As of April 17, the Chief Medical Health Officer of Saskatchewan’s public health order has been updated to include:
• As of April 28, long-term care and personal care homes must ensure that each staff member works in only one facility. A care home may seek approval from a medical health officer to permit a staff member to work in more than one facility if they are unable to ensure adequate staffing levels as a result of complying with this order.
This public health order now also includes personal care homes and formalizes existing requirements for long-term care and affiliate care homes:
• All staff members in long-term care, personal care and affiliate care homes must undergo a health screening prior to entry to the facility, including a temperature check.
• At all times while on shift, all staff members in long-term care, personal care, and affiliate care homes shall wear, at minimum, a procedural/surgical mask. Additional personal protective equipment may be required to perform care or procedures, and those guidelines must be followed.
The screening and personal protective equipment measures also apply to the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency facilities and staff
CUPE welcomes the changes, but says there still needs to be more.
“Long-term care homes have been at the centre of major COVID-19 outbreaks in other provinces and account for the majority of deaths attributed to the virus,” said Sandra Seitz, president of CUPE Local 5430. “Halting multi-site work will help stop the spread of COVID-19 by limiting movement between seniors’ care facilities.”
COVID-19 has put a spotlight on some of the most serious issues in health care: underfunding and short staffing.
“Staffing levels in long-term care have been inadequate for years. COVID-19 has exacerbated this issue, and our members are working short staffed more often than not,” added Seitz. “Physical distancing protocols such as in room dining for residents and increased cleaning requirements means we need more staff, not less.”
“The continuous masking policy is a start, but the government needs to take steps to ensure that it is being implemented across the health care sector, and all community- based services,” said Seitz.
CUPE Local 5430 has secured a Letter of Understanding (LOU) protecting its members during redeployment. The LOU lays out the following protections for workers and residents:
▪ Prevents workers from working in multiple facilities while maintaining their guaranteed hours.
▪ Creates a labour pool for redeployment to respond to COVID-19 health care needs within clearly established parameters which protect the public and the workers.
▪ For the duration of the agreement there will be no new layoffs.
▪ Employees who have been redeployed will be protected from incurring expenses, including accommodation where required.
▪ All redeployed employees will be provided with orientation and training fitting with the situation at the receiving site which includes orientation and training to the required personal protective equipment (PPE) and provision of said PPE prior to commencing work.
“We have seen a significant rise in precarious work in our health care system. Many of our members are forced to work multiple jobs, across jurisdictions, to cobble together full-time equivalency work,” said Seitz. “This LOU will offer some protections to our members who are facing changes in the work environment from COVID-19.”
