WRHA PCH COVID-19 Status Update

December 30, 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 health care facility, in the Winnipeg health region.

The WRHA has implemented and is managing a comprehensive system-wide approach to protect and care for residents and staff at Winnipeg PCH facilities with COVID-19 outbreaks. This involves careful, fluid coordination with WRHA clinical management, PCH management and staff, regional programs, and partners such as the Canadian Red Cross.

*Please note new updates will be published to this page twice weekly.

Current status:

As of 9 am, Dec. 30, there were active COVID-19 outbreaks at 29 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).

Of the 29 facilities with current outbreaks, 18 had zero active resident cases as of 9 am, Dec. 30.

There are 83 active COVID-19 cases among PCH residents and 43 among PCH staff in the Winnipeg region as of Dec. 30.  

Larger-scale outbreaks are currently being experienced at:

• Convalescent Home of Winnipeg
• Oakview Place
• Poseidon Care Centre
• River East PCH

For a complete list of facilities with active COVID-19 outbreaks, please scroll to the bottom of this post.

A message to our staff, residents, PCH partners, and our community:

The staff, managers, facility operators, and leadership in our long-term-care sector grieve deeply and sincerely for the loss of PCH residents who contracted the virus, and as fellow citizens of Winnipeg we share in the pain experienced by so many families in our community.

Staff, including redeployed staff, at Winnipeg PCHs continue every day to step up and tirelessly ensure the care and safety of residents, despite the unprecedented and difficult situation. They are tired and they are worried, yet they persevere, and we would like to extend our sincere gratitude for their efforts.

Managers in Winnipeg’s personal care homes and long-term-care facilities, and the leadership of our long-term-care program, continue every day to consider best practices and implement measures according to clinical experts and established protocols. We will employ every feasible tool at our disposal to ensure outbreaks can be mitigated and controlled to the best of everyone’s ability.

Measures underway:

Staffing:

The number of PCH staff in Winnipeg who are actively COVID-positive has been in steady decline for the past two weeks, and is currently the lowest it’s been since October.

We are cautiously optimistic that the trend towards a reduction in that number will hold, as more staff members are vaccinated and the overall number of COVID-19 cases in our community stabilizes.

We are relieved to see our co-workers steadily returning healthy and recovered from COVID-related illness, and from an operational perspective, we are pleased to welcome more and more of our staff back to work.

As of Dec. 30, there are 43 PCH staff from the Winnipeg region who are actively COVID-positive. At some sites with outbreaks, staff planning is shift-to-shift and remains challenged.

The overall staffing situation at Winnipeg PCHs has improved in recent days. While some sites with outbreaks continue to identify staffing needs, staffing has been stable so far during the holidays and is being closely monitored.

WRHA continues to activate the hub model of attaching PCHs to hospitals and community areas for the sharing of staff resources. Urgent PCH staffing needs continue to be filled with redeployed resources available from our Community Health Services areas and the acute-care facilities. Over the past several weeks, nearly 1,200 shifts at Winnipeg PCHs have been filled in this manner.

The WRHA long-term care program and PCHs have developed a number of tools and best practices to assist with the orientation of nursing and HCA staff who are being redeployed to work in PCHs from other sectors:

• Education Forum: On Dec. 17, more than 100 staff took part in an online education forum  A day in the life at a PCH, to answer some of their questions on processes in a LTC facility that may be new to those not in that sector. The presentation was recorded for future staff to watch prior to their first shift.
• Mentor Connection: The opportunity has been developed for redeployed staff new to LTC to connect with a Community Mentor/Support, who can help provide support to new staff working in the PCH environment. Arrangements can also be made for new recruits to request a “buddy shift,” to experience the environment prior to their first redeployed shift.
• Infection Prevention and Control: Representatives from IP&C are available to new staff to answer questions and provide advice regarding the use of personal protective equipment in the long-term care environment.

The Provincial Recruitment and Redeployment Team (PRRT) continues to review and process applications for uncertified Health Care Aides – both those enrolled in the new Red River College (RRC) training program, and those not requiring training (e.g. those who are internationally trained or students in health sciences faculties). More than 100 people from the RRC program have already been hired.

On-site supports to PCHs and resident care:

WRHA clinical leads are currently providing support to the following Winnipeg PCHs: Maples PCH, Holy Family Home, Fred Douglas Lodge, Park Manor Care, Oakview Place, Convalescent Home of Winnipeg, Charleswood Care Centre, West Park Manor, Poseidon Care Centre and River East PCH.

These site leads are working with the management of each of these facilities to provide oversight and guidance on resident/ clinical care aspects, staffing resources, infection prevention and control practices, and family communication.

Public health officials have introduced rapid testing for asymptomatic personal care home staff working in three licensed personal care homes across the province, including Donwood Manor and Deer Lodge Centre in Winnipeg, as part of a pilot project around testing in long-term care facilities.

This pilot project, which began last week and will run for four weeks, will expand the asymptomatic testing that is already underway in personal care homes by testing staff who do not have any symptoms. It is the first step in plans for an expansion of this work to other sites in the weeks ahead.

The pilot will implement broader asymptomatic surveillance testing (testing where there are no symptoms and no known exposure) for staff working in the selected facilities. Staff participate on a voluntary basis, with testing performed once a week.

The Canadian Red Cross continues to provide infection prevention and control assessments and guidance to PCHs. Red Cross personnel are currently providing onsite support at Holy Family Home and Charleswood Care Centre. We are grateful to the Canadian Red Cross for the support they have provided over the past several weeks, and for the support they continue to provide.

PCHs continue to access the WRHA community intravenous (CIVP) team, palliative care team, regional infection prevention and control staff, and respiratory therapy specialists to support COVID-19 residents with higher care needs. Over the past few weeks, the CIVP team has provided hydration to more than 500 residents at 17 Winnipeg PCHs.

Regular physician coverage and medical monitoring of residents continues to be provided onsite and virtually at the priority sites.

N95 fit-testing within licensed Personal Care Homes and Long-Term Care (LTC) facilities continues.

Facility-specific information:

Current priority sites include the Convalescent Home of Winnipeg, Oakview Place, Charleswood Care Centre and Poseidon Care Centre.

The WRHA is also closely working with, and monitoring the situation at, River East PCH and Bethania PCH.

Holy Family Home continues to accommodate residents and PCH staff members from Bunibonibee Cree Nation. The WRHA is in regular communication with Holy Family Home and the staff who are caring for these residents. Some residents have already returned home to Bunibonibee, and planning is underway for others to safely return home as well.          

Management and Oversight

Daily situational update calls with the management teams of all PCHs and the WRHA long-term care program have been established to share information, progress and challenges in real-time. These calls will continue on a daily basis over the holiday season.

The WRHA clinical leads providing oversight at PCHs in greatest need have daily status updates with WRHA leadership, 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 and as the outbreak situation across WRHA PCH sites evolves.

Winnipeg PCHs currently experiencing COVID-19 outbreaks (as of Dec 30, 2020)

• Actionmarguerite St Boniface
• Actionmarguerite St Joseph
• Beacon Hill Lodge
• Bethania PCH
• Calvary Place
• Charleswood Care Centre
• Concordia Place
• Convalescent Home of Winnipeg
• Deer Lodge Centre (LTC)
• Fred Douglas Lodge
• Golden Links Lodge
• Heritage Lodge
• Holy Family Home
• Kildonan PCH
• Lions Personal Care Centre (Sherbrook Street location)
• Maples PCH
• Middlechurch Home
• Misericordia Place PCH
• Oakview Place
• Park Manor Care
• Parkview Place
• Poseidon Care Centre
• Riverview Health Centre (LTC)
• River East
• River Park Gardens
• Simkin Centre
• St Amant (LTC)
• St Norbert PCH
• West Park Manor