Mandatory vaccines in city-run long-term care facilities reassure worried families ottawacitizen.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from ottawacitizen.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
In the midst of a COVID-19 outbreak that left 47 residents and two PSWs dead, the executive director of Ottawa’s Madonna Care Community allowed a manager to go in to work while infected, a provincial inspection report has found.
Posted: May 06, 2021 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: May 6
Betty Yakimenko, left, poses with her mother, Elsie Stadler, who lives at Madonna Care Community in Ottawa. Yakimenko says her mom s memory is completely gone after staying in isolation for the last year.(Submitted by Betty Yakimenko)
Long-term care homes are allowing residents to do some things they haven t been able to for over a year, but some say the lifting of heavy restrictions comes too late. Honestly, there are a lot of residents in there that probably would have benefited from dying of COVID-19 than going through the hell of isolation and neglect, said Lisa Nye, a partner-in-care for her 74-year-old father.
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Janice Codeluppi couldn’t hold back the tears as she spoke of the impact of personal support worker (PSW) shortages in her mom’s GTA long-term care (LTC) home in the past year.
She said in her mom’s unit, there are 32 beds with only two PSWs at a time to look after 12-16 residents.
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As a result of the shortages, she said, her 87-year-old mom Joan Arbuckle fell in the night last December and “lay screaming for help for two hours.”
Posted: Jan 13, 2021 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: January 13
For people with dementia, losing something as simple as human touch can spark a rapid decline in their health.(Jessica Phelps/Associated Press)
Every morning, Maria Zachariou, 83, sits patiently by her front door, dressed and ready for her day of programs at her local seniors centre. Then her daughter reminds her she has to stay home because of COVID-19.
Zachariou has dementia, and her family says they re more concerned about the impact of that missing social interaction conversations, activities and simple human touch than they are about the coronavirus. Since the pandemic, her decline has been rapid, said Christia Zachariou, Maria s daughter. She said her mother has been having trouble sleeping, bathes less frequently and has lost interest in things she used to enjoy.