Sask. heath authority taking over 5 Extendicare nursing homes following Parkside outbreak
CBC
The Saskatchewan government says it is ending its relationship with private nursing home operator Extendicare and permanently taking over operations at all five of the company's homes in the province.
Everett Hindley, the minister in charge of seniors, made the announcement Thursday, following a review of the homes.
The review was prompted by an ombudsman report that found Extendicare was "woefully unprepared" for the COVID-19 outbreak that killed 39 residents of its Parkside home in Regina last winter.
"I'm sorry that the measures in place were not enough to prevent this tragedy," Hindley said during a news conference at the legislative assembly in Regina.
Scott Livingstone, CEO of the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) — which has contracted Extendicare to provide care at the homes for decades — also apologized for what happened during the outbreak.
Livingstone said the SHA has informed Extendicare it wants its agreement with the company to end.
After the ombudsman report, Hindley had said the SHA would take a direct hand in temporarily overseeing all five of Extendicare's homes in Saskatchewan and report back to the ministry on what Extendicare had done to address the concerns raised in the ombudsman report. That report was sent to the ministry in September.
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