Dear Editor:
As a disclaimer, I retired after over 30 years as an a administrator in long-term care, but I am not writing with an axe to grind or as an apologist for the negligent owners in this field of health care.
I am concerned with the current direction of governments and the media to paint all long-term care homes with the same brush.
Throughout this pandemic we have been informed on an almost hourly basis of the horrific deaths in a number of LTC homes and this is a tragedy beyond measure . What is not being pointed out is that there are, I believe, over 600 long-term care homes in the province. They are staffed with thousands of dedicated people who have worked tirelessly through this crisis to keep the virus at bay and protect the residents in their care. Many homes had outbreaks and were able to contain them and residents recovered. These numbers are not being reported.
Where deaths did occur the impact on staff must have been unprecedented. Over the years I have seen staff in tears over the death of a resident they have cared for. To deal with this multiple times on a daily basis and continue working takes a special kind of strength. Let’s not forget these heroic efforts in our rush to judgements.
Certainly long-term care requires a hard look (and this seems like déjà vu), but let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water.
Peter Barnes,
Mount Forest