14 patients died at Windsor's field hospital, most did not want resuscitation says chief of staff

Of the 58 people who have died due to COVID-19 in Windsor-Essex, 14 of them were patients at Windsor Regional Hospital's field hospital.

Those 14 individuals were some of the 32 residents of Heron Terrace long-term care home in Windsor who were transferred to the field hospital in an attempt to reduce the spread of the disease at the facility.

Doctor Wassim Saad, chief of staff at Windsor Regional Hospital, said the deaths were "unfortunate," but were almost inevitable.

"All but I believe three of them had goals of care discussions and did not wish to have any type of aggressive measures for resuscitation if they deteriorated, so if they would have required a ventilator, their advanced wishes were that they did not want a ventilator. They just wanted to be kept comfortable," he said.

Saad said the strategy of transferring these patients to the field hospital has saved lives by preventing the spread of the coronavirus to staff and other residents at Heron Terrace.

The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit's medical officer of health, Dr. Wajid Ahmed, said the decision to transfer patients to the field hospital was up to that individual and their families.

"There's a number of factors you have to consider when these types of move happen ... it's never an easy decision," said Ahmed, explaining "engaged conversations" were had to assess the risk for each patient.

"If you keep them at the home, there is a risk, if you move them there is a risk," he said.

Ahmed, along with officials at Heron Terrace, said the move helped to separate those who tested positive with the disease from those who had not and helped with staffing issues at the facility which has been hard hit by COVID-19.

"We very quickly went into a crisis with a lack of staff," said John Scotland, CEO of the Steeves and Rozema Group that owns and operates Heron Terrace. "If it hadn't been for a core group of staff and dedicated managers, things could have been much, much worse."

Scotland explained that staffing ratios at the field hospital are "much better than we could have provided."

"Long-term care relies very much on [personal support workers], who are the backbone of our organizations," he said. "Whereas the hospital has access to many more registered staff."

At the same time, Scotland said the field hospital had better equipment able to provide better care than at Heron Terrace.

"[It] left us in a much better position to provide the care that our remaining residents needed and deserved, and those that had COVID-19 were now in a position to receive much better care than we could have provided in the home, particularly because of the circumstances," he said.

Scotland said an added benefit of having Heron Terrace residents in the field hospital was the ability to more easily transfer patients to Windsor Regional Hospital's campus locations.

"Transfer to and from a long-term care home has to go through the emergency department for admission, whereas field hospital to hospital is much more seamless," he said.

Twenty one residents in total have lost their lives due to COVID-19 at Heron Terrace and another 67 residents have tested positive for the disease along with 25 staff members.

Patients were moved to the 100-bed facility about two weeks ago, which was outfitted with a pharmacy. The field hospital was originally intended to support an influx of COVID-19 patients expected at the hospital which never came.

Saad said many of the patients transferred had mild or no symptoms at first, but with their other health issues, their condition deteriorated.

"These were positive patients in a very vulnerable population, but I think when it's all said and done, I have no doubt that we ultimately saved lives by containing the spread of the infection from the long-term care facility that they were in, protecting the vulnerable residents that were left and that were negative, but also of course protecting the health care workers that were there."

This week, the list of homes under an outbreak spiked with 11 facilities currently under an outbreak and five people all residents of long-term care or retirement homes in the area have died.

Country Village Homes in Woodslee has lost at least 18 individuals to COVID-19 while 70 residents and 29 employees have tested positive.

Other facilities currently under an outbreak are Amica Riverside, Sun Parlor Home for Senior Citizens, Lifetimes on Riverside, Franklin Gardens, Extendicare Southwood Lakes, The Village at St. Clair, Chartwell Kingsville Retirement Residence, Chartwell Oak Park LaSalle Retirement Residence and Berkshire Care Centre the last three being added to the list this week.