Workers with Canadian Red Cross aim to ease burden on staff at province's long-term care homes

Quebec's long-term care homes, which have been the site of the majority of deaths related to COVID-19, are welcoming a new round of reinforcements. 

Workers with the Canadian Red Cross workers began arriving in CHSLDs on Tuesday. 

The humanitarian organization has trained more than 600 workers in an effort to ease the ongoing staffing shortages in CHSLDs. They are expected to remain in place until September.

The Canadian military left long-term care homes last month. 

Carole Du Sault, spokesperson for the Canadian Red Cross, said its workers are not medically trained, but will assist with orderlies, known in French as PABs, by keeping residents company and helping feed them. 

"They have the training to protect themselves," said Du Sault.  "To put the equipment on properly, to take off the equipment properly, and also to be able to protect other workers and the people they are going to be with." 

The Red Cross is asking all workers to stay on full-time for a minimum of six weeks. They will be paid, in part, from the $100 million the federal government gave the organization in May. 

The province's regional health boards have been in touch with the Red Cross to determine which long-term care homes should be prioritized first.  

On Tuesday, the Red Cross began work in two homes in the Lachine borough: the Centre d'hébergement de Lachine and Nazaire-Piché. 

Holly Hayes, who is currently completing a master's degree in health policy, was one of the workers who started a five-week contract at Nazaire-Piché this week. 

"The training was great. I feel like they really covered all the bases as far as things that I wouldn't have expected being in the training, ranging from how to really honour the residents' autonomy to, of course, your basic infection prevention control," Hayes said.  "I feel prepared." 

Hayes is taking on the role of health and safety advisor at the long-term care home.

"My role is to really look out for their safety to see where we can improve and make sure that measures are in place to prevent transmission and just to keep everyone healthy and safe," said Hayes.  

While the Canadian Military left the province's long-term care homes June 29, a spokesperson says they have 70 nurses and technicians on standby in case of an emergency. 

The Red Cross is expected to stay in long-term care homes until the fall, after which the province expects to have hired 10,000 new PABs through its training program. 

While the organization has not yet reached its goal of training 900 workers and volunteers, Du Sault said they are continuing their recruitment process.