“There wasn’t a clear list of the number of patients who were in the home so that was a difficult circumstance with no staff there who were familiar with the patients,” said Doyle. “In this sort of a crisis situation where you don’t have the usual people, who know who is who, it does introduce some risk.”
Adding to the confusion was a false report that this resident had been among nine transferred to hospital prior to the official evacuation.
“We’re all dealing with pandemic for the first time and this is the first time in Ontario where everybody has needed to be transferred because of the risk that was in the home,” said Doyle. “The patients were sick, some of the patients are unwell beyond being sick with COVID, the usual staff in the home to provide cleaning and food were not there. Our team had many, many things they were addressing at the same time.”
She said a search of the home was done after the
evacuation that included rooms, cupboards and bathrooms.
“A mistake was made,” said Doyle. “Somehow either the person wasn’t in their room or the person was in their room and it wasn’t searched.”
It’s not clear if the resident knew the home had been evacuated. Before the pandemic, the resident was able to look after themselves by and large. However, the resident was ill with COVID-19 while alone and was taken to St. Joseph’s on Charlton Avenue East around 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
“The resident was alert” when found, said Doyle.