Impressive?  You bet.  Let's get all of our long-term care beds back into the   
   Canadian health-care system and out of the hands of profiteers.   
   ______________________________________________   
      
   CTV News - Sunday, August 2, 2020   
      
   How one Montreal long-term care home managed to keep COVID-19 away   
      
   MONTREAL -- The Pavillon Camille-Lefebvre long-term care home in southwest   
   Montreal houses some of the patients most vulnerable to succumbing to a   
   pandemic, including 18 who live on ventilators full time.   
      
   But as COVID-19 swept through Montreal's nursing homes like a seemingly   
   unstoppable force, the Pavillon Camille-Lefebvre achieved a rare feat: not a   
   single positive case, much less any COVID-19 deaths.   
      
   Montreal is the Canadian hotspot for COVID-19, with over 28,772 cases and   
   3,437 deaths as of Friday. Around 80 per cent of the province's deaths have   
   occurred in seniors residences and long-term care homes.   
      
   Information obtained from Montreal's five health boards suggest only a handful   
   of facilities were able to avoid infection. In addition to Pavillon   
   Camille-Lefebvre, those include two private facilities in the northern region,   
   one small facility located    
   within a hospital and one larger public care home.   
      
   A few others, including the Montreal Chinese Hospital, were able to stop the   
   virus from spreading despite one or two cases.   
      
    Judith Morlese, a nurse-manager at the Pavillon Camille-Lefebvre, believes   
   the facility's success in keeping out COVID-19 was about more than just luck.   
      
   She says rapid action, dedicated infection-control teams and constant   
   communication with staff were some of the keys to keeping the virus at bay,   
   and they could provide a blueprint for other homes to follow if a second wave   
   occurs.   
      
   Morlese said acting early, often ahead of the provincial government   
   directives, was central to preventing infection.   
      
   The centre began developing a pandemic plan in January, before the first case   
   in the province was declared, and made the decision early on to ban visitors   
   and require staff members returning from overseas to stay home until testing   
   showed they were not    
   infected.   
      
   By February, meetings to discuss the pandemic were held daily.   
      
   Staff members were brought on board early and subjected to a thorough   
   screening process every day before work. They were told to stay home and get   
   tested at the first appearance of symptoms.   
      
   As cases began to crop up elsewhere, anxiety rose. Employees were met at the   
   beginning of every shift and reminded to treat all patients, and each other,   
   as if they were positive.   
      
   "We were nervous because we saw what was happening, and we felt bad for our   
   partners in the network, we were scared," Morlese said in an interview. "So   
   that's the truth. We were really, really scared."   
      
   Morlese says much of the home's success came from diligently following the   
   simple health directives regarding sanitizing equipment, hand-washing and   
   wearing of protective equipment.   
      
   However, the facility also had two advantages that many of the others didn't:   
   namely, a skilled infection-control team and the ability to limit staff from   
   working in multiple facilities.   
      
   The 135-bed facility is also linked to the Lachine Hospital and is part of the   
   McGill University Health Centre, which proved an advantage because it meant   
   better access to epidemiologists and other experts, according to Morlese.   
      
   France Nadon, an infection-control consultant at the home, said part-time   
   workers with multiple jobs were asked not to work elsewhere if they wanted to   
   keep working at the Pavillon.   
      
   Those who stayed were offered full-time work, which helped the home to avoid   
   the staff shortages that authorities have cited as a weak point that allowed   
   COVID-19 to enter in so many homes.   
      
   Infection-control specialists were on hand to answer employee questions and   
   give refresher courses on the proper use of protective equipment, Nadon said.   
      
   Between 10 and 15 employees acquired COVID-19 outside of work, but none of   
   them passed it on to patients -- which Nadon says is a tribute to the   
   vigilance they showed when it came to handwashing, disinfecting, and physical   
   distancing.   
      
   "They respected the rules, they kept their masks on, they washed their hands   
   and visors," she said.   
      
   Henry Siu, a McMaster University associate professor who has studied long-term   
   care preparedness, says researchers are still studying what factors translate   
   into success in fighting the virus.   
      
   While much is unknown, he says the homes that were early adopters of measures   
   such as stricter visitation policies and limiting workers to one facility may   
   have had better outcomes.   
      
   In Ontario, he said, private homes seem to have fared worse, possibly because   
   of aging buildings designed to house multiple residents in one room and   
   inadequate space for distancing.   
      
   He said that while "luck probably does have a part to play" in which homes   
   suffer major outbreaks, those that are proactive, have up-to-date   
   infection-control protocols and strong leadership "are going to be much better   
   equipped to deal with outbreaks."   
      
   As health authorities warn of a potential second wave, Siu said he's hopeful   
   that Canadian long-term care homes will be better prepared.   
      
   But while they may have become more vigilant about distancing, hygiene and   
   monitoring for symptoms, he said systemic issues, including poor home designs   
   and low pay and poor working conditions that force workers to hold multiple   
   jobs, are harder to solve.   
      
   Nadon and Morlese say aren't celebrating their home's success just yet.   
      
   Though they're tired, they remain focused on the possibility of a second wave,   
   which could come just as they also have to fight an onslaught of flu and other   
   seasonal respiratory viruses.   
      
   Morlese says that while the worry isn't gone, they feel more prepared this   
   time.   
      
   "We're less stressed because we know what we have to deal with," she said.   
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)