‘Cry for help’: Hamilton retirement home staff refuse to work amid COVID-19 outbreak

Public health officials say fear about working at a facility with a COVID-19 outbreak has caused staffing issues at Hamilton long-term care and retirement homes, including The Cardinal Retirement Residence. (Dan Taekema/CBC). View full article @ CBC.ca.

Cry for help - Hamilton retirement home

Cardinal Retirement Residence owner says home has ‘enough staff at the moment’

When the first confirmed cases of COVID-19 started appearing at The Cardinal Retirement Residence employees stopped coming to work, leaving behind dozens of residents and just a handful of desperate staff members to care for them.

The sudden shortage of personnel at the central Hamilton home forced health officials to call in ambulances to ferry about a dozen of its most fragile patients, who were just out of hospital, to other facilities and prompted a scramble to find other workers to take their place.

Miranda Ferrier, president of the Ontario Personal Support Workers Association (OPSWA), said she received a “cry for help” about the home two weeks ago.

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