12th resident dies in Parkside Extendicare outbreak in Regina

A 12th resident at the Parkside Extendicare home has died, and more people who were moved to a separate Regina care home have now tested positive for COVID-19, as the Saskatchewan Health Authority grapples with the worst care-home outbreak in the province.

Health officials held a news conference about the outbreak on Thursday, one day after an announcement that the health authority had taken over day-to-day operations at the private care home.

Fully updated infections numbers were still to come Thursday, but one official confirmed that among the 25 Parkside residents who had been moved to Pioneer Village, 19 have now tested positive for COVID-19.

The residents, who had previously tested negative, were transferred in an effort to curb the spread of the virus.

The Pioneer Village care home is dealing with a much smaller COVID-19 outbreak of its own, with five residents in a separate ward infected. Four staff members at Pioneer Village are also infected. 

Officials declined to answer when asked if Extendicare policies had been lacking before the SHA stepped in, with one saying, "I won't say better or worse."

But officials promised a review of all long-term care homes in light of outbreaks at Parkside and other Saskatchewan long-term care homes.

As of Wednesday, 149 residents at the 228-bed facility had tested positive for the virus. The vast majority of those cases — 123 cases — remained active. In addition, 57 Parkside staff members had tested positive, with 30 of those workers staying at home as they remain infected.

Past staffing concerns

Barbara Cape, the president of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) West and a former cook at Parkside, said the Saskatchewan government needs to answer for the outbreak.

She said communication needed to be beefed up between provincial health officials and the home, which is privately-run but monitored by Saskatchewan's Ministry of Health.

Cape said the home has long faced staffing shortages. She said extra supplies of PPE from the health authority weren't made available to the home until late November, when the outbreak emerged.

"I need my government to acknowledge some of the failings here," Cape said. "I need them to say, 'You know what? We screwed up here and there. We're going to have a report. We're going to have an investigation, and we will do better next time.'"

Staffing situation more stable now: SHA

During Thursday's news conference, one Saskatchewan Health Authority official said the staffing situation at Parkside is now much more stable. Military intervention is not needed, another said. 

Care aides, licensed practical nurses and continuing-care assistants have been asked to volunteer to cover staffing shortfalls at Parkside, according to a Thursday news release from the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 5430. The union represents about 14,000 workers in the Regina area.

"We believe that there will be CUPE members who step in to help out at Parkside Extendicare, but the Saskatchewan government needs to stop turning a blind eye to CUPE's ongoing concerns with staffing levels in long-term care," CUPE 5430 president Sandra Seitz said in the release. 

"If the Saskatchewan Health Authority continues to understaff long-term care facilities, health-care workers are going to burn out at record levels." 

Scott Livingstone, the health authority's CEO, said Wednesday that the SHA has supported Extendicare on the ground, including "making sure the PPE is there and being used appropriately to care for the patients." Four Regina firefighters and a respiratory therapist were among the people provided, he added.