⚠️ Content warning: mention of deaths.
A Nova Scotia judge has certified a class action lawsuit against Northwood, a company that was described as at the epicentre of COVID-19 deaths in the province at the height of the pandemic in 2020.
Some 53 people died in the Northwood complex in north-end Halifax.
A lawsuit was launched shortly after the deaths. On Thursday, Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Scott Norton certified it as a class action.
Comments closedClass action lawsuits against six of Ontario’s largest for-profit long-term care (LTC) home providers, claiming gross negligence that led to illnesses and deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic, have been allowed to proceed.
In a ruling last week, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice certified class action suits against Sienna, Revera, Schlegel, Responsive, Extendicare and Chartwell.
The separate class actions were filed on behalf of thousands of clients, family members and visitors, who allege the companies were unprepared to provide care during the pandemic and failed to protect the health of residents and visitors.
Comments closedThe Ontario Superior Court authorizes six class actions against private operators of long-term care homes charged with negligence during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The complainants allege that the operators of these homes were not at all prepared for a pandemic and did not take the necessary measures to protect their residents and visitors. More than 200 centres, owned and managed by Chartwell Retirement Residences, Extendicare, Responsive Group, Revera, Schlegel Villages and Sienna Senior Living, are subject to these class actions.
Comments closedA health advocacy coalition and the daughter of a deceased long-term-care resident have launched a court challenge against the Ministry of Long-term Care’s approval of the expansion of a Pickering home where the Canadian military reported disturbing conditions during the pandemic.
The challenge announced Tuesday calls for a judicial review of the ministry’s decision to approve an 87-bed expansion of Orchard Villa long-term-care home and a new 30-year licence for its parent company, Southbridge Care Homes.
The home would also redevelop 131 of its 233 existing long-term care beds.
Orchard Villa was one of five homes that the military entered in April 2020, when it reported inadequate staff training and resident care within the facility. According to the recent court filing, 206 of Orchard Villa’s 233 residents had COVID by spring 2020. During the first wave, 71 residents died at the home.
Comments closedThe Covid-19 pandemic would be a wake-up call for America, advocates for the elderly predicted: incontrovertible proof that the nation wasn’t doing enough to care for vulnerable older adults.
The death toll was shocking, as were reports of chaos in nursing homes and seniors suffering from isolation, depression, untreated illness, and neglect. Around 900,000 older adults have died of Covid-19 to date, accounting for 3 of every 4 Americans who have perished in the pandemic.
But decisive actions that advocates had hoped for haven’t materialized. Today, most people — and government officials — appear to accept Covid as a part of ordinary life. Many seniors at high risk aren’t getting antiviral therapies for Covid, and most older adults in nursing homes aren’t getting updated vaccines. Efforts to strengthen care quality in nursing homes and assisted living centers have stalled amid debate over costs and the availability of staff. And only a small percentage of people are masking or taking other precautions in public despite a new wave of covid, flu, and respiratory syncytial virus infections hospitalizing and killing seniors.
Comments closedA judge has authorized a class-action lawsuit against the Quebec government on behalf of all residents of public long-term care homes that experienced major COVID-19 outbreaks during the pandemic’s first year.
The lawsuit in Superior Court alleges that the province’s response to the first two waves of COVID-19 was improvised and that a pre-existing pandemic plan was ignored until it was too late.
Members of the class action include anyone living in a public long-term care centre that experienced a COVID-19 outbreak that infected at least 25 per cent of residents between March 13, 2020 and March 20, 2021.
Comments closedFollowing numerous representations, a group represented by lawyer Patrick Martin-Ménard has obtained authorization to proceed with a class action against the Government of Quebec on behalf of residents of long-term care facilities (CHSLDs) that experienced COVID-19 outbreaks during the first two waves of the pandemic, and on behalf of the families of those who died.
The main complainant in this application originally filed in April 2020, Jean-Pierre Daubois, had lost her 94-year-old mother, a resident of the Sainte-Dorothée CHSLD in Laval. During this first wave, nearly half of the residents infected with COVID-19 in this facility had died.
According to the judgment consulted by Radio-Canada, nearly 120 public CHSLDs will be included in the class action.
Comments closedLawyers representing long-term care residents who suffered or died during the COVID-19 pandemic argued a class-action suit against hundreds of homes is the best way for those patients — and their loved ones — to get justice.
On Monday, plaintiff lawyers laid out their case before a Superior Court judge who will decide whether or not the proposed class action can go ahead. The suit, which is actually eight proceedings combined, names 304 independent and municipal homes, capturing almost half of the long-term care facilities in Ontario.
Comments closedInterior Health (IH) has completely withdrawn its COVID-19 rapid antigen tests (RAT) from its facilities.
This is according to an internal memo obtained by Global News.
“(The rapid tests) are not reliable for diagnosis of COVID-19,” the memo stated.
“As such COVID-19 RAT testing can no longer be used to direct clinical care or infection prevention and control measures, and must be discontinued immediately in Interior Health affiliated emergency rooms, hospitals, long-term care facilities (and) outpatient settings.”
Comments closedRespiratory virus outbreaks in Ontario’s long-term care homes remains dominated by COVID-19, with nearly 16,000 cases of the virus reported in the last four months.
According to a newly released report by Public Health Ontario, there have been 850 confirmed outbreaks in long-term care homes since Aug. 27, 2023.
This is compared to 32 influenza outbreaks and 32 Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) outbreaks.
Comments closedNew Brunswick reported two more deaths from COVID-19, a week-over-week jump in hospitalizations and nursing home outbreaks because of the virus, and an increase in flu cases and hospitalizations Tuesday.
Comments closedAfter 2023, funding for Covid-related services is set to end in BC.
For nearly four years now, British Columbians have been grappling with Covid-19. We’re currently aided by health management initiatives like vaccination, testing, and protective equipment for healthcare workers. Since 2021, these measures have been funded by BC’s Pandemic Recovery Contingencies, a three-year plan that also sustains economic recovery programs and supports for vulnerable community members.
This plan expires at the end of 2023. After that, our government anticipates that “most initiatives will wind down or be integrated into existing government programs.”
Comments closedThere are currently two dozen COVID-19 outbreaks reported at long-term care homes across Nova Scotia, and some health-care officials are concerned about a lack of COVID protocols.
Comments closedFor the fourth week in a row, the community risk index for COVID-19 for the Peterborough, Ont., region remains at a high level, public health officials report.
Comments closedOver the past six days, numerous COVID-19 outbreaks have been reported in local long-term care homes, retirement homes and hospitals. The Thunder Bay District Health…
Comments closedA new report from Statistics Canada has found that more women died of COVID-19 than men did during the earliest months of the pandemic.
Comments closedMore than 100 long-term care residents have died of COVID-19 since late August.
Ontario’s provincial government has announced that staff in long-term care homes are now required to wear masks in the face of an increase in COVID-19 outbreaks, cases and hospitalizations of residents.
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