KITCHENER -- Public health officials and the team at the hardest-hit long-term care home in the region have devised a plan to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Forest Heights Revera LTC currently accounts for 144 cases of COVID-19 in the region: 103 cases in residents and 41 in staff.
Twelve residents have died.
According to a news release issued on Monday, Region of Waterloo Public Health officials and the Forest Heights team have agreed to move some of the residents there out of the home and into hospitals around the region.
Parent company Revera says that Grand River Hospital, St. Mary's General Hospital and Cambridge Memorial Hospital have all volunteered to accept transfers.
As many as 40 residents could be temporarily moved into hospital beds in an effort to allow more efficient isolation and better deep-cleaning of the home.
The plan to move them is:
- Determine which residents are medically sound to be moved
- Consult residents and their families about the move, seeking consent
- Transport them to hospital by April 22, where hospital staff will support and care for them
- Return them back to Forest Heights when appropriate
Revera also hopes it will provide some relief to Forest Heights staff, who have been "working incredibly hard, long hours to care for our residents," the news release reads in part.
"This will provide some much needed relief to the staff at Forest Heights, who have been working fearlessly and tirelessly to manage this unprecedented pandemic outbreak," Revera's Chief Medical Officer Dr. Rhonda Collins is quoted in a news release.
The company says the hospitals will offer the same level of care and monitoring that residents receive at Forest Heights until they can return.
Correction:
This is a corrected story. A previous version said that there were 103 cases of COVID-19 in staff at Forest Heights Revera LTC, and 41 cases in residents.
In fact, there are 103 cases of COVID-19 in residents and 41 cases in staff.
