WRHA PCH COVID-19 Status Update
November 18, 2020
The WRHA’s long-term care program funds and oversees the operations of 39 long-term care facilities, including 38 personal care homes (PCHs) and the St. Amant long-term care facility, in the Winnipeg health region.
The current level of COVID-19 outbreaks within Winnipeg PCHs is significant and evolving rapidly. In response, the WRHA has implemented and is managing a comprehensive system-wide approach to protect and care for residents and staff at Winnipeg PCH facilities. This involves careful, fluid coordination with WRHA clinical management, PCH management and staff, regional programs, Winnipeg Emergency Medical Services providers, and partners such as the Canadian Red Cross.
*Please note new updates will be published to this page twice weekly.
Current status:
As of 8 am, Nov. 18, there were active COVID-19 outbreaks at 27 of Winnipeg’s 39 long-term care facilities.
An outbreak is declared following the identification of one positive case in either a resident, a staff member or an external service provider (example: Agency staff).
The majority of current PCH outbreaks in Winnipeg involve a limited number of cases (fewer than 5).
Larger-scale outbreaks are currently being experienced at:
- Golden Links Lodge
- Holy Family Home,
- Maples PCH
- Misericordia Place
- Parkview Place,
- Simkin Centre
- St Norbert PCH.
The most recent Winnipeg PCH to declare an outbreak is Lions Personal Care Home.
For a complete list of facilities with active COVID-19 outbreaks, please scroll to the bottom of this post.
Measures underway:
Staffing:
Staffing is very challenged but to date remains manageable with ongoing monitoring and management. As part of these efforts, the WRHA has established a central process to manage and prioritize requests from PCHs for additional staff resources.
This includes partnering PCHs with hospitals and the WRHA’s community area offices in geographic hubs to share resources and facilitate staff being redeployed to PCHs in need. For example, Victoria Hospital has been providing staffing supports to St. Norbert PCH.
In addition, WRHA’s Occupational and Environmental Safety & Health department is providing focused support to expedite PCH staff who have been self-isolating to safely return to work as soon as possible.
Finally, a newly signed Agreement with unions is allowing for the reassignment and redeployment of health care staff to PCHs, from other health care environments subject to appropriate screening.
On-site supports to PCHs and resident care:
The WRHA has placed onsite Clinical Management leads at Maples Personal Care Home, Golden Links Lodge, St. Norbert Personal Care Home, Simkin Centre and Holy Family Home.
These site leads are working with the management of each of these facilities to provide oversight and guidance on resident/ clinical care aspects, staff scheduling, infection prevention and control practices, and family communication. An action plan is developed to monitor progress.
The above-named facilities have physician coverage and nurse practitioners undertaking assessments of residents. The palliative care team can also be available to sites, providing support for end-of-life care.
WRHA’s Infection Prevention and Control team is providing further coaching and training around use of personal protective equipment (PPE), cleaning and other infection prevention and control practices.
Facility-specific information:
The WRHA’s site lead at Maples Personal Care Home reports progress on implementing the action plan, including progress around PPE usage, staff screening, PPE auditing, donning and doffing stations, and contact tracing.
The WRHA’s community intravenous (CIVP) team has been providing regular hydration to residents at Maples PCH, Golden Links Lodge and St. Norbert PCH since Nov. 13. The use of the CIVP team in PCHs may be further expanded, depending on need.
Personnel from the Canadian Red Cross have been on site at Maples Personal Care Home since Nov. 15, to assist staff with light housekeeping, companionship and other tasks. The Canadian Red Cross currently has a roster of 20 support aides on rotation, plus an occupational health and safety advisor and a site manager, working at Maples Personal Care Home.
The WRHA is extremely grateful to the Canadian Red Cross for their support. The organization is fulfilling what has been asked of them and more, and we offer our thanks on behalf of our entire community for their willingness to help.
Preliminary assessment work is also underway to determine whether Canadian Red Cross support may need to be provided at other PCHs in Winnipeg, including at St. Norbert PCH, Simkin Centre, and Golden Links Lodge. No official arrangements have yet been made to deploy Red Cross personnel to any facility in Winnipeg besides Maples PCH at this time.
Additionally, the Red Cross completed an onsite tour of Parkview Place and provided the facility with some operational advice, which was well received by management. The WRHA has determined, in conjunction with the Red Cross and Revera, that based on the current status of the outbreak there, and in particular on available staffing supports becoming increasingly available as staff continue to return to work, Red Cross personnel will not be deployed to Parkview Place at this time.
Management and Oversight
Daily update calls with management of all PCHs and the WRHA long-term care program have been established to share information, progress and challenges in real-time.
The four WRHA clinical leads providing oversight at Maples PCH, Golden Links Lodge, Simkin Centre, St. Norbert PCH and Holy Family Home have daily meetings with WRHA leadership, to give detailed updates on the status of their respective facilities, and to ensure resources are proactively directed to areas of greatest need. These clinical leads will be rotated to other sites or provide support to a cluster of sites, as needed.
The WRHA Quality and Patient Safety group has a team conducting patient safety and chart reviews at Maples PCH and Parkview Place.
Winnipeg LTC facilities currently experiencing COVID-19 outbreaks (as of Nov 18, 2020)
- Actionmarguerite St Boniface
- Actionmarguerite St Vital
- Beacon Hill Lodge
- Bethania PCH
- Concordia Place
- Convalescent Home
- Deer Lodge Centre (LTC)
- Fred Douglas Lodge
- Golden Links Lodge
- Heritage Lodge
- Holy Family Home
- Lions PCH
- Maples PCH
- Middlechurch Home
- Misericordia Place PCH
- Oakview Place
- Park Manor Care
- Parkview Place
- Pembina Place
- Poseidon Care Centre
- Riverview Health Ctr (LTC)
- River East
- Simkin Centre
- St Amant (LTC)
- Southeast PCH
- St Norbert PCH
- Tuxedo Villa