Questions over Ontario long-term care deaths
Dr. Nathan Stall, Associate Fellow at the NIA, discusses why we're still seeing outbreaks and deaths in Ontario long-term care homes.
During the COVID pandemic, it has become even more imperative to examine how we treat our elder generations. In this episode, Zale is joined by geriatrician Dr. Samir Sinha, Director of Health Policy Research at the NIA.
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Dr. Samir Sinha is the director of health policy research at the National Institute on Ageing in Toronto shares some sobering stats about the effect COVID has had on seniors and a new survey that reveals more than half of Canadians say the pandemic has changed their opinion on where they want to age.
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What can be done to keep long term care safe?
Guest - Dr. Samir Sinha -Director of Health Policy Research at the NIA
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Absence of standard protocols on COVID-19 testing leaves nursing homes vulnerable
Bob Bell, a former hospital chief executive officer and deputy health minister in Ontario, is calling for frequent, routine testing in nursing homes across the country. “If we were to screen people coming into long-term care twice a week instead of every two weeks with a test that’s appropriate, we would drop the death rate,” Dr. Bell said in an interview
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She survived the Holocaust and died of COVID-19. Her family says pandemic's human toll is lost in the numbers
By: Shanifa Nasser
But stories like Malvina's are increasingly lost amid the daily din of numbers, said Toronto geriatrician Nathan Stall. That's not just a matter of sentiment, he said, but ultimately has an impact on policy itself.
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Ancaster's Chartwell Willowgrove long-term care facility battles COVID-19 as Ontario offers further help
By: Kevin Werner
During a virtual news conference held Nov. 12, hosted by the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario, Dr. Nathan Stall, Associate Fellow at the National Institute on Ageing, accused the province of failing older residents in long-term care homes during the pandemic, calling it “our provincial shame.
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Ford pledges increased testing in long-term care homes as deaths climb in facilities
Nathan Stall, Associate Fellow at the National Institute on Ageing, a clinical epidemiology and health-care researcher at the University of Toronto, said bolstered testing will not be enough to halt the spread of COVID-19 in long-term care.
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Ontario’s public health units are ill-equipped to store Pfizer’s promising vaccine
By Charlie Pinkerton and Iain Sherriff-Scott.
But the logistics involved in inoculating enough Ontarians with Pfizer’s vaccine, should it be approved, would be daunting, Dr. Samir Sinha, director of health policy research at the National institute on Ageing in Toronto, told iPolitics.
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Fight against COVID-19 full of half measures, doctor says
Dr. Samir Sinha is among a group of medical professionals who have taken to social media to urge the Canadian government to implement a #COVIDzero strategy because, they say, measures taken to control COVID-19 have not been effective enough.
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Is devastation of spring’s first wave repeating itself in long-term care homes?
Dr. Samir Sinha, director of health policy research at the National Institute on Ageing in Toronto, and Isobel Mackenzie, the Seniors Advocate in B.C., discuss the lessons learned — but not always implemented — since the first wave in spring.
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‘An attractive investment:’ As private equity scoops up Ontario nursing homes, there are concerns about whether profit-driven facilities can best care for fragile seniors
By: Moira Welsh
Dr. Nathan Stall, Associate Fellow at the National Institute on Ageing, worked on a study published in the summer that found for-profit homes, often within larger chains, had more COVID infections and deaths. He also worked on a recent study that examined reasons for the spread. It concluded that crowded homes (with shared rooms, narrow hallways and old ventilation) “were more likely to experience larger and deadlier COVID-19 outbreaks. “It’s not as simple as saying all for-profit is bad and all non-profit is good,” he said.
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Why COVID-19 is finding its way back into long-term care homes
A growing number of long-term care homes are again overrun with COVID-19. Familiar and horrific scenes are again playing out. The problem? The virus may move quickly, but there's no quick fix for problems in the long-term care sector that go back years.
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Bias, lack of action setting stage for a second disaster in long-term care: experts
By: Elizabeth Payne
Dr. Nathan Stall, Associate Fellow at the National Institute on Ageing, in Toronto, and Doris Grinspun, executive director of the RNAO, said a systemic bias against long-term care residents and lack of effective action after the first wave, have put long-term care residents at risk for a repeat disaster as cases climb in the province.
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COVID-19 outbreaks in long-term care home were forseeable and preventable, says geriatrician
Cases are on the rise across the country, and some provinces are again struggling to contain outbreaks in long-term care homes. Several deaths have been reported in facilities in Winnipeg, Edmonton and Scarborough, Ont., this week. Health officials like Dr. Samir Sinha, director of health policy research at the National Institute on Ageing, say provinces didn't prepare their long-term care homes when they had the chance.
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More than 80% of people killed by COVID-19 have been seniors. How that’s changing our vaccine research
By: Alex Boyd
“One thing that we’re often taught to do in medicine, is say, ‘Does my patient look like this?’” says Dr. Samir Sinha, the director of health policy research at the National Institute on Ageing.
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How long-term care homes are battling the second wave of COVID-19
Long-term care homes are battling this second wave of COVID-19 — which is proving difficult. Ninety-three long-term care homes across Ontario are reporting outbreaks with hundreds of residents infected with the virus.
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Ontario building 'iron ring' around long-term care homes after 71 deaths this week, health minister says
By: Desmond Brown
Dr. Nathan Stall, Associate Fellow at the National Institute on Ageing, has accused the province of failing older Ontarians in long-term homes in the first wave of the pandemic, and failing them again in the second wave. Stall said as of Nov. 12, there were COVID-19 outbreaks in 93 homes, with 51 reporting cases in residents.
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New figures show the second wave could be hitting long-term care homes
By far most Canadian COVID-19 deaths have been in long-term-care homes, where residents and staff have faced unsafe conditions. New figures show it could be about to happen all over again.
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Ford tightens colour-coded COVID restrictions after backlash
By: Iain Sherriff-Scott
At a news conference on Friday morning, Doris Grinspun, CEO of RNAO, and Dr. Nathan Stall, Associate Fellow at the National Institute on Ageing, begged the province to impose a 28-day lockdown to prevent a spike in cases in long-term care that both say is likely to be worse than during the first wave of the pandemic, if no action is taken.