Dear Actionmarguerite Families, Staff, Physicians, and members of the community,
COVID-19 Update #7 – January 11, 2022
Actionmarguerite St. Boniface, Actionmarguerite St. Joseph, Actionmarguerite St. Vital
This wave of the pandemic continues to critically affect our health system as well as our entire community. We are all living the impacts both at very personal and professional levels. We are seeing in this wave that the virus spreads quickly and is relentless. This has led to staff and residents testing positive at unprecedented levels. Today, we are reporting the following:
Outbreak status
Actionmarguerite St. Boniface
- A total of four (4) floors have declared outbreaks* (2ABC, 3ABC, 4ABC, and 5ABC).
- An additional resident has tested positive for a total of 27 residents who are COVID positive.
- An additional nine (9) staff members have tested positive for a total of 55 (40 of these employees have since recovered).
Actionmarguerite St. Vital
- A total of two (2) units have declared outbreaks (2nd floor and 3rd floor).
- An additional eight (8) residents have tested positive for a total of 24 residents affected.
- An additional ten (10) staff members have tested positive for a total of 23 (14 of these employees have since recovered).
Actionmarguerite St. Joseph
- One (1) unit has a declared outbreak (1st floor).
- An additional resident has tested positive for a total of three (3) residents who are affected.
- An additional four (4) staff members have tested positive for a total of 11 (3 of these employees have since recovered).
*N.B. For an outbreak to be declared there must be two cases that are linked together. This can include any combination of staff, visitors, and residents.
As you can see, across Actionmarguerite sites, more than 80 employees have tested positive and approximately 50 have recovered. As a comparison, only three (3) staff tested positive during our last outbreak at Actionmarguerite St. Boniface in 2021. Despite there being a decrease from a 10 to 5-day isolation period for staff positive COVID cases, employees are not always ready to return to work, particularly because of lingering symptoms. We have been fortunate to receive continued support from the WRHA through an on-site support lead and their infection prevention and control team. Unfortunately, due to the shortage of nurses and health care aides in the Province, the pool of available human resources within our health system is inadequate to provide staffing support needed. Staffing therefore continues to be precarious, and we adapt day-by-day and, at times, moment by moment.
As we have noted previously, Actionmarguerite employees are showing up and rising to the occasion to care for residents. The fatigue is real for everyone, and our employees, leaders, and physicians continue going above and beyond day-in and day-out.
By the end of this week, we will begin reaching out to the essential visitors who had provided their name to our social work team indicating their interest in assisting with our efforts. The presence of these essential visitors will serve to bolster our human resources and we thank those of you who are ready to resume your presence at Actionmarguerite. Prior to their first visit, these essential visitors will be provided with an education session on Safe Visitation During an Outbreak and asked to sign a pledge. It is important to understand that their presence is welcome during an outbreak and that they are assisting at their own risk. Our social work team will provide further information on how these essential visitors will be able to contribute.
Further discernment is taking place on how we can facilitate the presence of one essential visitor per resident. We will keep you abreast of developments. If you would like your name added to the next list of essential visitors able to assist in our efforts send your contact information to:
-
- Actionmarguerite St. Boniface – Nicole Nadeau-Fréchette : nnadeau@actionmarguerite.ca
- Actionmarguerite St. Joseph – Nasrin Sepehri: nsepehri@actionmarguerite.ca
- Actionmarguerite St. Vital – Lise Cloutier: lcloutier@actionmarguerite.ca
Residents with COVID-19 continue to have milder symptoms and are stable. Residents on affected units are asked to quarantine in their rooms. This is difficult for residents and considerably increases the workload for our staff. Reassigned Actionmarguerite staff and returning nursing students have been supporting our care teams to adjust to these new realities. We are incredibly grateful to everyone for their ongoing support.
There are currently at least 26 personal care homes in Winnipeg who have declared COVID-19 outbreaks. Keeping our community informed through these regular updates, on our website, and through the media is part of our commitment to being transparent. The following media stories are shining a light on long-term care and raising awareness about the realities we are currently facing:
Actionmarguerite care homes dealing with staffing crisis | CBC.ca
May we all find the strength and courage to persevere with care and compassion for one another.
Sincerely,
Micheline St-Hilaire, Chief Executive Officer & the entire Actionmarguerite Team