Ontario's Long-Term Care Association (OLTCA), the advocacy group that represents the majority of long-term care homes in Ontario, has put out a list of 11 recommendations that it wants to be considered as part of the official provincial inquiry; Ontario's Long-Term Care COVID-19 Commission.
The commission formed at the direction of the Ontario government last summer is due to release its final report on April 30.
Among the recommendations is a call on Ontario to continue its commitment to capital spending for new homes.
The OLTCA held a technical briefing Thursday April 15 to outline the functioning status of long-term care homes.
OLTCA CEO Donna Duncan said the system was struggling even before the pandemic began in terms of a shortage of staff, a shortage of bed spaces and a wait list of more than 38,000 residents.
"So really we were at a critical juncture when COVID-19 first started in 2020, facing a perfect storm," said Duncan.
She said this involved unrelenting demands for PPE, a lack of critical knowledge about asymptomatic spread, the virus spreading through care homes everywhere, globally, especially in homes that had three and four bed wards.
To make things worse, said Duncan, "once the virus did get into the homes what happened was the staffing models crashed."
Duncan said OLTCA was pleased to be able to make two appearances before the commission to present specific concerns.
She said her group has put forward 11 recommendations that she hopes will be considered and somehow integrated with the overall final report that comes out in two weeks’ time.
Duncan said this includes continuing many of the initiatives already underway such as prioritizing the need for PPE for long-term care staff, continuing the enhanced testing and logistics for LTC, continuing the training and hiring of Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) specialists and enhancing long-term care medical and clinic support.
"As attention goes to hospitals we still need to make sure we've got medical supports in our homes. We've got to work with primary care and our medical directors as well as the hospital as we look at how we rationalize the existing clinical expertise in communities," said Duncan.
Other recommendations included enhancing LTC pharmacy services, reducing overcrowding in the older homes as an infection control measure and expediting the province's capital development program.
Duncan said her organization is also hoping to see strengthened digital healthcare especially as clinical resources become more scarce.
She said stabilization of health human resources is another priority.
Duncan added that performance monitoring and more public accountability will mean more quality performance and compliance with licensing concerns.
The final recommendation is to better integrate LTC homes into the health care system. Duncan said this includes building on the many improvements already made over the past 14 months.
As the technical briefing wrapped up, Duncan said she is hoping the government can continue in its efforts to vaccinate as many Ontario residents as possible and continue to take steps to stop the spread of the COVID-19.
"Our number one priority is our residents and how do we bring them back to living in a much more normal environment while balancing what is going on in the community," said Duncan.
She said this would include a wider vaccination program to include not only more essential care-givers but also all visitors and family members who visit long-term care homes.
Len Gillis is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter at Sudbury.com, covering health care in Northern Ontario. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the federal government.
