Wednesday, July 28, 2021
Seniors Advisory Committee report
This report is the second in a monthly series of reports from the Leamington Seniors Advisory Committee. Each committee member will alternate in supplying a report to the Sun. By Hilda MacDonald The topic of discussion for the last two meetings of the Seniors’ Advisory Committee has centred around the report released by the Ontario Long Term Care Covid-19 Commission. Our members on the SAC either have professional experience with long term care providers, or next best, lived experience via family members. All of us will, eventually, be having conversations at some point in time about this stage of life with our parents, our spouses or our children. The Commission’s Report came about after the long term care sector suffered many deaths at the beginning of the pandemic. As of December 31, 2020, 2,800 residents and eight staff in Ontario’s LTC (Long Term Care) homes had died as
a direct result of Covid-19 to plan for a pandemic and a total of 11,143 resi- and did not take steps to dents and 4329 staff had ready the elderly community for such an occurcontracted the virus. The Commission was of rence. The lack of planning the opinion that improving the care and safety exposed a vulnerable for LTC residents was a population to a deadly necessity not only during threat with little to no the time of unprecedent- safeguards, and when ed medical crisis, but also safety measures were inwhen the population of troduced, it was already too late. seniors is exPut that pected to grow together and also, with with chronic residents more underfundfrail and in ing, severe need of greater staffing health care. shortages, In six outdated inmonths, the frastructure commission and poor heard from HILDA MacDONALD oversight, more than 700 people. Their 322-page the pandemic’s impact on report covered the state long term care facilities of long term care before was an accident waiting Covid; the deficiencies in to happen. In conclusion, the comOntario’s pandemic preparedness and the Covid mission also made some crisis in LTC and its dev- final recommendations based on best practices in astating impacts. In short, the commis- addition to interim recsion found there was no ommendations from Ocup-to-date pandemic tober and December 2020. After reading through plan in 2020. The Ministry of Health did not meet the report findings, the its legislated obligation members of the SAC talk-
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ed about how well our own local sector worked through the challenges of the pandemic as well as the historical issues. Every death was a heart wrenching loss, but our numbers were kept low thanks to the swift reaction to the threats in our local LTC facilities. The Association of Municipalities of Ontario, also known as AMO, made a list of its own recommendations to the Covid 19 Report, based on advice given by its own Health Task Force and Expert Working Group. Those recommendations and the resulting response to the provincial government led to more discussion amongst our Seniors’ Advisory members. Next month, we will talk about the Commission’s as well as AMO’s recommendations, and the resolution, including actions that SAC would like to bring before council for approval and subsequent endorsement by other municipalities in Ontario.
—Police Briefs— LEAMINGTON —July 19: A 52-year-old male was charged with stunt driving on County Road 18. The vehicle was impounded for 14 days, plus a seven-day licence suspension. He was clocked at 109 km/h in a 60 km/h zone. ——— An OPP officer observed a male riding a motorcycle southbound on Erie Street, Leamington, without a helmet. Police attempted to speak with the male, who turned off the bike and walked away, leaving the bike in the live lane of traffic. A 55-year-old male was then located walking southbound on Erie Street and arrested for impaired driving. ——— A 28-year-old male driver was charged with stunt driving on Mersea Road 5. The vehicle was impounded for 14 days, plus a seven-day licence suspension. He was clocked going 108 km/h in a 60 km/h zone.
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