The official opposition says the former Health Minister Jim Reiter, the current Health Minister Paul Merriman and the Premier need to apologize to those who lost loved ones at Extendicare Parkside in Regina during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Critic for Seniors Matt Love says both the government and Extendicare share the blame for the outbreak that took so many lives and he says the for-profit relationship has failed seniors, their families and the hard-working staff at Extendicare Parkside.
The NDP suggests the Ombudsman’s recommendation for the government to ‘make meaningful and lasting systemic and structural improvements to Saskatchewan’s long-term care system should include the end to for-profit care in Saskatchewan.
Through the course of the outbreak at Extendicare Parkside, 194 of 198 residents contracted COVID-19, as well as 132 staff at the facility. 20 per cent of residents lost their lives.
CUPE Local 5430, the union representing public health care providers in Regina, says the ombudsman’s report released Thursday shows how private, for-profit long-term care has failed seniors.
The union says the report, Caring in Crisis, shows how Parkside Extendicare failed its residents and workers on several fronts: supply and use of masks, physical distancing, ventilation and air flow, staff screening, testing, and cohorting. CUPE also says the report indicates Parkside Extendicare didn’t have a pandemic plan in place to deal with an outbreak even months into the pandemic.
Bashir Jalloh, vice-president of the union local, says Extendicare, the Ministry of Health and the Saskatchewan Health Authority failed to provide adequate oversight and didn’t ensure safety protocols were being followed.
The report notes that 42 Parkside residents who got COVID-19 died during the outbreak. Nearly every resident was infected. Residents and staff at Regina Pioneer Village also contracted COVID-19 after residents were transferred there.
CUPE says the report recommended that the government should not allow private companies to run special care homes without ensuring they meet and follow the standards and practices it has for its own facilities. CUPE is echoing the NDP and urges the government to go further, and take the profit out of senior’s care
