Ontario had no plan to address pandemic or protect residents in long-term care, final commission report says

Ontario was not prepared to address a pandemic and had no plan to protect residents in long-term care thanks to years of neglect, according to a final report from an independent commission released Friday evening.

The province's Long-Term Care COVID-19 Commission submittedits final 322-page reportto the provincial government Friday night, which highlightedthe actions and inactions thatcontributed to the devastation in long-term care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Many of the challenges that had festered in the long-term care sector for decades chronic underfunding, severe staffing shortages, outdated infrastructure and poor oversight contributed to deadly consequences for Ontario's most vulnerable citizens during the pandemic," the commissioners wrote.

The report foundthat the province failed to learn lessons from the SARS epidemic in 2003 and that sweeping reforms are neededto protect Ontario's vulnerable residents in the future.

"Now is the time to revisit the delivery model for long-term care and adopt a better way to provide care for Ontario's seniors," the report said.

The commissionsaid poor facility design and resident overcrowding heightened sickness and death in the nursing homes, with nearly 4,000 residents and 11 staff dying of COVID-19 by the end of April.

It said a severe staffing shortage and a workforce poorly trained in infection control measures compounded the situation.

"It is plain and obvious that Ontario must develop, implement, and sustain long-term solutions for taking care of its elderly and preparing for a future pandemic."

'Delay is deadly'

New facilities need to be built to address the needs of the province's aging population, the commission said, adding that the government also needs to reconsider how those nursing homes are managed, with a focus on quality care.

It suggested a new model to build long-term care homes in the future, similar to what's in place for privately funded hospitals, courthouses and light rail transit systems.

"All involve the construction of infrastructure that is paid for upfront by private investors who receive a return on their capital with profit over time. However, others actually operate the infrastructure the courts, hospitals, etc. once built," the report said.

Then, the commission suggests, a mission-driven organization be it public, not-for-profit or for-profit would handle the care of the residents.

WATCH | Ontario long-term care commission report reveals lack of plan for COVID-19:

Ontario long-term care commission report reveals lack of plan for COVID-19

3 years ago

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In a scathing report, Ontarios long-term care commission says the province did not prepare for the pandemic and that homes were neglected, resulting in deaths and suffering for residents and staff.

The commission took particular issue with long-term care homes that are owned by investors.

"Care should be the sole focus of the entities responsible for long-term care homes," it said.

The commission was also critical of the slow decision-making process and the "lack of urgency" Premier Doug Ford's government displayed during the early weeks of the pandemic.

The report said that in late March 2020, when homes began to go into outbreak, the government had yet to formalize its response structure.

"Without an established, practiced plan in place, the government found itself making up its emergency response as it went along," the report reads. "As noted, a pandemic is an inopportune time to create a nuanced, well-thought-out and thorough response plan."

The commissioners said Dr. David Williams, the chief medical officer of health, in particular, was too slow to act on emerging information about COVID-19.

He was hesitant to acknowledge that community spread was happening, that asymptomatic patients could spread the virus and that masks would be helpful when it comes to prevention.

In fact, they wrote, he only issued directives after consulting the deputy minister of health and the COVID-19 Command Table.

"Delay is deadly," the commissioners wrote.

Ontario launched the commission on May 19, 2020, in an effort to determine what went wrong in long-term care homes during the pandemic's first wave.

Williams and the government repeatedly ignored the warnings of scientists, doctors, local public health officials and even the minister of long-term care, the report reads.

In some cases, the government acted without first consulting Williams or other public health experts.

Workers 'traumatized'

The report also outlines in stark terms the plight of the long-term care workers who went to gruelling ends to care for their patients, at great risk to themselves and their families.

The commissioners said workers described making personal protective equipment out of "pop bottles and plastic bags" because regular masks were in such short supply.

Others said they would cry before and after shifts, vomit in lockers because of stressand watch residents they loved die in great numbers.

"Many continue to be traumatized as a result of this experience and will require ongoing counselling and support," the report reads.

For residents, the mental health consequences were akin to those faced by prisoners in solitary confinement, the commissioners said.

More than 700 people interviewed

Ontario launched the commission on May 19, 2020, in an effort to determine what went wrong in long-term care homes during the pandemic's first wave.

At that time, long-term care residents accounted for nearly 1,400 of the province's 1,904 COVID-19 deaths. Five staff members had also died of COVID-19 at that point.

But even after the commission was launched and after it released two interim sets of recommendations the virus continued to tear through the facilities.

The commission, led by Frank Marrocco, associate chief justice of the Superior Court, heard from long-term care residents, staff and management.

It questioned government officials from Williams to Long-Term Care Minister Merrilee Fullerton to Health Minister Christine Elliott.

Military leaders who organized a deployment into long-term care homes also gave testimony, detailing the circumstances surrounding the mission that led to a damning report on conditions inside the facilities.

In all, the report said, the commission heard from more than 700 people.

NDP slam Ford government

Earlier Friday, Ford said he welcomed the commission's report, as difficult as it would be to read.

"What happened in our long-term care homes, it was tragic," he said. "And it was terrible. But most of all, it can never be allowed to happen again."

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said the commission paints a picture of years of neglect in the sector followed by a series of bad choices made by the Ford government.

"Sorrow for the survivors and families of the victims is not enough," she said in a statement. "We need to act urgently on this report to ensure this never, ever happens again."

The head of the Ontario Long-Term Care Association, meanwhile, said the report is a step in the "journey to re-imagine seniors' care."

"As Ontario continues to respond to the pandemic, it must remain our priority and focus at this time," Donna Duncan said in a statement, pointing to the work long-term care homes are doing to alleviate strain on hospitals.

'Both a call to action and a horror'

The seniors' advocacy group CanAgecalled the commissions' findings "both a call to action and a horror."

"This report is heartbreaking.It painstakingly details residents abandoned by the government and health care system, the unnecessary loss of thousands of residents' lives and staff left without basic PPE protections," saidLaura Tamblyn Watts, CEO of CanAge, in a statement.

The group says the most alarming findings include the profound lack of co-ordination between government decision-makers,insufficient masking policies and the destructive impact of visitor restrictions.

The head of the union that representsover 60,000 front-line health-care workers in Ontario says the "neglect must end now."

"The Commission's report confirms what we all knew in our bones: that Doug Ford's iron-ring slogan was just a lie to cover for inaction during a public health crisis," said Sharleen Stewart, president of SEIU Healthcare.