OLDS - The recently-released provincial office of the auditor general (OAG) report on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on continuing care facilities has outlined important recommendations going forward, says Stacey Stilling, Mountain View Seniors' Housing (MVSH) chief administrative officer.
“There was no doubt the start of the pandemic saw an overload in many areas with all the unknown factors coming forward sometimes hourly,” Stilling told the Albertan. “The recommendations as noted in the report are all crucially important as we move forward not only living with COVID-19 but with other infectious diseases leading to outbreaks.
“Operators in the continuing care space have managed outbreaks as part of consistent practice for decades. The OAG’s recommendations have provided some key areas to highlight from training and support of staff to enhancing the resilience of the entire system.”
MVSH owns and operates seniors lodges in Olds, Didsbury, Sundre and Carstairs, as well as other housing facilities in the district.
In his Report of the Auditor General – COVID-19 in Continuing Care Facilities released last week, auditor general Doug Wylie concluded that while Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services (AHS) had processes in place to respond to the pandemic in continuing care facilities, many of those processes proved ineffective.
“The COVID-19 response was impeded by insufficient preparedness and structural barriers, many of which have been long-standing, that existed at then start of the pandemic,” said Wylie.
The auditor general launched an audit focused on the public health response by Alberta Health and AHS to COVID-19 in Alberta’s 355 publicly funded continuing care facilities during the first two waves of the pandemic from March to December 2020.
During that time period there were 379 outbreaks at facilities, with more than 8,300 cases and 1,000 deaths.
Four key areas of the province’s COVID-19 response were examined: pre-pandemic planning and preparedness; guidance and communication between continue care facilities and provincial authorities; providing key resources to facilities; and monitoring how facilities, Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services responded to COVID-19.
The auditor general made eight recommendations. Four of the recommendations focus on preparedness and structure factors that challenged the COVID-19 response, including updating and coordinating pandemic plans and preparedness, increasing the resilience of the facility staffing system, and resolving infrastructure limitations.
The recommendations are a positive step, but they are going to take some significant time on the implementation overall, said Stilling.
“While we pivoted quickly as we learned more about ‘best practice’ those pivots took a toll on everyone and the industry is tired,” Stilling said. “These recommendations are looking at the longer term approach for how we better prepare to help those in a continuing care setting, including residents and staff alike.
“We need to focus on this, it is not a “nice to have” it is a “need to have” and the resources to do this work must come along with it. As the saying goes when we know better, we do better, if Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services work together to help operators on the front-line it will benefit everyone for the future.”
Health Minister Jason Copping said the government has accepted all the recommendations.
“Alberta’s government is already working to address the concerns listed in the report, like enhancing infection control measures,” said Copping.
“These improvements have relevance and provide benefits far beyond the COVID-19 response, including helping the continuing care system to be better prepared for future pandemics and other smaller communicable disease outbreaks such as seasonal influenza.”
David Shepherd, NDP health critic, said, “Under Jason Kenney, we had one of the worst COVID-19 responses in the country. How we have a premier who spent much of the past few years, in the midst of this pandemic, downplaying the gravity of the situation.
“Danielle Smith is still trying to claim it was all some kind of hoax. Imagine if Danielle Smith had been in charge; I fear it would have been one of the worst responses in the world.”
The work of MVSH staff and their partners during the pandemic was commendable, said Stilling.
“The industry was on high alert and pivoting continually, MVSH was not spared from having to change rapidly and we couldn’t be more grateful to staff and our system partners who were always doing what they could to help,” Stilling said.
