WINNIPEG -- With the majority of long-term care facilities in Winnipeg now dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak, the Winnipeg Health Authority (WRHA) has launched a region-wide review to see how staff can be redeployed to help deal with the workload.
According to Manitoba Health officials, the Transitional Care Unit C6 at Misericordia Health Centre and Grace Hospital Unit 4 South have both declared outbreaks on Friday.
The province also announced Kin Place Personal Care Home in Oakbank has also declared a COVID-19 outbreak.
All three facilities are now at the critical or red level on the Pandemic Response System.
OUTBREAKS IN MAJORITY OF WINNIPEG LONG TERM CARE FACILITIES
The WRHA said as of Friday morning, 27 of Winnipeg's 39 long-term care facilities were experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak, though the majority of the outbreaks involve fewer than five cases.
It said the larger outbreaks in Winnipeg include:
- Beacon Hill Lodge
- Bethania Mennonite Personal Care Home
- Charleswood Care Centre
- Fred Douglas Lodge
- Golden Links Lodge
- Holy Family Home
- Maples PCH
- Oakview Place
- Park Manor Care
- Simkin Centre
- St Norbert PCH
The health authority said onsite clinical leads have started working at Fred Douglas Lodge, Park Manor, and Charleswood Care Centre, in addition to five other care homes struggling with a COVID-19 outbreak.
"These site leads are working with the management of each of these facilities to provide oversight and guidance on resident/clinical care aspects, staff scheduling, infection prevention and control practices, and family communication," the WRHA said.
WRHA TO CONDUCT REGION-WIDE REVIEW
The outbreaks have prompted the WRHA to conduct a region-wide review that will find staff who can be redeployed to personal care homes and other priority areas.
The health authority said as of Thursday, 244 shifts in personal care homes were filled by 100 home care staff that volunteered or were reassigned in the past two weeks.
"The WRHA has established a central process to manage and prioritize requests from PCHs for additional staff resources," the WRHA said in an update posted online.
"This flexibility in the health care system allows us to focus our staffing resources on the areas of greatest need, which is necessary during these unprecedented and difficult times."
THREE WINNIPEG OUTBREAKS OVER, OTHERS SEE NUMBERS STABILIZE
Provincial health officials also announced on Friday that three COVID-19 outbreaks in Winnipeg have been declared over. Two of those outbreaks were at Francophone schools in Winnipeg, Collège Louis-Riel and Collège Leo Remillard. The third outbreak was at the Convalescent Home in Winnipeg.
The WRHA said the outbreak at the Parkview Place personal care home has made "significant progress" in terms of staffing and case numbers.
It said a number of residents at the Golden Links Lodge are also expected to recover soon.
A number of other care homes have also seen numbers of cases and staffing levels stabilize, according to the WRHA, which said this includes the Maples care home, Simkin Centre, and Golden Links Lodge.
It is also monitoring the situation at Park Manor Care and Charleswood Care Centre, both of which are seeing COVID-19 cases increase among staff and residents.
"As a result of staff illness, staffing at these sites are critically challenged and active measures are in place to fill shifts going into the weekend," the health authority said.
