There is a need for improvements at Parkview Place - and we need a public inquiry to look into the concerns being raised of poor care.

 On Friday October 16, I asked the Pallister government in Question Period about the situation at Parkview Place, the personal care home in Winnipeg where there has been a very serious outbreak with 94 cases of COVID-19 virus infection and 9 deaths.  There have in recent days been disturbing revelations about the conditions at this home.  I asked why the government had not better protected people in the home.  The Minister of Health did not answer this. I asked whether, with the suspension of the rule that staff can only work at one site, steps were being taken to ensure that staff at Parkview Place would not spread the infection from there to other homes.   The Minister said they were taking steps to ensure workers would not bring more virus to Parkview Place, but failed to answer the question I had asked.   I also asked for a public inquiry into the allegations of poor treatment at Parkview as well as to determine why the virus spread so quickly in Parkview Place.   The Minister did not respond. 

Revera Personal-Care Homes - Call for Public Inquiry

Hon. Jon Gerrard  (River Heights): Madam Speaker, there is a serious outbreak at Revera's Parkview Place. We called for months for the Province to be ready for the second wave, but it has not been ready.

        Since Revera homes in Ontario had terrible outbreaks this spring, why didn't the government take more precautions to prevent outbreaks at Revera homes? And is the government making absolutely sure that workers at Parkview Place are not, under the loosening of the one-site rule, going to work afterwards at other Revera homes?

        Lastly, major problems have been known at Parkview Place and at other Revera homes since at least 2011, when I first raised this issue here. Will the government call a full public inquiry into the quality of care at Parkview Place and other Revera homes?

Hon. Cameron Friesen (Minister of Health, Seniors and Active Living): COVID-19 in long-term care centres is exceptionally serious, because we know that those individuals are more susceptible to the spread of the virus and that the virus can be more dangerous when entering into a long-term care home. That's why there were over 7,000 deaths in Ontario and Quebec long-term care homes.

        There are currently 220 outbreaks in Quebec, Ontario, BC and Alberta in long-term care homes. We're really concerned about Parkview Place and that's why we're taking action. To the member's question, I can tell him that, yes, cautions have been taken to make sure that workforce is not unknowingly importing the virus into the facility.