Eatonville Care Centre

Eatonville Care Centre is a privately-owned long-term care facility in the Eatonville area of Etobicoke, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. As of 2020, it is owned by Rykka Care Centres. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it was particularly hard-hit, with 142 resident cases and 40 resident deaths. A report by the Canadian Armed Forces — who had been deployed to the facility, to assist — recorded "aggressive behaviour" by staff and drugging of residents that the Forces deemed unnecessary.

Eatonville Care Centre
Former namesExtendicare Highbourne Lodge[1]
Highbourne Lifecare Centre
General information
Address420 The East Mall
Town or cityEtobicoke, Toronto, Ontario
CountryCanada
Completed1971[2]
OwnerRykka Care Centres
Technical details
Floor count5[2]
Other information
Seating typebeds
Seating capacity247
Website
eatonvillecarecentre.ca

Unity Health Toronto — which oversees Providence Healthcare, St. Joseph's Health Centre and St. Michael's Hospital — was placed in control of the facility.[3][4]

Layout

As of 2016, the facility had one private room, 117 rooms with two beds, and 3 rooms with four beds.[2] Three of the five floors had 62 beds, while the 5th floor had 61 beds.[2]

It is next to Burnhamthorpe Collegiate Institute and the Burnhamthorpe Square office complex. A nearby office building is being replaced by "4Hundred East Mall Town Homes"; the lot had previously been considered for a senior's apartment.[5]

History

In 1991, Service Employees International Union and Royalcrest Lifecare Centres Ltd reached an agreement on a labour dispute. Archives of Ontario holds a file about the agreement.[6] By 1992, it was owned by Extendicare Health Services Incorporation.

The facility was owned by The Royal Crest Lifecare Group, Inc. until at least 2008.[7] Ownership of the facility transferred to Rykka Care Centres Inc. on January 1, 2011. The company renamed it from Highbourne Lifecare Centre to Eatonville Care Centre.[8] The same purchase included Mississauga Lifecare Centre, which was rebranded as Cooksville Care Centre.[8]

The Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care announced a program in October 2014, called the "Enhanced Long Term Care Home Renewal Strategy". Within the Mississauga Halton LHIN, that sought to redevelop 32% of area long-term care bed capacity. One of the sites identified was Eatonville.[9] As of 2016, plans were still being considered.[10] In 2016, the LHIN announced that it would assign additional nurse practitioners to the facility.[10]

The facility's Term of License continues until June 30, 2025.[2]

COVID-19 outbreak, deaths

During the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak in Ontario, there was an extensive outbreak at the facility. As of 23 May 2020, there had been 40 confirmed deaths, making it the ninth-most deadly outbreak in Ontario.[11] On May 27, the Province of Ontario announced that it would take over management of the facility for two weeks.[12] The four other facilities listed included the Sienna-owned Altamont Care Community,[12] which had the third-most amount of deaths.[11]

The facility has a capacity of 247 residents, of which 142 became infected. As of 23 May 2020, there were 56 confirmed staff cases.[11] As of 27 May 2020, Eatonville told the CBC that 129 residents and 89 staff had recovered, while 11 residents and 17 staff remained as active cases.[13]

Their outbreak has received extensive media coverage, being one of the earliest outbreaks in the province, after Pinecrest Nursing Home in Bobcaygeon. As of mid-April, the facility struggled to maintain staffing levels, despite announcements of provincial support.[14]

The Canadian Armed Forces was deployed to five nursing homes in the Greater Toronto Area, in late April, including Eatonville.[15] Their resulting document details both broad and specific reports on neglect in the five facilities. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation summed up the CAF's observations of Eatonville as "nothing short of horrid and inhumane as ill-trained, burned-out and, in some cases, neglectful staff coped with the growing care needs of elderly residents."[16] Facility management is said to have investigated after the CAF witnessed "aggressive behaviour" by staff.[16] Residents were not provided psychosocial supports for their separation from family. Staff would administer pro re nata narcotics or benzodiazepines to sedate the resident, "but when you talk to them they just say they're 'scared and feel alone like they're in jail' – no agitation or sedation required."[16][17]

See also

References
  1. "Help Wanted". Mississauga Times. Mississauga ON. 23 May 1975. p. 25. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  2. Service Accountability Agreement between Mississauga Halton Local Health Integration Network and Rykka Care Centres LP, related to both Eatonville Care Centre and Cooksville Care Centre, 2016.
  3. DeClerq, Katherine (28 May 2020). "Ontario admits to 'staffing crisis' in long-term care homes before COVID-19 pandemic began". CTV News. Toronto ON. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  4. "About". Unity Health Toronto. Toronto ON. Retrieved 29 May 2020. Unity Health Toronto, comprised of Providence Healthcare, St. Joseph’s Health Centre and St. Michael’s Hospital, works to advance the health of everyone in our urban communities and beyond.
  5. https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2007/ey/bgrd/backgroundfile-648.pdf
  6. Royalcrest Lifecare Centres Ltd Mississauga / Highbourne, Unit, Fonds: Province of Ontario, Series: Company - union agreements and construction industry collective agreements. Toronto ON: Archives of Ontario, Province of Ontario.
  7. "More Personal Support Workers for Mississauga Halton-area long-term care homes", Oakville ON: Mississauga Halton LHIN, 8 September 2008.
  8. "Management Report to the MH LHIN Board of Directors – January, 2011", Mississauga Halton LHIN, 2011.
  9. "CEO Report to the Board", Mississauga Halton Local Health Integration Network, April 2018.
  10. Mississauga Halton LHIN (2017). Through our local lens: Mississauga Halton Local Health Integration Network Annual Report 2016-2017 (PDF). Oakville ON: Queen's Printer for Ontario. p. 28-29. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  11. "How Ontario is responding to COVID-19". May 17, 2020. Retrieved May 18, 2020.
  12. Sambo, Paula (27 May 2020). "Ontario to take management of five more long-term care homes". Bloomberg News. Toronto ON: Bell Media. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  13. Carter, Adam (27 May 2020). "What we know about the Ontario long-term care homes in the military's scathing report". CBC News. Toronto ON: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  14. Welsh, Moira (20 April 2020). "Peter and Micky Green, who share a room at Eatonville long term care home, are struggling because the home has been short staffed. They both have COVID-19 but so far their symptoms have been mild. CANADA 'Could we please just get them some help' Toronto care home residents suffer as staffing levels plummet". Toronto Star. Toronto ON. Retrieved 29 May 2020. “I was so happy” the home would finally have the help they needed, Bayly said. Instead, she was told Eatonville was struggling to replace its personal support workers, despite a boost from additional new nurses and public health staff. Shortages of front-line workers have reached crisis levels across Ontario, as infected staff stay home or stay away, afraid to work in an outbreak.
  15. Herhalt, Chris (24 April 2020). "Army deployed to five GTA long-term care homes ravaged by COVID-19". CP24. Toronto ON: BellMedia. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  16. Murray Brewster; Vassy Kapelos (26 May 2020). "Military alleges horrific conditions, abuse in pandemic-hit Ontario nursing homes". CBC News. Toronto ON. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  17. Brigadier General C. J. J. Mialkowski, "OP Laser – JTFC observations in long term care facilities in Ontario", Headquarters 4th Canadian Division Joint Task Force (Central), 14 May 2020. Hosted by Macleans.ca, the website of Maclean's magazine, which is owned by St. Joseph Media.

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