Daughter of Long Term Care Resident in Nanaimo, BC ‘Devastated’ by New Visitor Restrictions – BC | The Canadian News

The daughter of a long-term care resident in Nanaimo, BC, said she and her family are crushed by new rules restricting visits to continuing care centers in the province.

Jeanette Harper’s mother, Marguerite Bell, 90, lives at Eden Gardens Nursing Home and relies on visits from her two daughters for both her mental health and daily needs.

“I am the emotional support of my mother. We sat down, we looked at pictures. I make a cup of tea. I often help her with lunch, ”Harper told Global News on Saturday.

“My mother is at a stage where she probably needs help feeding, but there are other people in her unit who need more help, so she is usually left alone to do that.”

On Friday, provincial health official Dr. Bonnie Henry limited long-term care visits to “essential visitors” only because the province is experiencing a worrying increase in COVID-19 cases.

Of Bell’s two daughters, however, only Harper has essential visitor status, meaning that visits with just one of her sons can continue.

“We are devastated that it is such a small percentage of residents that they actually have a designated essential visitor,” said Harper. “And it’s not something you can get overnight.”

The new rules do not specify how many essential visitors a long-term care home can allow, but advise residents to contact their loved one’s facilities to find out if they qualify as essential visitors.

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Meanwhile, all visitors can enter the assisted living facility for seniors.

“There is not enough (staff) for everyone, they need help from the family,” Harper said. “Unfortunately, volunteers will not be allowed in either, so there will be few activities in the nursing homes.”

Harper’s mother has Alzheimer’s disease and her health “deteriorated dramatically” in the early stages of the pandemic when the long-term care home was completely closed. Since she and her sister were allowed to return, there has been a “marked improvement,” Harper said.

Given the lessons learned from previous waves, the province should have specified that a minimum of two essential visitors are allowed, so that each can work to the other’s schedules, he added.

It’s a position shared by the BC Care Providers Association, whose CEO, Terry Lake, tweeted on Friday that “visitor restrictions on (long-term care) must be accompanied by a mandatory number of essential visitors for each resident.”

The visitor restriction is in effect until at least January 18, a temporary restriction that is necessary for the health and safety of vulnerable residents and staff, the province said.

“We need to decrease the number of people entering our facilities so that we can better protect our seniors and make sure that workers can handle and cope in the best way,” Henry explained at a news conference on Friday.

The province is administering booster shots to residents and long-term care staff, and reports that 21 percent of eligible British Columbia adults have received a third dose.

On Saturday, Vancouver Coastal Health declared COVID-19 outbreaks at the Kopernik Lodge Nursing Home, Lakeview Long-Term Care Home, and the Joseph & Rosalie Segal Family Health Center at Vancouver General Hospital.

A total of 16 residents tested positive at all three facilities.

Starting friday there were 15 Long-term care facilities, intensive care, independent or assisted living, and mental health and substance use with flare-ups.

Since the start of the pandemic, more than 15,000 people have died in nursing homes across the country, the highest proportion among the 38 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

With files from The Canadian Press

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