Kitchener long-term care home residents moving to area hospitals amid deadly COVID-19 outbreak

A Kitchener long-term care home that has seen more than 100 residents and 40 staff members test positive for the coronavirus says area hospitals have agreed to provide care for some of the residents.

Revera, which operates the Forest Heights Long Term Care (LTC) home, connected with 12 COVID-19-related deaths, says the move is part of a new plan developed with Waterloo Public Health and Ontario Health’s Waterloo-Wellington Health System Response team.

All 240 residents of at Forest Heights LTC have been tested for COVID-19, with 103 of them testing positive, according to Waterloo Public Health numbers.

Grand River Hospital, St. Mary’s General Hospital and Cambridge Memorial Hospital will share in taking 40 residents from the home, according to Revera.

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The company says the shift will create better cohorting, deep cleaning and more efficient isolation of residents.

Revera says that with some employees being forced off work due to illness, the remaining workers have been working around the clock to provide care for the residents.

“This will provide some much needed relief to the staff at Forest Heights, who have been working fearlessly and tirelessly to manage this unprecedented pandemic outbreak,” Revera’s chief medical officer Dr. Rhonda Collins said in a statement.

The company says it will consider which residents are the best candidates to be transported before asking families for approval.