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Senior woman sitting down on bed regarding the Long-Term Care Homes class action lawsuit filed against a group that operates 25 facilities

More Ontario senior care facilities face legal action after a law firm announced a class action lawsuit against Long-Term Care Homes and Chartwell Retirement Residences for their response to the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the proposed Chartwell home class action lawsuit, the operators of Chartwell and Long-Term Care Homes failed to properly plan for the outbreak, putting their elderly residents at risk. In addition, the complaint claims that the homes did not adequately screen and test residents, as well as staff and visitors for COVID-19 nor were staff provided proper personal protective equipment (PPE). Further, patients who contracted the disease were not sufficiently isolated from other residents and transported to the hospital.

“The Firm believes that when we entrust our loved ones to a Long-Term Care Home, we place our most valuable and vulnerable assets in their care,” says the law firm in an online statement announcing the class action lawsuit. “When preventable harm occurs, that trust is broken.”

The proposed Chartwell home class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of a man who lost his mother to COVID-19 while she was living at a Chartwell Retirement Residence.

The Toronto Sun reports that the plaintiff’s mother, Teresa Pugliese, was born in southern Italy. After losing her mother when she was just five and raised in a boarding school, she left to become a babysitter at age 11. She married and followed her husband to Canada, where they had five sons. At the time of her death, Teresa had 10 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

According to the Sun, Teresa was moved into the Chartwell long-term home after being diagnosed with dementia.

“She was an amazing woman,” her son told Toronto Sun reporters. “She used to help the older people in the home — she would go tie people’s shoes or make their beds. And she’d kiss them and ask, ‘Are you okay? Are you okay?’”

Sadly, Teresa succumbed to coronavirus just 8 months after moving into the home. Her family alleges they were unable to visit starting March 14 and Teresa died alone.

The plaintiff seeks to represent those who resided in the Chartwell homes since Jan. 10, 2020, along with their family members.urse hands touching senior persons hands regarding the long-term care homes class action lawsuit filed against a group that operates over 2 dozen facilities

The proposed Chartwell home class action was filed against a group of Long-term Care Homes that operate 25 facilities throughout the province of Ontario.

Coronavirus Hits Ontario Long-Term Care Homes Hard

The Ontario government maintains a list of long-term care homes dealing with coronavirus cases. As of May 12, 2020, 180 homes in the province had suffered an outbreak. As of that date, 2,690 residents of nursing homes in Ontario had confirmed active cases of COVID-19, along with 1,672 staff members. Sadly, 1,269 nursing home residents have died during the coronavirus outbreak.

Nursing homes have reportedly been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 outbreak in the area. This Long-Term Care Homes class action lawsuit is one of many that have sprung up alleging that a nursing home failed to protect its residents from the coronavirus.

According to these lawsuits brought on behalf of residents, as well as families of residents who have become ill and died, along with nursing and other medical staff, the operators of these facilities were negligent when it came to addressing the spread of COVID-19. Defendant long-term care home operators allegedly failed to disseminate policies to residents, staff, and visitors that would have protected them.

According to the proposed long-term care home class action lawsuits filed on behalf of residents and their family members, the operators of certain facilities failed to provide sufficient medical treatment to those who contracted the virus. Family members of residents who were sickened by COVID-19 say they were not informed by the operators of the care homes about their loved one’s condition. Some accuse the facilities of leaving residents with coronavirus alone to suffer from the disease.

Some medical staff claim that necessary personal protective equipment was denied and problematic policies allowing employees to work at multiple residencies were allowed to proceed during the outbreak. Some staff members say they were forced to work while exhibiting symptoms of coronavirus by their superiors.

“We need to do better,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in an April briefing about the coronavirus outbreak affecting Canada’s nursing homes. “Because we are failing our parents, our grandparents, our elders – the greatest generation who built this country. We need to care for them properly.”

The Canadian Armed Forces have reportedly been dispatched to some of the hardest-hit long-term care homes in the province.

Do you or a loved one reside in a Chartwell Residence operated by Long-Term Care Homes? Are you concerned about the homes’ response to the coronavirus? Tell us your thoughts in the comment section below.

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One thought on Long-Term Care Homes Class Action Lawsuit Filed Over COVID-19 Response

  1. Paul Trethewey says:

    Does your lawsuit cover the Clair Hills home in Waterloo? It allowed student servers to work without masks long after it became apparent they were useful.

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