Canada’s new national long-term care standards released. Here’s what is different
Global News
A draft of updated recommendations to improve care provided by nursing homes was unveiled Thursday and will now undergo a 60-day public review.
New national standards have been released to improve Canada’s long-term care facilities, where residents and staff have borne the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A draft of the recommendations was unveiled for public review by the Standards Council of Canada (SCC), Health Standards Organization (HSO) and Canadian Standards Association (CSA Group) on Thursday.
The revised guidelines come after a 21 month-long process including town halls and consultation workbooks involving over 18,000 Canadians and stakeholders that started back in March 2020 — right when the COVID-19 pandemic hit Canada.
Dr. Samir Sinha, HSO’s long-term care services technical committee chair, said he is hopeful this will provide a “clear blueprint” to enable the federal government, provinces and territories to move long-term care “to where all Canadians are demanding it to go.”
“We know that the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted long-term care homes across Canada and currently of over 30,000 deaths that have occurred, over 51 per cent of them have actually occurred in our long-term care and retirement homes — and that represents nearly 16,000 deaths to date,” Sinha said during a virtual news briefing Tuesday ahead of the launch.
Long-term care homes across the country are experiencing outbreaks and staffing shortages amid the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant of COVID-19.
Provinces have prioritized vaccine boosters for residents and tightened visitor restrictions to blunt the impact of this variant of concern.
HSO developed its first long-term care services standards between 2012 and 2014, which were then revised between 2018 and 2020.
U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order that would reclassify marijuana and ease federal restrictions on research for potential new medical products.
The report was released by the Manitoba Government and General Employees' Union and is based on feedback from crews and other staff involved in the wildfire fight.
Opponents of coal mining in the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains have some sharp criticism for Alberta's UCP government after being told to resubmit their citizens petition.
Three children in Ontario have died from influenza A-related complications since the start of December, health officials said Monday.
The company that operates the Trans Mountain pipeline has paid a $196,000 fine for environmental lapses along its B.C. pipeline route in the aftermath of a massive Jan. 2024 storm.
Alberta's provincial government has announced the creation of three new all-season resort areas that it claims could generate thousands of jobs and billions in economic benefits.
Corb Lund says he's seeking the intervention as new coal mines could threaten land and water on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains and affect the Prairies downstream.
Officers had recently captured four grizzly bears, but forensic results came back to confirm that none of the bears, an adult female and three young, were linked to the attack.
The research recommends occipital nerve blocks should be offered in emergency rooms to treat acute migraine attacks.
A federal vaccine advisory committee voted on Friday to end the longstanding recommendation that all U.S. babies get the hepatitis B vaccine on the day they’re born.
Darlene Hensch, who once struggled with unexplained infertility, is now expecting quadruplets and preparing for a high-risk delivery and life-changing journey.
Negotiations that could have led to coverage for weight-loss drug Wegovy under Canadian public health plans are not moving forward.
They've been married for 55 years, but for most of that time, something has been missing from Janet and Robert Cockwill's life, until their grandson made a remarkable discovery.