The managing director of the Nova Scotia Nursing Home Association says there need to be more resources in place to better prepare long-term care homes in the province for a potential second wave of the COVID-19.
Michele Lowe says it’s still unclear exactly how nursing homes will respond if they have a resident who tests positive for the coronavirus.
“Do we isolate, even though there’s not that same flexibility with vacant beds? Do we transfer residents to these regional COVID units? Those are the pieces that we are still unclear of,” Lowe said in an interview with Global News Thursday morning.
According to two experts who led an external review into the COVID-19 outbreak at Northwood Manor that killed 53 residents, shared rooms and staffing shortages were among the key factors.
Lowe says even though the spread of COVID-19 has been limited in Nova Scotia, there are still additional precautionary steps that can be made to ensure the next outbreak doesn’t have such significant consequences.
“In terms of how we are responding to those shared rooms, shared bathrooms, there’s nothing new on that front.”
According to the province’s Wave 2 Plan, regional care units will be designated within some nursing homes to treat residents with COVID-19.
Lowe says it’s still unclear how that will work for long-term care homes.
“The question becomes for those facilities that do not have that flexibility, who do not have those COVID units, what are those next steps should they have a positive outbreak?” Lowe says.
“That’s the piece that we’re waiting for and has yet to be communicated to the sector.”
Lowe says in June, the nursing home association presented to the province and Nova Scotia Health what they thought were the lessons learned from the first wave.
From there, Lowe says the building of a plan for the second wave began in September.
“We received a copy of a draft for that plan for the second wave back in early October, and certainly there are still several questions that need to be answered,” she said. “We’re waiting for the final draft.”
In a statement to Global News, a spokesperson for the Department of Health said they are “incorporating lessons learned and feedback from sector representatives,” with the most important factor being planning for a possible second wave.”
“The implementation of this plan is well underway, with many of the actions completed,” the statement reads. “This includes providing facilities with a long-term care toolkit that provides pandemic planning guidance, including clear processes for communicating with the Department, NSHA, families and other stakeholders during an outbreak.”
Jason MacLean, president of the Nova Scotia General Employees Union, says the issue around adequate staffing has not yet been fully addressed.
“We have a lot of members in long-term care that are telling us that they cannot get the time off,” he said. “So they’re not getting any time off as it is right now and it’s going to ramp up even more during the second wave.”
Lowe would like to see more consideration put into rapid testing to make sure any positive COVID-19 cases can be caught faster this time around.