Weekly Media Scan & Media Release Summary October 4 to 8, 2021
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Ontario Nurses’ Association
Weekly Media Scan & Media Release Summary
October 4 to 8, 2021
ONA coverage:
• Nurses will take to the streets on Monday to demand better wages and a retention
plan (Toronto Star, October 3, 2021). Lean Waxman, RN and co-founder of the
advocacy group Nurse With Sign, says, “We want to be at Queen’s Park when
[Ontario Premier Doug Ford] gets back so we’re the first thing he sees and the first
thing he thinks about.” On Sunday, nurses and allies marched from Queen’s Park to
Yonge-Dundas Square, where the crowd listened to speeches from nurses and
doctors, says Nancy Halupa, RN, who co-founded Nurse With Sign with Waxman. A
core issue they are protesting against is Bill 124, introduced in 2019 by the Ford
government, which limits wage increases for nurses to no more than one per cent
total compensation annually for three years. “[Ford] needs to repeal Bill 124
immediately,” Halupa says. “This isn’t just about wages — we’re highly-skilled,
intelligent, educated professionals and you’re not paying us what we’re worth.” The
Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) wasn’t part of organizing the protests, but it
supports all nurses taking to the streets and advocating for nurses’ rights, says ONA
president Vicki McKenna. “When nurses are on the street, there is something
wrong,” McKenna says. “They’re so frustrated that they’re trying to find a way to
make sure that people understand what’s happening.”
• The Law Times (October 1, 2021) reports that the Ontario Divisional Court has
affirmed a ruling by a tribunal that an employer was not obliged to negotiate with a
trade union to maintain pay equity. In Ontario Nurses’ Association v. 10 Community
Care Access Centres, 2021 ONSC 5348, the applicant, a trade union, represented
registered nurses and other health-care professionals employed by the
respondents, a group of 10 employers. It filed complaints before the Review
Services Unit of Pay Equity Office, contending that the respondents had failed to
maintain pay equity. The review officer found that the respondents had not
maintained pay equity and in furtherance of maintaining pay equity, were not
required to negotiate with the applicant. On review, the Pay Equity Hearings
Tribunal concluded that based on the interpretation of the Pay Equity Act, RSO
1990, c P.7, the provisions on maintenance of pay equity specifically pertained to
the term “employer,” none to the “bargaining agent.”
• In an interview on CFPL AM London (September 29, 2021), ONA President Vicki
McKenna talks about the provincial nursing shortage and resulting burnout among
RNs. McKenna says that even pre-COVID, RNs were exhausted by an existing
nursing shortage and had intentions to leave or retire. A “huge” number of current
RNs are eligible to retire and mid-career nurses are unsure that they can go on
another 15 or 20 years under current working conditions.
1• In an interview on CHEX TV Morning News Peterborough (September 29, 2021),
ONA President Vicki McKenna says the nursing shortage is “pretty bleak” right
now. “What we’re hearing from the ground is that nurses are leaving,” she says.
ONA says that hospitals are chronically short staffed, with estimates that smaller
hospitals are facing up to 22 per cent of all nursing jobs being vacant. This is
especially dire during the pandemic.
• ONA Bargaining Unit President Rachel Muir says she is frustrated with protests
around hospitals by a group calling itself the Canadian Frontline Nurses for medical
freedom (The Fulcrum, October 3, 2021). On September 13, 50 people surrounded
The Ottawa Hospitals’ Civic campus. Muir says she finds it, “disappointing and
disrespectful. I recognize everybody’s right to protest in a peaceful
manner…however, their location was sadly misguided. They chose to protest
outside an acute care hospital where the people you are impacting are staff,
patients and their families, who are there to get care and provide care.” Muir says
ONA “has not made it mandatory for their workers to be fully vaccinated, but has
highly recommended it. That is our stance as a union.”
• A report in The Record (October 4, 2021) looks at the real value of paycheques and
compares the wage increases of male-dominated professions to those received by
nurses. “The amount you get paid speaks to how you are valued. If one group of
workers gets double the pay raise of another, that’s a powerful statement,” says the
report. It notes that the Waterloo Regional Police received an average wage
increase of 2.14 per cent; yet nurses are under provincial jurisdiction and the
government of Premier Doug Ford has placed them, with other provincially regulated
public-sector employees, under Bill 124. This, when nurses are overworked,
stressed and at the end of their rope, caring for COVID-19 patients for the past 18
months. ONA President Vicki McKenna says, “Nurses are angry, they’re frustrated,
they’re exhausted. They feel so disrespected by this government and this legislation
Because the package of wages and benefits cannot exceed one per cent, nurses
can’t even get additional mental health benefits that they require, given the stress of
their work.” With the cost of goods and services, that one per cent is actually a pay
cut. “Small wonder that nurses are leaving the profession just when they’re needed
the most. But that makes it harder for everyone else, notes the report.” McKenna
says RN vacancy rates are 18 to 22 per cent. That means more overtime for the
nurses on the job, just so they can cover all the shifts. And younger nurses just
starting out in their careers are “feeling a little destabilized” because there are fewer
experienced nurses to help them on the job, and they have less time.
• CHYM FM (October 4, 2021) reports that nurses and health-care workers rallied in
downtown Toronto to support nurses. The Ontario Nurses’ Association says the
province is in the midst of a severe nursing shortage, which is worsening due to the
pandemic.
• CBC News (October 5, 2021) reports that The Ottawa Hospital has temporarily
turned off the water in certain units at its General campus after confirming a case
of legionellosis. As a precautionary measure, water service was suspended the
morning of Sept. 21 after a patient was diagnosed with legionellosis — the broad
term for a number of diseases, including legionnaire's disease, caused by the water-
borne legionella bacteria. It's expected service will be restored by the end of the
2week. Rachel Muir, a nurse at The Ottawa Hospital and Bargaining Unit President of
the Ontario Nurses' Association, says staff have been provided sanitary wipes and
bottles of water for patients. "It makes it very difficult. I mean, it really does," says
Muir. "You don't realize just how much you use water until you don't have it, from
things like just washing your hands to showering and mouth care. ... So it's very
inconvenient, at best, but it sort of is what it is at the moment." Nurses are adapting
as best they can, she says, noting there is safe drinking water.
• ONA President Vicki McKenna tells CTV News Barrie (October 5, 2021) that the
Ontario nursing shortage is of crisis proportions. McKenna tells CTV that ONA has
been warning federal and provincial governments of the coming crisis, to little avail,
for years. Now, Ontario has the worst RN-to-population ratio in the country.
Retention of RNs is vital, she says.
• CFRA Radio Ottawa (October 5, 2021) reports that the legionellosis outbreak at The
Ottawa General Hospital has resulted in the water being shut off at the hospital.
ONA Bargaining Unit President Rachel Muir says patients must now be bathed using
wipes. While this is “inconvenient at best, I will say that because, obviously, you
can’t turn the taps on, and you don’t realize how much you need and use instant
water until it’s not there, but because of the procedures and things that have been in
place by TOH, they’re minimizing that.”
Nursing coverage:
• The Cambridge Times (October 4, 2021) reports that “health-care workers on the
front lines have been bearing the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic for the past 18
months, but despite being lauded as heroes, nurses are still fighting for increased
compensation.” Nurses and other health-care workers have gathered at Cambridge
Memorial Hospital to rally for wage negotiation and to protest the province's Bill 124.
Bill 124 limits wage increases for nurses to a maximum of one per cent of
compensation for three years, something that Kathy Moreland, RN, calls
demoralizing. “This is one of the many factors that affect the morale and mental
health of nurses,” says Moreland. “Out of one side of the government’s mouth
they’re saying that we’re the heroes of the COVID-19 pandemic, and that they
appreciate what we’re doing, but there’s no monetary compensation for that so it’s
insulting.” Ontario nurses also warn that Bill 124 could lead to a large-scale health-
care crisis.
• The Canadian Press (October 6, 2021) reports on the more than 30 national and
provincial health organizations which are trying to decide which of the devastating
effects COVID-19 has taken on Canadian health care to tackle first, as they work to
steer the country out of crisis. The Canadian Medical Association and the Canadian
Nurses Association held an emergency summit Tuesday night to discuss how to
move forward since the pandemic brought the health system to a breaking point,
with no end in sight. The organizations are particularly concerned about growing
surgical backlogs and the effect that will have on patients' quality of life for the years
to come. The well-being of health workers is also top of mind, as they report feeling
exhausted, demoralized and short-staffed for 18 months straight. CFNU President
Linda Silas says the CMA and other organizations are already working together to
lobby the government to create a national health workforce agency to better plan for
3the future of health human resources. Nurses and health-care workers have been
exhausted by the shortage, and now nurses and other workers are leaving their
professions altogether. Silas says nurses are overwhelmed and it’s affecting the
level of care they can provide patients.
• The Toronto Sun (October 5, 2021) reports that the College of Nurses of Ontario
(CNO) is investigating Doris Grinspun, the CEO of the Registered Nurses’
Association of Ontario (RNAO), over controversial remarks made on social media.
The complaints concern a post Grinspun made on Twitter on Sept. 17 in response to
a question posted by physician and CBC personality Brian Goldman, who asked
what should be done if someone has a neighbour who has anti-vaccine signs on
their property and lawn signs supporting the People’s Party of Canada. Grinspun
posted in response: “I bring them one of my yummy Empanadas and put a strong
dose of dulcolax in!!!!” Many viewed the post as a nurse publicly threatening to hide
drugs in people’s food. Goldman’s post has since been deleted, but Grinspun’s
remains. “If this situation were reversed and an RN publicly recommended hiding
harmful drugs in the food of a vaccine advocate, the CNO would surely respond with
a swift and harsh penalty,” a complaint letter reads. “Since Doris Grinspun is in a
position of influence, she needs to be held to an even higher standard.”
COVID-19 coverage:
• Newmarket Today (September 30, 2021) reports that the Ontario Hospital
Association has called for video submissions to show Ontario hospital workers some
appreciation. “Now in the fourth wave, our health-care workers are still going above
and beyond, working long hours and enduring difficult circumstances in order to
keep us safe. It’s time we remind them how much we appreciate their sacrifices as
they continue to care for patients,” the OHA says in an email to supporters. “Your
words of gratitude and encouragement will provide much-needed support as they
see this pandemic through to the end.” The submissions will be shared with health-
care workers and some may be posted publicly.
• Ontario will be introducing a mandatory vaccination policy for all long-term care staff
(Canadian Press, October 1, 2021). The government's previous policy was to require
regular testing for those not vaccinated against COVID-19. Long-Term Care Minister
Rod Phillips has announced today that all in-home staff, support workers, students
and volunteers must be vaccinated by Nov. 15 unless they have a valid medical
exemption. He says any staff not fully vaccinated by then will not be able to enter a
long-term care home to work.
• City News (October 3, 2021) reports that a Toronto woman was told her medical
appointment was being abruptly cancelled when staff learned she was not
vaccinated against COVID-19. The woman says that though doctors have advised
her to get the vaccine, she says issues with her heart and blood pressure make it
too much of a risk. She says when she filled out a form online in preparation for a
health treatment on Sept. 30 at Women's College Hospital, she stated that she
wasn't vaccinated. She got a message to confirm this was the case and when she
did, her appointment was cancelled on Sept. 27 and a staff member said the
practitioner was not comfortable treating her unvaccinated. Women's College
Hospital did not immediately get back to blogTO for more information on the COVID-
419 policies. The woman in this case says she has no plans to get vaccinated but she
doesn't align herself with people who are protesting vaccine passports, lockdowns or
wearing masks. As for next steps, she has made a complaint to the College of
Nurses of Ontario about the incident and says she won't be returning to this
practitioner for treatment.
• An opinion editorial (Postmedia News, October 1, 2021) says that Ontario’s “rigid
application” of COVID-19 passports “is creating havoc. Our society is being divided.”
People are losing their jobs over these rules. And, most scandalously, hospitals are
planning to let employees go over the vaccine rules. This includes some nurses. The
piece argues that “now is not the time to get rid of nurses. The whole reason Alberta,
for example, just went into another round of restrictions is because of rising hospital
capacity issues.” The editorial says that “firing nurses only makes this worse.
Vaccine passports were supposed to help prevent lockdowns, instead they seem to
be pushing us closer towards them.” The editorial advocates that Ontario use the
French way: “one needs to show proof of vaccination or a recent negative test.” The
current versions are needlessly causing too much harm.
• Experts say that proper ventilation and filtration are important to stopping the spread
of COVID-19, in addition to vaccines and masking, and that companies need to take
this into account before sending staff back into offices (CBC News, October 4,
2021). Yale University assistant professor Krystal Pollitt says employees should be
asking what extra protocols have been put in place. Pollitt has worked with Ontario’s
COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, says employees should question how close
they'll be to other employees and what is the company's masking policy. “You can
be asking about the type of ventilation in the first place. So is there a mechanical
ventilation system that supplies air centrally through the building through an HVAC
system?" Another question to ask is how many times per hour is that air being
exchanged to prevent transmission — the goal is six. But she also says every space
is different, a sentiment echoed by Stephane Bilodeau, a ventilation specialist who
teaches at the University of Sherbrooke. "The level of filtration that your system has
might not be sufficient to capture the aerosols, so the really small droplets, they’re
not captured by the regular filters.”
• The Toronto Star (October 3, 2021) reports on the babies being born to unconscious
mothers in Alberta during the COVID-19 pandemic. There is an “unprecedented
number” of pregnant women in ICUs in that province, says Dr. Stephanie Cooper.
Cooper, an obstetrician and maternal-fetal medicine specialist in Calgary, who adds
that, “This is a birth without a family. It’s a very lonely experience.” While Alberta has
15 per cent of Canada’s population, it has half of the country’s active COVID
patients. Hidden in the flood of new cases is a surge of pregnant women who are
ending up sick and in need of intensive care, and in some cases, having to give birth
while in a medically induced coma or on oxygen. Between July 15 and the end of
September, 14 pregnant women have been admitted to intensive care, according to
a spokesperson for Alberta Health Services. All were unvaccinated. Experts say part
of the issue is misunderstanding vaccine recommendations for pregnant women.
• Andre Picard’s Globe and Mail column (October 4, 2021) says that the “so-called
privacy rights of workers are not absolute. And they are more than offset by a
patient’s right to not be put in harm’s way.” Ontario has slowly and reluctantly
5mandated that health-care workers be vaccinated. There is no vaccine mandate for
home-care workers, or in other non-institutional parts of the system. Picard writes
that, “just because our health-care system is a mess of disconnected institutions and
programs doesn’t mean our rules and regulations need to be equally obtuse.
Vaccine mandates are essential in health care, but they can’t be vague.” To be
effective, they have to be universal, unambiguous and have clear deadlines and
punishing consequences if violated. He notes that it is unclear why a small minority
of health workers are reluctant to be vaccinated. Despite their education, health
workers are susceptible to the same fear-mongering and misinformation spread by
anti-vaxxers (many of whom have financial interests in flogging “alternative
medicine”) as members of the general public. Many health workers, burned out and
angry at their work conditions, are simply tired of being put upon and told what to do.
Their anger is justified but refusing vaccination and putting patients at risk is not the
way to express frustration.
• CTV News Toronto (October 4, 2021) reports that as the Ontario throne speech
“lauded” their response to the pandemic, long-term care advocates and nurses
protested outside Queen’s Park. The two groups of protesters called for long-term
care reform, as well as better wages for nurses. Nurses are demanding the province
immediately repeal Bill 124, which limits wage increases to one percent over three
years. “Every year our salaries get further and further away from a living wage … It’s
not appropriate and people are leaving the profession because there is no future,”
says emergency room registered nurse Helen Winter. The protest is the second in
two days organized by advocacy groups Ontario Nurses United and Nurse with
Signs. In addition to repealing Bill 124, which the Ford government introduced in
2019, nurses are also calling for a retention plan to address the increasing staffing
shortage amid the pandemic. “There’s not one shift that goes by where we aren’t five
nurses short – patients are waiting longer, there’s no beds for patients, it’s a
snowball effect,” says registered nurse Nancy Halupa. “They keep talking about
hiring new nurses, but there is not talk of retention – if there’s no nurses left to train
the new ones coming out, then there’s no profession left.” A spokesperson for the
president of the Treasury Board says, “Bill 124 is designed to protect public-sector
jobs and vital front-line services, which are essential in our fight against COVID-19.”
Meanwhile, Ontario Health Coalition executive director Natalie Mehra says, “We’re
staggered that nothing has happened to improve care in long-term care, it has been
promised repeatedly for the last two years and actually nothing has happened.”
• The Toronto Star (October 4, 2021) reports that Ontario long-term care homes have
another 511 COVID-19 cases and two additional deaths. The province is reporting
146 new cases of COVID-19 in schools for a cumulative total of 2,430 school-related
cases since the start of the school year. There are 816 schools with a reported case
of COVID out of 4,844 schools in the province, or 16.85 per cent.
• CBC News (October 4, 2021) reports that London Health Sciences Centre has
announced that all visitors will soon need to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Chief
medical officer Dr. Adam Dukelow said Monday that a proof-of-vaccination policy will
be rolled out in the coming weeks. There will be limited exceptions to the rule, he
added. The London Health Science Centre will share those details once the policy
being developed with patient and family advisors is finalized. The requirement would
6also extend to care partners. The hospital has given all staff members until Oct. 22
to get both shots, or else risk being fired. Dukelow said as of last week, 92 per cent
of staff are fully vaccinated, as are 99 per cent of physicians and medical residents.
Windsor Regional Hospital and Hotel Du Grace Health Care require visitors to show
proof of full vaccination or a negative COVID-test.
• A report in The Globe and Mail (October 5, 2021) on COVID-19 variants shows they
have proven to be more transmissible and more dangerous. The assessment,
published on Tuesday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, offers the most
in-depth look to date at the changing risk posed by COVID-19 in Canada. It also
comes with important implications for those who remain unvaccinated: the
experience of an individual who caught COVID-19 last year and was lucky enough to
fight off the virus with little apparent effect is not a reliable guide to how the disease
may affect someone in similar health today. Dr. David Fisman says, “The risks have
really markedly changed.” The large-scale study was based on the outcomes of
more than 212,000 cases in Ontario between February and June of this year. Dr.
Fisman says the sheer volume of data available allowed him to control for a wide
range of variables – including age, sex, vaccination status, and unrelated health
conditions that might make a case of COVID-19 more severe in some people – to
show that the virus has become more virulent. The Ontario study found that three
variants of the virus known as Alpha, Beta and Gamma were 52-per-cent more likely
to put people in hospital, 89-per-cent more likely to lead to cases in intensive care,
and 51-per-cent more likely to cause death than the version of the novel coronavirus
circulating in 2020. All three share a common mutation linked to increased
transmission. In Canada, a person who is infected with the Delta variant today is
108-per-cent more likely to end up in hospital, 235-per-cent more likely to be placed
in ICU, and 133-per-cent more likely to die.
• The Toronto Star (October 4, 2021) reports that the province will announce
rapid COVID-19 testing in schools in high-risk areas that would also allow for
widespread testing in cases of outbreaks to help keep students in class, sources
say. The move comes as the government has come under increasing pressure from
parents and opposition critics to provide more testing in schools — especially for
elementary students who, because they are under 12, are not yet allowed to be
vaccinated.
• CBC News (October 4, 2021) reports that 14 staff at Erie Shores HealthCare in
Leamington have been penalized for not getting their COVID-19 shots by the
deadlines set out by their employer. The hospital set Monday as a deadline for all
staff and physicians to have had at least one dose of the vaccine to continue
working unless an approved exemption is provided. Two people have been
terminated and another 12 people have been placed on a two-week unpaid leave of
absence. About 172 staff members at Windsor Regional Hospital (WRH) and Hôtel-
Dieu Grace Healthcare were suspended without pay for not getting their COVID-19
shots by the deadlines set out by their employers.
• McMaster Children’s Hospital is preparing to expand its intensive-care unit in case
there is a surge in hospitalizations as children make up more of the city’s active
COVID-19 cases (Hamilton Spectator, October 4, 2021). “We remain alert to the
possibility that a continued significant growth in the number of children or youth with
7COVID-related illness could stretch our hospital capacity,” says Dr. Angelo
Mikrogianakis, chief of pediatrics at the children’s hospital. “Fortunately, at this point,
we’ve not seen a significant increase in hospitalizations. There are a limited number
of pediatric critical-care beds in the province, so there is less capacity to absorb any
significant growth.”
• Protesters – including one who lost both parents in long-term care homes during the
pandemic – joined an Ontario Health Coalition rally outside Sudbury’s Civic
Memorial Cemetery to call for improvements to long-term care (CBC News, October
5, 2021). Dot Klein, organizer of the rally, says they chose to hold it outside of a
cemetery due to the symbolism.
• The Toronto Sun (October 6, 2021) reports that Ontario chief medical officer Dr.
Kieran Moore says Ontario is closely monitoring the COVID-19 vaccination rates of
acute care health workers after mandating jabs for staff in long-term-care homes.
Vaccination rates are being reviewed daily through involvement with the Ontario
Hospital Association and hospital CEOs, he says. Long-term Care Minister Rod
Phillips directed that staff, students and volunteers be barred from nursing homes as
of Nov. 15 unless they can show proof of vaccination or a medical exemption.
• Ontario is now making rapid COVID-19 testing available to schools in areas with
high transmission rates (The Canadian Press, October 5, 2021). Dr. Kieran Moore
says this can help identify cases and prevent transmission in schools and licensed
child-care centres. The tests will only be used for unvaccinated, asymptomatic
children who are not high-risk contacts of a case. If a child receives a positive result
from a rapid test, they will still need to get a lab-based PCR test to confirm it. The
announcement comes after groups of parents had organized surveillance testing for
their schools using rapid test kits from a provincial program, but the government told
agencies to stop distributing them to anyone but businesses.
• CBC News (October 5, 2021) reports that Copernicus Lodge says 36 per cent of its
staff remain unvaccinated – 84 out of a total of 343 – and are now on unpaid leave.
The province announced last week that all staff at Ontario long-term care homes
must be vaccinated against COVID-19 by mid-November. "We had a number of
people come in over the weekend, even today and on Friday, to get vaccinated. So,
I don't know if they left it till the last minute or if the government's announcement
also maybe prompted people to take that extra step," says a spokesperson for the
home. Officials at the home have heard a variety of reasons as to why staff won't
take the vaccine, ranging from misinformation to distrust and a perceived lack of
testing. The departure of so many workers makes it difficult for those remaining,
says Maricel San Pedro, a registered nurse. "I've been asked to take another shift
tomorrow, so I'll be working doubles," she says. "I think they aren't prepared ...
because a lot of staff didn't get a vaccine, so this is their last day … they really
expect the staff to get a vaccine … I really don't want to work doubles but I
understand."
• CBC News (October 7, 2021) has an in-depth report on those working in some long-
term care homes who tried to blow the whistle on unsafe working conditions during
COVID-19. Documents obtained by CBC News show that the ministry’s response
was to advise its inspectors to conduct field visits by phone — even as outbreaks in
long-term care facilities multiplied. "I feel that they let us down," says a worker from
8a Revera-run nursing home, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal. "If they
would have actually been able to come in and see the environment that we were
working in, and see how people were suffering, they would have seen the health and
safety inadequacies that were happening." CBC News obtained from the ministry the
health and safety reports from nine long-term care homes in eastern Ontario,
covering the period between March and November 2020. Though large sections are
redacted, emails, reports and handwritten notes still illustrate key issues at several
homes as the pandemic began, including complaints about a lack of proper
protective equipment (PPE), poor communication with staff, fear of reprisals for
speaking out about issues and concerns about staffing shortages. Over the past
year-and-a-half, close to 1,000 nursing home workers in Ottawa alone have tested
positive for COVID-19. Some were among those hospitalized. Some have never
returned to work. Three workers in the region died. Stoneridge Manor experienced
its first outbreak in early April 2020, a nurse wrote to the ministry on April 6,
concerned about a "lack of appropriate measures and procedures to respond to
COVID." One resident had already died and staff members were getting sick. The
nurse called the situation "very dangerous," and asked the ministry to interview "all
the RNs on site … by attending the workplace." Records show a field visit was done
by phone two days later, on April 8. When asked by CBC about the lack of on-site
visits in the early days of the pandemic, Ontario's Ministry of Labour, Training and
Skills Development said in a statement its inspectors "have conducted over 3,170
COVID-19 field visits in the long-term care sector, issuing over 1,100 orders" since
March 2020. CBC also asked Revera about the concerns outlined in the documents
regarding the company's homes in eastern Ontario. A company spokesperson
declined to comment. Workers in several homes, including Stoneridge, complained
about a lack of access to PPE, including high-grade N95 masks. At Carlingview
Manor, reports also note that workers were wearing garbage bags instead of gowns.
"They ended up locking up all of the masks, so the nurses didn't have access to it,"
sysd a worker from another Revera home, referring to the N95 respirators. Instead,
she says, nurses and personal support workers (PSWs) were given one surgical
mask to last an entire shift. At Madonna Care Community in Orleans, Ont., two
employees died after contracting COVID-19 in the spring of 2020. "One died within a
week of being tested. We all broke down and cried," says a worker at the care home,
who asked not to be named for fear of retribution. "We had equipment, but we
weren't given it.… We didn't have the staffing needed. We still don't have the staff."
An anonymous complaint was made to the Ministry of Labour warning
that Madonna was "not taking necessary precautions and practices to protect
workers from contracting COVID-19." The complaint says there was a lack of proper
PPE, including N95 masks that were locked away, and a lack of contact tracing and
surveillance. Twelve days later, on April 27, a ministry inspector conducted a field
visit by phone. In the meantime, a Madonna staff member had died on April 21.
Another worker died in May.
• The Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal (October 7, 2021) reports that the Canadian
Medical Association president says that Alberta and other provinces are “gaslighting”
health-care workers over the toll the pandemic has taken on the health-care system.
Dr. Katharine Smart says there's a feeling of hopelessness among health-care
9workers in the country that their governments are not listening to them as they try to
manage the pandemic and feel there's no end in sight. "What is happening in the
world when we have governments unwilling to listen to the people doing the job?"
she says. A lack of trained physicians and nurses to staff the extra beds promised by
politicians is giving the public the wrong impression. She adds that staff are being
denied time off and forced to work mandatory overtime to cover for the shortages.
The CMA joined the Canadian Nurses Association to hold an emergency summit
Tuesday with health-care workers discussing how to move forward, as COVID-19
cases climb in parts of the country, pushing health systems to the brink. Tim Guest,
president of the Canadian Nurses Association, says the health-care sector is facing
a "huge data gap" in knowing what resources are available for them, and what the
workforce looks like across the country. The federal government, which transfers
health funding to the provinces, should remedy this. The CMA and other
organizations are already working together to lobby the government to create a
national health workforce agency to better plan for the future of health human
resources, says Linda Silas, president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses. It
wanted to see the summit continue to focus their advocacy on the health workers
shortage, which has been exacerbated by exhausted nurses and other workers
leaving the industry entirely.
• The Toronto Star (October 6, 2021) reports that Canadians who want to book tickets
on planes, trains and some marine vessels must be fully vaccinated against COVID-
19. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the announcement, saying vaccination is a
condition of travel by October 30. The new rules also apply to cruise ships, which
are permitted to re-enter Canadian waters as of Nov. 1.
• The Stirling Community Press (October 7, 2021) reports that “a perfect pandemic
storm of increased and prolonged workload combined with a lack of personnel is
squeezing Ontario hospitals, and Quinte Health Care's are no exception.” Chief of
staff says the fatigue of health-care works cannot be overstated. Hospital CEO and
President Stacey Daub adds that visits to the ER in July and August were unusually
high and surpassed pre-pandemic numbers. Data from QHC's first fiscal quarter,
from March through July shows the four hospitals reported "notable increases" in
average length of stay, alternate-level-of-care beds per day and inpatient acuity.
Inpatient units were, in the last quarter, operating with 29 more beds, or a further 16
per cent, than seen during the second quarter of the previous fiscal year. All local
patients with COVID-19 are sent to Belleville General Hospital. On Tuesday there
were five there and four were unvaccinated "and of a younger age range" than in the
past, Daub says, noting she was not judging them based on vaccination status. QHC
has fewer people than it needs to care for all those patients - a problem that's not
unique. Vice-president of people and strategy Susan Rowe says QHC is trying to
recruit 142 people, 77 of them nurses. Other sought-after professionals include
respiratory therapists, medical laboratory technologists, and diagnostic imaging
technologists.
• The Manitoulin Expositor (October 6, 2021) reports that unlike many other hospitals
in the province which have policies in place mandating staff members to get
vaccinations for COVID-19 (who risk being suspended without pay for not getting
vaccinated by a certain date, and failing that face losing their job), the Manitoulin
10Health Centre (MHC) approach to the issue seems to be positive thus far. Those
staff who had initially refused to get vaccinated are changing their minds. “Our policy
on new hires is that they have to be fully vaccinated,” says Paula Fields, co-chief
executive officer (CEO) of the MHC. “Currently our staff are to be double vaccinated,
and those who have only had one vaccination need to be tested weekly until 14 days
after their second dose. Those who have chosen not to get vaccinated have to go
through a learning program, sign a declaration form and they have to be tested on a
minimum weekly basis currently because there are no active COVID-19 cases on
the Island. We only have four staff that have chosen not be vaccinated. We are
doing really well, better than a lot of hospitals.”
• Most Bluewater Health staff are “in line to comply” with the hospital’s COVID-19
vaccine or terminate policy that begins October 31 (Sarnia Observer, October 6,
2021). CEO and president Mike Lapaine says, “What we know today, and we’re
hoping it continues to change, is we have over 97 per cent of our staff fully
vaccinated.” A “pretty small number” aren’t yet fully vaccinated but are in the queue
and should have both doses, as well as the two-week window needed for the second
dose to take effect, by mid-November, he says. Those employees will be on unpaid
leave but won’t lose their jobs, so long as the demonstrated intention is to get
vaccinated. “We don’t want any unvaccinated staff to be working with our fully
vaccinated staff or our patients, but those that are making a commitment to be fully
vaccinated clearly will not lose their employment here at Bluewater Health.” Roughly
30 to 40 hospital workers haven’t disclosed their vaccination status at all, he says,
“so we’re assuming they remain unvaccinated.” Many of those jobs have already
been posted, communications and public affairs chief Julia Oosterman says. “We’re
planning for that staff to not be on the schedule as of Nov. 1,” says the CEO.
• Health Sciences North has more than 30 RN and RPN job postings on its website
(Sudbury.com, October 6, 2021). The current vacancies are almost identical to job
postings that were listed six months ago at HSN in the first week of April 2021.
Some of the latest job offerings are for temporary positions. Most are for permanent
positions. This comes amidst recent Toronto media reports suggesting that the
nursing profession in Ontario is in a crisis. Information and advocacy groups have
addressed what they say is a shortage of nurses, including the Careers in Nursing
website, which says, "Canada is facing a growing nursing shortage, largely because
of an aging nursing workforce. Even if lots of new nurses are trained, it will be very
difficult to offset the large number of nursing retirements that are anticipated." The
website predicted that by 2022, Canada will face a shortage of 60,000 RNs. The
pandemic has had a negative impact on the RN shortage, making it much more
serious than it had already been as burned-out nurses retire early or leave the
profession.
• A report in the Hamilton Spectator (October 7, 2021) says that home-care
providers are sounding the alarm about a staffing shortage which they say is part of
what’s causing the ongoing influx of patients in hospitals, including in Hamilton.
Home Care Ontario is concerned about rising demand as hospitals work through an
estimated provincial backlog of 419,000 surgeries, while battling both COVID-
19 and flu season. CEO Sue VanderBent says, “We’re on the precipice. There’s just
going to be a dam bursting of people who want surgery and want to get care. “And
11then there’s another dam that’s going to burst, which is every one of those people is
going to need home care.” Home Care Ontario says they’ve lost 3,000 nurses and
“countless more” personal support workers (PSWs) since the pandemic began. As a
result, the Hamilton-based group of Ontario care providers launched a campaign,
asking for $600 million to be spent urgently to hire 3,810 nurses, PSWs and other
staff to treat existing patients and prepare for an influx of patients receiving surgery.
In Hamilton, St. Joseph’s Home Care is down more than 20 per cent of its baseline
of 70 nurses, including some part-time and casual staff. After seeing a decline in
staffing in summer 2020, the provider has been steadily working at a “deficit” for
about a year, says president Carolyn Gosse. Some retired early due to burnout
during the pandemic, others left the profession for other health-care jobs with higher
pay. She says it’s going to be “a real challenge” for home care to keep up with the
rising demand of surgery in hospitals.
• CBC News (October 6, 2021) reports on a St. Catharines family who – one week
into the school year – all became infected with COVID-19. Haley Bateman, her
partner and their three kids all have been infected. Bateman says she worries it may
have been due to an unvaccinated worker at the school and that the school board
isn't doing enough to ensure staff are getting vaccinated and informing the school of
their vaccination status. She also wants the school board to stop unvaccinated
educators from entering the building. Hamilton's public and Catholic school boards
say on their websites that, of the staff and trustees who have declared their
vaccination status, 91.5 per cent and 83.3 per cent were double vaccinated,
respectively.
• CBC News (October 7, 2021) reports that many pediatricians are refusing to see
patients in person during the pandemic and are instead directing families to hospital.
The Ministry of Health says that since July, it has encouraged all doctors to resume
seeing both kids and adults in person. While August is usually SickKids emergency
department's quietest month, so far this year it's the busiest with close to 6,000
patients — 40 per cent more than the same month last year, and 15 per cent more
than in 2019, says division head Dr. Jason Fischer. The Ontario Medical Association
says it encourages pediatricians to see patients in person and has provided
suggestions on how it can be done safely. Ultimately, it’s up to individual clinics to
determine if it's feasible.
• Another CBC News report (October 7, 2021) says the country's pandemic early
warning system has issued only a handful of alerts — most of them unrelated to
deadly variants of COVID-19 — since facing intense public scrutiny and criticism
from Canada's auditor general, new federal documents show. Records reveal
that between January 2020 and May 2021, the Global Public Health Intelligence
Network (GPHIN) delivered only five infectious disease alerts to its nearly 900
subscribers worldwide. The early warning system had stopped issuing bulletins and
was largely silent throughout 2020 — just prior to and during the early phases of the
COVID-19 pandemic — but resumed in the fall of last year following widespread
criticism. It had been muzzled the year before by a series of internal decisions at the
Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). The agency wanted the surveillance
system — which scours the internet for signs of infectious disease outbreaks — to
focus more on domestic health concerns. Of the five bulletins that were issued, only
12one of them — sent on Nov. 4, 2020 — signaled concern about a possible
coronavirus variant that reportedly had appeared on a mink farm in Denmark and
may have made the leap from animals to humans.
• Grand River Hospital’s ER has a packed waiting room stretchers lined up in
halways, a full ambulance bay and one dozen of the sickest patients waiting for in-
patient beds to open up (The Record, October 7, 2021). The pandemic is far from
over in the Kitchener hospital’s emergency unit, where stressed staff are scrambling
to keep up with unprecedented numbers of patients every day. On top of continuing
to deal with COVID-19 and extensive pandemic precautions, there’s a growing
number of patients who still having trouble getting the care they need in the
community or whose chronic conditions worsened because they’ve put off treatment
since the pandemic hit. The pandemic’s impact on the emergency department is felt
every day by staff. “It has been very difficult,” says registered nurse Nancy Syvret,
who has worked there for 25 years. We don’t sleep at night … You do have anxiety
before you come in.” Patients are more acute, sicker. Mental health complaints are
seen more frequently, along with more non-urgent patients coming in for the care
and services they can’t get in the community because options remain limited due to
pandemic precautions. “People are frustrated outside before they even come in,”
Syvret says. “Verbal, physical abuse is very present here.” The unrelenting pressure
with no end in sight prompted some nurses to scale back their hours from full time to
casual, others are on stress leave while early retirement became a welcome option
for others. New graduates are being hired, but the competition is stiff because all
hospitals need more nurses and it takes time to have the experience to deal with the
most serious trauma cases. The department is often short staffed, usually by at least
two nurses.
• Moderna is asking Health Canada to authorize a booster shot for its COVID-19
vaccine (The Canadian Press, October 6, 2021). The company submitted data on a
booster shot that is half the size of the doses used to give first and second shots of
the vaccine so far. Last month Moderna said there were signs immunity was waning
the longer people got from their doses. Public health and vaccine experts in Canada
are leery of recommending booster shots for most Canadians because the vaccines
thus far are showing to maintain strong protection against severe disease even if
protection against infection at all is dropping. Health Canada says it received the
application from Moderna and in a tweet said it is “conducting a thorough,
independent and evidence-based review of the submission.”
• As the province tries to recruit more long-term care workers, current and former staff
members still struggle to cope with the trauma of the COVID-19 pandemic (CBC,
October 8, 2021). At an Ontario Health Coalition rally, workers warned that hiring
new recruits won’t fix the complex problems the pandemic brought to light in long-
term care homes. They want the government to promise more full-time, permanent
jobs and better wages and benefits.
• The Windsor Regional Hospital has fired 57 employees who failed to get vaccinated
against COVID-19 before this week’s deadline (The Canadian Press, October 7,
2021). The hospital said 98.5 per cent of its employees and professional staff
complied with the vaccine policy. Ninety-nine per cent of the hospital’s nurses are
13fully vaccinated. Thirty-two of the workers who were fired were clinical staff while 25
were non-clinical.
• Eighty-one staff members at Windsor area hospitals have been fired after failing to
be vaccinated against COVID-19 (CBC, October 7, 2021). Two weeks ago, 140
employees and seven professional staff at Windsor Regional Hospital (WRH) and 32
employees at Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare (HDGH) were suspended without pay.
Staff had until this Thursday to get vaccinated or provide an approved exemption or
else their employment would be terminated. Fifty-seven employees at WRH failed to
comply by the deadline and have been terminated, while 6 professional staff have
had their privileges at the hospital suspended. Twenty-four employees and two
professional staff at HDGH have failed to comply with its vaccine policy.
• Ontario’s health minister won’t rule out extending mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations
to health-care workers in hospitals but faces criticism from opposition leaders for the
government’s “wait and see approach” (CP24, October 7, 2021). On Thursday,
Christine Elliott rejected criticism from opposition MPPs over the government’s
decision to mandate vaccines in long-term care while allowing unvaccinated health-
care workers in other sectors to keep working as long as they participate in regular
testing. “The reality is that the people in our long-term care homes are the most
vulnerable, they are the ones where we have seen breakouts happen and that is
why the minister of long-term care has created a mandatory vaccine policy to make
sure those people are safe,” she said. “But rest assured should we see a similar
situation unfolding, and we're watching this very carefully on a daily basis, we won't
hesitate to introduce it elsewhere.”
• The federal government is considering vaccine mandate exemptions for people in
some remote Indigenous communities (The Canadian Press, October 7, 2021). A
new government policy requires proof of full vaccination at least 14 days before
boarding planes and trains, for all passengers over the age of 12. Exemptions could
apply to 182 “remote” communities, many of which can only be reached by plane.
Human Rights & Equity coverage:
• A report in CBC News (October 6, 2021) examines the inequities experienced by
Indigenous peoples at Sudbury’s Health Sciences North. Jessica Rickard has been
in and out of the hospital dozens of times in the past year — often experiencing cold
sweats, a bad cough, and feeling weak and sore. She says it took months, and
multiple visits to Sudbury's Health Sciences North (HSN), to finally be diagnosed
with and treated for bronchitis. "They would just tell me, 'Oh it sounds like a cold' and
just tell me ‘there's nothing wrong with you,' and send me on my way," Rickard says.
"There's not even any words to describe it, really. I don't go to the hospital unless I
know something is actually wrong with me, so to go there and be told that is, I don't
know, very frustrating." It took going to HSN with patient advocates to finally
have her concerns taken seriously and get the care she needed. She's one of
several Indigenous patients who say their concerns haven't been properly addressed
at HSN. Rickard got treatment for bronchitis when she was accompanied to HSN by
a volunteer with The Go Give Project, an outreach group that works with vulnerable,
mostly unhoused people in Sudbury. Executive director Evie Ali says she started
offering to accompany clients on hospital visits in January this year, after she
14became concerned some of them weren't receiving adequate care. She says she's
now at the hospital twice a week on average. "Very quickly we were able to see ...
there is a big gap in discrimination and sort of stigma, especially around our
Indigenous people," Ali says. She emailed hospital CEO Dominic Giroux several
times in January but did not hear back. HSN says it never received any emails from
The Go Give Project. CBC has seen a copy of an email sent from Ali to Giroux, as
well as HSN's corporate affairs liaison, Anne Gauthier, sent on Jan. 25. HSN
communications manager Jason Turnbull says Giroux's and Gauthier's inboxes were
searched, but no email from that date was found. HSN declined CBC's request for
an interview, saying that due to privacy legislation, it could not comment specifically
about any patients. It takes "complaints related to discrimination very seriously" and
is "dedicated to providing a culturally safe environment" for patients, visitors and
staff, says HSN.
• An opinion column (Toronto Star, October 3, 2021) says that Canada “failed to seize
the opportunity to hold our leaders accountable on equity issues” in the recent
federal election. In the lead up to the election, we had unprecedented conversations
about the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on racialized people; anti-Black
racism in policing; Islamophobic violence; the unearthing of thousands of Indigenous
children who died at Canadian residential schools; and a spike in hate crimes
against members of the Asian community. Yet none of the political parties prioritized
equity, diversity and inclusion issues in their platforms, tours or advertising. Erin
Tolley, Canada research chair in gender, race and inclusive politics at Carleton
University, suggests party leaders, the media and the public all play a role in
sparking — and continuing — these conversations. Tolley says that “there is a long
history in Canada of parties not seeing a focus on multiculturalism, immigration or
diversity as a winning strategy. They see those issues as divisive. All parties know
they need to discuss the economy because voters demand it, but these other issues
are viewed as niche. If voters don’t put pressure on parties, then parties are going to
ignore the issue. So when we’re thinking about who to blame, I don’t only blame
parties.” In this year’s campaign, we watched as the debate moment barely
scratched the surface; as the racism, sexism, and anti-Semitism faced by Annamie
Paul, former leader of the Green Party of Canada, didn’t raise eyebrows; and as
NDP MP Don Davies was given a pass on his unacceptable comments against his
opponent Virginia Bremner, a Filipino-Canadian woman.
• A report in CBC News (October 6, 2021) examines the inequities experienced by
Indigenous peoples at Sudbury’s Health Sciences North. Jessica Rickard has been
in and out of the hospital dozens of times in the past year — often experiencing cold
sweats, a bad cough, and feeling weak and sore. She says it took months, and
multiple visits to Sudbury's Health Sciences North (HSN), to finally be diagnosed
with and treated for bronchitis. "They would just tell me, 'Oh it sounds like a cold' and
just tell me ‘there's nothing wrong with you,' and send me on my way," Rickard says.
"There's not even any words to describe it, really. I don't go to the hospital unless I
know something is actually wrong with me, so to go there and be told that is, I don't
know, very frustrating." It took going to HSN with patient advocates to finally
have her concerns taken seriously and get the care she needed. She's one of
several Indigenous patients who say their concerns haven't been properly addressed
15at HSN. Rickard got treatment for bronchitis when she was accompanied to HSN by
a volunteer with The Go Give Project, an outreach group that works with vulnerable,
mostly unhoused people in Sudbury. Executive director Evie Ali says she started
offering to accompany clients on hospital visits in January this year, after she
became concerned some of them weren't receiving adequate care. She says she's
now at the hospital twice a week on average. "Very quickly we were able to see ...
there is a big gap in discrimination and sort of stigma, especially around our
Indigenous people," Ali says. She emailed hospital CEO Dominic Giroux several
times in January but did not hear back. HSN says it never received any emails from
The Go Give Project. CBC has seen a copy of an email sent from Ali to Giroux, as
well as HSN's corporate affairs liaison, Anne Gauthier, sent on Jan. 25. HSN
communications manager Jason Turnbull says Giroux's and Gauthier's inboxes were
searched, but no email from that date was found. HSN declined CBC's request for
an interview, saying that due to privacy legislation, it could not comment specifically
about any patients. It takes "complaints related to discrimination very seriously" and
is "dedicated to providing a culturally safe environment" for patients, visitors and
staff, says HSN.
Industry coverage:
• Moira Welsh (Toronto Star, October 4, 2021) reports that as the province opens
long-term care legislation for the first time in more than a decade, non-profit nursing
homes say the entire system is “on the brink of collapse.” AdvantageOntario says
that staff are exhausted from COVID-19 and there is a “chronic lack of resources
and a byzantine regulatory structure for the non-profits, municipal and charitable
homes, and they call for the province to reform the law so workers can focus on
residents’ mental health. If the government eliminates the old, institutional-style of
care, residents could enjoy their final years pursuing individual interests such as
painting or gardening with the freedom to eat and sleep on their schedule — not the
rigid times dictated by legislation, says Lisa Levin, Advantage Ontario CEO. Levin
wants the new law to support “emotion-focused care” that puts resident needs first.
The Act’s current regulations do little to improve quality of life. Inspectors can cite a
home for the temperature of mashed potatoes, but there is nothing to uphold a
resident’s right of friendship or the freedom to choose how to spend their day. The
Ministry of Long-Term Care is opening the Act this fall, with the expectation that it
will add a requirement for an average of four hours of daily care by 2024-25 (which
will require more staff) and tougher enforcement rules, although it already has the
power to fine and take control of troubled homes if it chooses.
• Canadian Blood Services is encouraging people to donate blood, whether or not
they have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 (CBC News, October 6, 2021).
Waterloo region CBS manager Gina Leyva says that proof of vaccination is not
required to donate blood and has no impact on the ability to do so. "There is no
deferral period or wait period after having the vaccination," says Leyva. "If you have
a vaccination today, you can donate today, tomorrow. There's no waiting period."
• St. Joseph’s General Hospital in Elliott Lake is facing several challenges right now,
including recruiting doctors and nurses and housing and accommodation issues
(Elliott Lake Standard, October 7, 2021). "We are providing a care that we call first
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