THUNDER BAY – An untold number of residents and staff have been exposed to COVID-19 at the Southbridge Roseview long-term care home, already hit with a major outbreak and 19 related deaths, after an infected staff member was improperly allowed to report to work.
Southbridge Care Homes offered few details when questioned about the incident, which occurred on Dec. 30.
In an email obtained by tbnewswatch.com, Southbridge vice-president Beryl Collingwood apologized to the family member of a Roseview resident, saying the breach was a result of “human error.”
“We are deeply concerned and disappointed with the events that resulted in the staff member being allowed to enter the home,” she wrote. “The staff member on the night shift who was at the door did not follow the proper protocols.”
Maureen Halushak, whose mother is a resident at the 157-bed home, described a call her family received on Dec. 31.
“Someone from Roseview reached out to say that a COVID-positive worker had been on a night shift on the evening of Dec. 30, and they had been in my mom’s room,” she said. “What was confusing [is that] in their messaging, they didn’t say it was a worker who later tested positive."
She believes the worker had likely already tested positive before showing up to work, a suspicion buttressed by a statement from Southbridge, as well as testing data from the Thunder Bay District Health Unit.
In a statement provided to tbnewswatch.com, the company would not confirm whether that was the case. However, it said Southbridge had “assisted the Thunder Bay District Health Unit in its efforts to notify the staff member of their test result.”
It's not clear whether the infected staff member was aware of the test result at the time they entered the home.
The worker was last in the home on Dec. 30, and all staff and residents were tested the following day, Southbridge said.
The health unit reported positive cases at Roseview on Dec. 28 and 29, with no further cases reported until Jan. 3.
“That would mean this worker had already received a positive test, but was back on the job,” Halushak concluded.
The health unit would not confirm details of the breach, saying simply, "We are aware of the incident and have followed up with the home to ensure that it does not happen again."
For her part, Halushak is frustrated at the lack of information provided by Southbridge. While the company has held weekly town halls to take questions from family members, she feels they rarely receive meaningful answers.
“It's really hard to communicate with Southbridge – they obviously are just reading off of scripts, basically,” she said. “You might as well just hit your head against the wall.”
It’s a sentiment she said is shared by many other relatives of Roseview residents with whom she's been in touch.
“I really think [families] are hitting their breaking point,” she said. “It’s just a bad situation that doesn’t seem to be getting better.”
The outbreak was first declared on Nov. 18 after a single staff member tested positive. More than six weeks later, the home continues to report new cases, including four on Sunday.
Halushak was still awaiting test results for her mother as of Saturday.
