compassionate people. They have had to work in less-than-satisfactory conditions for years.
In Ontario, so far, about 60 per cent of the deaths from COVID have occurred in LTC homes
and the number is still climbing.
How many front-line caregivers will get infected and die needlessly? I don’t accept these deaths as a sad reality of COVID-19. These deaths are the result of successive governments who have ignored and let problems slide or just paid lip-service to issues that were raised.
Why? Spending some money to correct the problems doesn’t get you votes and most people don’t care because they don’t have a loved one in a LTC home.
No one foresaw the severity of this global pandemic, but for years, voices from front-line
workers and families have raised the alarm about an impending crisis in LTC.
As issues arose, some of them tragic and preventable, governments just turned LTC into a more highly regulated system, hampering the personal care that residents deserve. It now is very upsetting to hear politicians say, “we are doing our best,” as if this crisis in LTC was a total surprise. We have a moral obligation to treat our vulnerable residents in LTC homes with the utmost care, respect, and dignity.
In February 2020, a report (“Crisis in Care”) was released, which provides ideas and solutions from workers about how to improve the delivery of care. We don’t need more studies done by the friends or donors to political parties to tell workers what they should be doing.
We all have to face this pandemic with courage, patience, and hope, and so I salute the caregivers in all of the health-care facilities who are literally risking their lives to care for our loved ones.
Terry Martyn, Sudbury