Front Burner - Inside the COVID-19 'mayhem' at B.C.'s Lynn Valley Care Centre

Episode Date: March 26, 2020

The majority of B.C's 14 deaths related to COVID-19 have been from one place: the Lynn Valley Care Centre. As of Wednesday, 42 residents and 21 health care workers have tested positive for the illness and 11 people had died. Today on Front Burner, CBC Vancouver senior reporter Jason Proctor helps us understand how the outbreak there happened, and what impact it might have on other long-term care homes in the region.

In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization, empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. This is a CBC Podcast. Hello, I'm Jamie Poisson. So nearly every day now, we get updates from public health officers on the increasing number of COVID-19 cases across Canada. And if you follow what provincial health official Dr. Bonnie Henry has to say about the situation in British Columbia. You'll notice the name of a facility that keeps coming up over and over again.

These are two people who are residents of a long-term care home on the North Shore, the Lynn Valley Care Centre. One of the residents of the Lynn Valley Care Home passed away last night. As of Wednesday night, there have been 11 deaths at the Lynn Valley Care Centre. There's now 42 residents and 21 staff affected. It's been devastating for not only the residents there, but their families, the healthcare workers and the wider community. Today, a look at what happened inside Lynn Valley as coronavirus took hold, spread, and started claiming lives. I've got CBC Vancouver senior reporter Jason Proctor with me.

This is Frontburner. Hi, Jason. Thank you so much for being here today. Oh, thank you for having me, Jamie. So I know that you drove to the Lynn Valley Care Centre over the weekend. And what's it like around there? Yeah, you know, one resident kind of described it to me as just this sort of feeling this sort of sadness in the air. If you haven't been to that area, it's in the place obviously called Lynn Valley, which is this very tightly knit neighborhood that's kind of nestled at the foot of the North Shore Mountains,

if you've been to Vancouver. So, you know, you'd go across the Barad Inlet, you might drive up Mountain Highway. And one of the first things you notice is this sign that somebody, some kids have painted on their fence saying, you know, stay strong and this too shall pass. And, you know, I know you weren't able to get inside the care centre, but looking at it from the outside, is there anything different that you noticed? Well, you know, on the day, I went on a Sunday, and just as we drove past, I went on a Sunday, and just as we drove past, we noticed an ambulance that actually appeared to be bringing somebody back to the center. And what you really notice is the precautions, obviously, that the paramedics, that everybody are taking in terms of safety. So you saw this older man on a stretcher. He was sitting up. He had a mask and a

gown. And then the people around him are all wearing gowns, and they're almost wearing what looks like welding masks, basically. Very carefully, after they got him inside, they're very carefully wiping absolutely everything down. You know, there signs that some some kids have left up saying you know we love you that kind of thing i went round back which is actually where a lot of the um uh covet infections are there were rainbows and messages support and that kind of thing chalked um into the sidewalk just outside the center so So, I mean, you obviously know something is going on. And again, just kind of striking to see that when we went by and then knowing just how serious the situation is inside there and how many lives have been lost already.

Right. You and I are talking Wednesday, and 11 people have already lost their lives to the coronavirus. It's unimaginable. Yeah, you know, it's just staggering that you think about this one facility and the residents who have the coronavirus. And I think it's up to about 41 people who've tested positive who are residents there. And that's not to mention staff, which is nearing two dozen. It's just amazing when you think about the physical reality of this virus, which has changed our lives and which on the weekend I went, Vancouver was having all these debates about social distancing. And, you know, clearly it hadn't hit home for some people.

Young people feel that they're immune to this. And if we look at our epidemiologic curve, people are not immune. So this is what we're talking about in terms of making sure that we're not gathering on the beach to watch the sunset, that we're not playing basketball. not gathering on the beach to watch the sunset, that we're not playing basketball. And then 20 minutes away from the Vancouver beaches where health officials were saying, please don't go, you had this facility where it is life and death. Right. And I just found that staggering.

And, you know, I can't even imagine what a difficult time this is for the residents and for the people that work at this facility and also for the families of these residents. I know that you spoke at length with one of the family members, Deanna Harlow. Her father lives there. Our father has tested positive and so we are trying to see him through. He hasn't been exhibiting a lot of symptoms, just more of a light cough, but he is extremely, extremely tired. And can you tell me a little bit about their family situation? Yeah, so, you know, like a lot of the residents there, he's a long-term North Shore resident. long-term North Shore resident. And so you can imagine how great it was for the family to find, you know, a place for him in this facility that's been around in the community since the 1960s.

His name's Graham Drew. He's 96. He has Alzheimer's. You know, they change from being one person to another person who is, you know, just as deserving of your love and attention and your adoration. who is, you know, just as deserving of your love and attention and your adoration. And they, before this, would arrange for companions to come in. He's very active still. And do crossword puzzles and just little activities, telling stories. Still like to walk around. But since this has all happened, all the residents have been confined to their rooms and nobody can visit them without putting on protective gear and face masks and that kind of thing. You know, we get him motoring around the hallways just to keep his muscle, the muscle tone in his legs. So now his muscles are atrophying. He has trouble standing. He's very shaky, prone to falls.

He was always very active. And so this has been very difficult for him. And, you know, just to sort of give you a snapshot of the people who live in here, about 60% have mild to severe dementia. 31% or so are totally dependent for their daily living activities. Something I found actually also just staggering is about 60% are receiving medication for depression. That's not unusual in a long-term care facility, but if you just stop and think about all those factors combined with this virus and the need to confine people to their room and to change their daily habits in a point in their lives where habit sometimes and routine is all you have. You can really get an idea of how staggering and difficult it is for the families to cope with this. Just even to explain why you can't leave your room, why you have to wear a mask, just everything like that.

It's taken a huge emotional toll. Such a lonely and discombobulating and I would imagine very scary time for all of them. I want to try to understand today what happened at Lynn Valley Care Centre. So Dr. Bonnie Henry declared there was an outbreak there on March 7th. I remember this press conference. We now have two of the residents who have tested positive. This is one of the scenarios that we have been of course most concerned about. We know that the risk for elderly people having this disease is very concerning and that they are more likely to have more severe disease. And take me back to that weekend. What do we know about what was going on inside the home

leading up to that announcement? Well, you know, some of this we know, the Globe and Mail had done a piece where they were able to talk to a number of the care aides in that home. And what they said basically is there were rumors going around for the week prior and certainly in the days prior that somebody had tested positive. There had been somebody who had been off sick.

And so that was finally confirmed by Bonnie Henry, the provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, on March 7thth as you say. So visitors are restricted there is infection control precautions being taken by all of the staff for every interaction in the facility and all of the residents and we will be curtailing the numbers of people who move in and out. That was a Saturday and so what you had happen on the Sunday was that the families descended basically on this facility. And, you know, it was described to me as an absolutely dire situation in that there were only a couple of care aides that were there a nurse came in you know so you have three people um caring for a number of residents who would normally require about um twice that many people so you can imagine these people all have some very complex needs many people who are non-verbal others who can't even stand up and walk you know they're all wearing you know diapers or depends that need changing so several residents were they were bedridden with a wet a wet diaper and calling out

incessantly for help you know they, they were told that, of course, some care aides people have been tested positive or were in isolation and unable to come in. Other people, replacements, were scared to come in. The management was pitching in. The families say they ended up having to pitch in to give food. I believe he would be bedridden if if we weren't there making sure that he was eating we've been spoon feeding him basically food and water and juice and i mean you have this phenomenally stressful situation anyway because everybody is wondering and has heard at this point about how fast moving this virus is, about its ability to prey on the elderly, and particularly how at risk people exactly like this would be. One woman I spoke to who actually is now worried that her father is going to die.

who actually is now worried that her father is going to die. And again, think of that in terms of the balance of wanting to speak out and talk about what's going on, but also worried that in some way that might in any way affect his situation. And so she said a group of the daughters were talking at the end of this day and said, one of them said, you know, it's too late here, but we've got to let people know what happened and what's happening so that other care facilities at the very least can learn and that something can be done to make sure that this situation isn't replicated. And you talked about families descending on this facility. Deanna Harlow, was she one of these family members as well? Yeah. And she said they came in, they found themselves doing everything, basically, everything to keep things going. I mean, we've been practically living there for the last two weeks for, you know, seven or eight hours a day and you know she said it it was just mayhem um in terms of of what

they saw and what they were going through and just in terms of trying to make sure that the basic needs of people were met because again the staffing had become an issue i do want to i want to emphasize just how fantastic these care workers have been. They've been coming back, working double shifts. If somebody doesn't turn up, they'll stay. Just, they're superstars. They're heroes. In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization,

empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. So I know the first death took place on March 8th, an 83-year-old man. And our heartfelt condolences go out to his family and loved ones, and also, of course, to the staff who provided him care, and to his home at the Lynn Valley Care Centre. He was actually the first Canadian to die of COVID-19, and what do we know about the people who have died so far? So as you say, the first death actually happened on that Sunday. This was an 83-year-old man.

Again, the Globe and Mail spoke to his daughter, you know, like a lot of people who live in the North Shore or spent their life on the North Shore, they loved the area. You saw then, over the days, just Dr. Bonnie Henry coming out daily. We've had three additional deaths. One, a resident of the Lynn Valley Care Centre. One or two or three people, more residents. We heard from the daughter of one 89-year-old woman who was very private, so she didn't want her mum's life to be remembered just as COVID-19, if you know what I mean. If I really wanted to make something of value of my mother's passing, and God, she'd be so mad at

me for making her the centre of anything, it would be that we have an obligation as individuals to follow the directions that have been given to us by the public health, by Dr. Bonnie Henry every day. Their whole family is in isolation, including her father, who's now lost his wife. And I mean, they find themselves as a family now in a situation where they can't hug. You know, when people normally die, they find themselves as a family now in a situation where they can't hug. You know, when people normally die, you come together as a family and you swap stories, and we can't do that. And one of the hardest parts that's heartbreaking is my father. You know, you can't go down and hug him until I know that I'm, you know, clear. And then even at

that, I don't know if I'm supposed to hug him or, you know, elbow bump or something. But, you know, clear. And then even at that, I don't know if I'm supposed to hug him or, you know, elbow bump or something. But, you know, he's really lonely. That's awful to hear. Jason, I'm curious, do we know anything about how this virus got into the home in the first place? Have experts been able to trace its origin? Yeah, I believe they've now traced it to one of the employees. This is the giant concern within the long-term care industry is that because people might work in different facilities or bring it in and out of the facilities, but I'm pretty sure that's what they've confirmed has happened here. The Vancouver Coastal Health has been on site since we first became aware that the community case that we had was a healthcare worker who worked at that centre. I want to ask you a little bit more about that. Can we talk about these healthcare workers who have now tested positive? What do we know about who they are and what kind of conditions they've been working under? and what kind of conditions they've been working under.

Yeah, so, you know, this is sort of a whole thing within this. And you kind of need to understand the way that the business of long-term care in BC works. So you have a mixture of for-profit facilities and facilities run by not-for-profit societies in addition to the vast majority which are run by health authorities. What a lot of people have pointed to is this legislation that was brought in by the former BC Liberal government in 2002 that allowed long-term care homes to begin contracting out services. What has effectively happened over time is that, and that's what's happened here, is that you have the care aides contracted out and the kitchen and dietary workers contracted out. How that works practically is you hear from care aides that the employers they now work for who are contracted to provide

these services pay them less. And so you have a workforce, and again we're talking about care aides who are largely, like they might have to hold down a number of different jobs. A number of those different jobs might be in different care facilities. They're paid less, they get less benefits. It's been described as a largely racialized workforce. There's a lot of people from the Philippines who are the backbone of this industry in the lower mainland. And, you know, they're trying to juggle a whole bunch of jobs and trying to make a living, like to hold a life together, basically. So this is very precarious work. And you mentioned that some aides have to work at multiple homes or try to cobble together multiple jobs to make

ends meet. I understand that there's an outbreak at another home in BC right now, Hollyburn House Retirement, and that's now linked to the Lynn Valley Care Hub. Yeah, exactly. And as a result, Dr. Bonnie Henry has brought in measures to up the screening for care aides and to make sure that, you know, they're only working at one facility. But again, just, you know, you just think about the impact that has on their lives. And to get back to the Lynn Valley Care Home specifically, I know earlier you mentioned that that weekend leading up to the announcement, it was mayhem in the facility. Family said it was mayhem. A lot of the care workers were unable to

come to work because they had symptoms or were worried that they had symptoms. Do we know why transmission happened so quickly in this facility? Is it related at all to health standards inside the home? What are people telling you? What I've heard from family anyway, is that they were confused a little bit about, you know, at the beginning about just even, you know, should they be wearing masks? What kind of mask? What kind of equipment? That kind of a thing. They've got a very strict setup now. You know, there's a tray outside of each door of the person who has the virus. And you suit up at the door and you go in and you do whatever you need to do. And then you, each room has a big garbage can that everything comes off and it goes

into that garbage can and then they now have to move on to the next person. And you know I mean Vancouver Coastal Health which is the health authority that and again I guess you sort of need to understand with the Lynn Valley Care Centre you have a mixture of private beds but you also have a vast majority are government subsidized beds so the health authority has sort of been in contact with the families and trying to figure this all out. Deanna Harlow sort of described to me what she sees as an issue. And really what we've noticed is there was no general, if you will, somebody who's sort of directing the care. There was no, like I said, there was no preparation.

There was no, like I said, there was no preparation. You know, somebody from the union that used to represent these workers has said along those lines that, I mean, I guess that's what you end up having with all this kind of fragmentation is that everybody reports to different employers. And so there's sort of a communication gap just in terms of the basics of the way this is all plays out. That's all left to Vancouver Coastal Health. And I mean, they have been in contact with the families, they've been meeting with the families, asking their advice, asking for their input. And they say, you know, they've come up with plans and they're actually looking at the possibility of increased pay for those who work in this building with all the infected residents. In addition to looking at the possibility

of increased pay, how else has Vancouver Coastal Health and the care home responded to some of these criticisms. And what did the families think of this response? Well, I spoke, I actually briefly had a very brief conversation with one of the owners of the care home who expressed their sympathy for what was going on and said, you know, they felt deeply for the patients and kind of referred everything over to the administration. When you call the administration, they refer everything over to Vancouver Coastal Health. Vancouver Coastal Health says they are doing everything within their power to address the concerns of the families, that they understand

what a difficult, you know, situation this is, that they've come up with a strategy. They held a one-hour information session over a week ago that was attended by about 50 family members and 50 staff members to answer questions about all these concerns and to assure them that they are putting plans in place. Staffing remains an issue, but they're trying to work over it. You know, one of the family members pointed out to me that even if

things are at, like, let's say 80% of normal capacity, that's still difficult because it's a lockdown situation. And so you have basic things like everybody in this facility wears adult diapers. You need those changed. You need heightened scrutiny around cleaning. And so Deanna Harlow, the way she sort of explained it is that they were feeling more positive about it, but they want to make sure that over the long term, what they're seeing sticks. I think what we would like to see, if it's possible, is some sort of emergency measures. We need a team of people who can come in in that situation and just take control from the start. And they know what they're coming into. They know that

they have to protect themselves. And I mean mean she also felt that there needed to be some accountability with regards to all this certainly uh somebody to to look at what happened here um and to to see how not just lynn valley care center but other care centers um who find themselves in similar positions can come out of this. The facility was left without staff. And when we talk about essential services, this definitely is an essential service. And somehow that service has to be maintained. Right. It certainly strikes me that there are a lot of lessons that could likely be learned here. Jason Proctor, I know we're going to stay in touch with you.

We want to follow this very important story as it develops. Thank you so much for taking the time today. Thank you. On Wednesday, BC's Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry gave her daily COVID-19 update. She talked about the growing number of coronavirus cases in the province's long-term care homes and how new measures are being taken to protect residents. There are additional measures in the outbreak facilities around personal protective equipment, restriction of visitors and restriction of visitors in all of our long-term care homes across the province and I know this is incredibly challenging particularly when it's our loved one

who's in one of these facilities and I know staff are going out of their way to try to find ways to keep you connected with your loved ones, and we will continue to do that. That's it for today. Thanks so much for listening to FrontBurner. I'm Jamie Poisson, and talk to you all tomorrow. For more CBC Podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.