Military reports “disturbing” allegations on Ontario long term care homes

A military report on five long-term care homes in Ontario details troubling allegations such as rooming COVID-19 positive patients with uninfected ones, insect infestations and aggressive resident feeding that led to choking.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford called in military assistance last month for five long-term care homes dealing with COVID-19 outbreaks. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has seen the report, calls it “deeply disturbing.”

Some of the allegations detailed by Canadian Armed Forces members in the report include:

• residents tested positive with Covid-19 are not isolated and were allowed to wander
• personal protective equipment (PPE) not changed between residents, worn for several hours, or worn outside rooms and at the nurse’s station 
• using PPE inappropriately
• key supplies are locked away preventing staff who need them from getting access
• improper medication and inadequate dosing intervals given to residents
• expired medication
• medication being reported as given when it wasn’t  
• topical prescription medicine shared between residents 
• no psychological support for residents while they are away from their families and residents are sedated with narcotics when they are sad or depressed  
• regular vitals signs or patient turning not followed to avoid waking up the resident 
• regular wellness checks are not being done on time  
• poor Foley catheter care and peri-catheterization care 
• aggressive behavior to residents: during transfers and feeding resulting in choking 
• very little or no disinfection had been conducted, significant fecal contamination in many resident rooms 
• insect infestations in the facilities such as ants, flies and cockroaches 
• changing soiled residents are delayed causing skin breakdown, patients being left in soiled beds instead of being taken to bathrooms
• residents crying for help for prolonged periods of time (30 minutes to over 2 hours) with no assistance 
• residents are not bathed for several weeks 
• linen shortage led to residents sleeping on beds without linen
• staff are often rushed and leave food on the table where patients can not reach or feed themselves 
• liquid oxygen generators can’t be used because it wasn’t filled 
• incident reporting policies are not easily accessible 
• poor or no handover between shifts resulting in miscommunication
• delayed or missed meals resulting in residents not receiving three meals a day 
• hungry residents overnight are told to wait until the morning or are given either a cookie or coffee
• leaving food in a resident’s mouth while they’re sleeping  
• not assisting residents during meals, instead staff write that the resident refused to eat 
• severely understaffed and new staff haven’t been trained
• staff disappear and leave the floor unattended

Since members of the military began providing operational assistance in Ontario, 14 of them have become infected with COVID-19.