“The first thing we have to do as this pandemic eases is understand — in a very important way — it will not be over,” adjunct professor Tom Koch told Global News this week.
He says that the federal government will need to ensure there are plans in place for the continued care of those who have had COVID-19, some of whom may need long-term support.
In the same piece, professor emeritus Ken Denike added that “it’s pretty clear there was no plan” for long-term care facilities in the event of an outbreak like that of COVID-19, and the impacts of this were seen as the disease spread in precisely these places during the early stages of the pandemic.
Koch says that reorganizing long-term care facilities into the public healthcare system could save lives.
“In many of these institutions are personal care workers who are among the least trained, least well-paid and most dedicated of staffers and long-term care,” he said.
“They need more training, more pay, and they need to be seen as critical members of the care cycle that we provide for all Canadians.”
