The review promised on Sunday of Maples Long Term Care Home will begin shortly after an expert advisor was hired to review the situation at the facility.
“We are gravely concerned with the critical events that occurred at Maples Long Term Care Home last weekend and we are taking immediate action,” said Health, Seniors and Active Living Minister Cameron Friesen. “This expert advisor will conduct a review and prepare a thorough report of what occurred, the current situation and provide recommendations on how we can move forward to support the best care possible to residents. Manitobans and their families need answers.”
The province has hired Dr. Lynn Stevenson a former associate deputy minister in BC’s Ministry of Health. Earlier this year she was involved in a similar review of a COVID-19 outbreak at a facility in Halifax, Nova Scotia. That facility had 360 cases of COVID-19 and 53 resident deaths.
In the review of the Maples facility Dr Stevenson has been asked to determine the level of care provided by Revera, determine the policies and procedures that were in place for COVID-19 and other infectious diseases and how those align with federal and provincial guidelines. The province also wants to know how those policies are followed by staff.
Stevenson has also been asked to determine if any measures were in place that negatively impacted patient care or safety, determine if appropriate staffing levels were in place and are now in place.
She has been asked to identify takeaways from this event to strengthen long-term care in Manitoba during the pandemic and afterwards, including improving communication with care homes and regional health authorities, strengthening provincial standards, developing new policies and improving long-term care home reporting.
The province had set a time frame to have a preliminary report delivered to the minister by mid December with the final report submitted in January 2021.
These timelines will ensure timely, immediate action can be taken to address the situation at Maples Long Term Care Home and to anticipate any other issues in the provincial care home system that need to be addressed, Friesen said.
© News4.ca 2020
