Bluewater Health, in consultation with Lambton Public Health, has declared a COVID-19 outbreak on the Inpatient Medicine unit in Sarnia, with fewer than five patients testing positive.
Chief of Communications and Public Affairs Keith Marnoch said all designated care partners for those impacted by this outbreak are halted.
He said family and friends can still schedule a virtual visit with a loved one by making the request by clicking here.
Those coming into the hospital are reminded of the importance of complying with Bluewater Health’s policies to prevent the spread of COVID-19. There continues to be no access for casual visitors or caregivers who have not been pre-approved by the hospital’s care team.
All those entering the hospital need to sanitize their hands and wear a mask at all times.
Bluewater Health currently has 11 COVID-positive patients in hospital.
“I’m not saying it’s society’s problem, but there should be recognition of the load that caregivers are taking.”
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Published Apr 18, 2024 • Last updated 7 hours ago • 4 minute read
Dr Lisa Walker is co-chair of the Enhancing Access to Care conference on Saturday.Photo by Ottawa Brain and Mind Research Institute /Handout
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When former CEO Bruce Wood was diagnosed with young onset Alzheimer’s disease in 2016, he made a point of talking publicly about the illness to help others. When he could no longer do so, that duty fell to his wife, Lisa Raitt.
The former senior federal cabinet minister, lawyer and mother has made speaking about her husband’s illness part of her busy life, even when it is difficult, which it often is. She sees it as a duty to help people better understand the disease and to support caregivers like her.
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“I always accept these invitations.”
Raitt will be keynote speaker at an Ottawa conference this weekend aimed at helping patients and their caregivers navigate the often complex systems of care once they are diagnosed with neurological illnesses such as Alzheimer’s.
The Enhancing Access to Care conference, sponsored by the University of Ottawa’s Brain and Mind Research Institute, will include sessions on barriers to accessing care for rural residents, the latest research for neurodegenerative illnesses, including Parkinson’s disease and dementia, information on the regional geriatric program and Raitt’s talk on the challenges of care for young-onset Alzheimer’s.
The conference is a recognition of the difficulties patients and their caregivers can have accessing the help they need.
Wood was diagnosed when he was 56 and Raitt was 47. It was a shock. Raitt said she wanted people to think about the fact that “sometimes it’s Alzheimer’s” — meaning possible symptoms shouldn’t be dismissed just because of a person’s age.
In the early days after his diagnoses, Wood’s disease seemed to move slowly, she said, and they were able to travel and “do all of our bucket-list things.” But then it progressed and life became increasingly difficult.
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“We had a very specific set of circumstances where Bruce was becoming very combative, not just aggressive, but aggressive that was threatening to our lives in the house. When you are in it, you can’t negotiate because you are drowning and just trying to keep your head up.”
Raitt said she thought it was important that people hear the realities of the disease “because I am not the only one who is going through this or went through this. I believe there’s an obligation for me to at least give some kind of colour to the reality so that others can recognize it.”
Wood is now in a long-term care home, something Raitt says she fought “with every fibre.” She acknowledges he is receiving better care than he could receive at home and that she probably waited too long to do so.
“I think what could have helped me is somebody saying they are better off in a long-term care facility because he gets better care than I could have provided.”
Raitt said she also hoped members of the medical community heard her story to start to think about the possibility of young onset Alzheimer’s when a patient had symptoms that might include increasing problems with planning, problem solving, attention and emotions.
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Wife, mother, lawyer and former MP and cabinet minister Lisa Raitt will be keynote speaker at the Enhancing Access to Care conference on Saturday.Photo by Ottawa Brain and Mind Research Institute /Handout
She also noted that the vast majority of caregivers, like her, are women. Raitt, a lawyer, belonged to a support group of caregivers in similar circumstances and says almost all of them decided to retire early because of the pressures of caring on top of their work.
“I didn’t have the choice to retire. I’ve got two kids in university and a husband with special needs. That takes extra cash — and I continue to work for my own sanity, too” she said. “But the reality is caregivers are the ones taking a load off society and society couldn’t function without us. I’m not saying it’s society’s problem, but there should be recognition of the load that caregivers are taking.”
The conference, which will be held Saturday at the RA Centre, is aimed at people with neurological conditions and their care partners. In addition to presentations, organizations will be on-site to offer information about other services available in the community, including from traditionally marginalized group “who might not know there are services specific to their needs,” said Dr. Lisa Walker, a clinical neuropsychologist who is co-lead of the uOttawa Brain and Mind Research Institute’s neurodegeneration pillar.
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It is the first event of its kind for the University of Ottawa Brain and Mind Research Institute. Typically, events are geared toward research, Walker said.
It is difficult living with neurodegenerative conditions, she said, and can be a daunting task to access care. Sometimes, it is available, but people don’t know how to find it.
She said the shortage of family doctors was an added burden for people to understand the supports available in the community. “There are many excellent services that people can access, but they don’t know they exist and can’t access them.”
Among them are services through the regional geriatric program and the Dementia Society of Ottawa and Renfrew County. One of the speakers will talk about Ontario 211, a help line to help people access social services, programs and community supports.
Walker said the conference would also address the burden on informal caregivers, as family members and friends who care for loved ones are called.
“It is a huge burden of care, both from a practical standpoint and an emotional standpoint.”
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Newfoundland and Labrador’s top doctor is warning people to stay up to date on whooping cough vaccinations after a small increase in cases this year.
The province usually sees three to four cases of the disease annually. Up to 10 cases have been reported already since January, however, prompting the province’s chief medical officer to raise the issue publicly.
The increase “generally means there’s a little bit more circulating in the community than what’s presenting for care and testing,” Dr. Janice Fitzgerald said Tuesday.
While officials aren’t overly concerned about a future spike in cases, Fitzgerald said, higher infection rates place infants in particular at risk.
Children under the age of one aren’t yet old enough for the whooping cough vaccine and don’t have immunity to the disease, Fitzgerald said. Infections in small children can be more severe and lead to pneumonia, neurological issues and hospitalization.
Fitzgerald said parents, grandparents and caregivers should check to ensure their vaccinations are up to date.
Whooping cough, also known as pertussis, causes a persistent nagging cough that’s sometimes severe enough to cause vomiting. Vaccines for the disease are offered in early childhood, during high school and in adulthood. Booster shots should be given 10 years after the high school dose, Fitzgerald said.
“Immunity can wane over time,” she said. “Pertussis does circulate on a regular basis in our community.”
The small increase in cases isn’t yet ringing alarm bells for undervaccination within the general population, she added, noting the province still has a vaccination rate over 90 per cent.
A study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) said the opioid drug crisis has reached such a critical level that a public safety response is urgently required and that includes the need for expanded supervised consumption sites.
The report was published by the medical journal Monday and was authored by Shaleesa Ledlie, David N. Juurlink, Mina Tadrous, Muhammad Mamdani, J. Michael Paterson and Tara Gomes; physicians and scientists associated with the University of Toronto, Sunnybrook Research Institute and the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute at St. Michael’s Hospital.
“The drug toxicity crisis continues to accelerate across Canada, with rapid increases in opioid-related harms following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the authors wrote. “We sought to describe trends in the burden of opioid-related deaths across Canada throughout the pandemic, comparing these trends by province or territory, age and sex.”
The study determined that across Canada, the burden of premature opioid-related deaths doubled between 2019 and 2021, representing more than one-quarter of deaths among younger adults. The disproportionate loss of life in this demographic group highlights the critical need for targeted prevention efforts, said the study.
The researchers found that the death rate increased significantly as fentanyl was introduced to the mix of street drugs that individuals were using, in some cases, unknowingly.
The authors said this demonstrates the need for consumption sites, not only as overwatch as people with addictions consume their drugs, but also to make an effort to identify the substances and inform those people beforehand.
“The increased detection of fentanyl in opioid-related deaths in Canada highlights the need for expansion of harm-reduction programs, including improved access to drug-checking services, supervised consumption sites, and treatment for substance use disorders,” the authors wrote.
The study said a more intense public safety response is needed.
“Given the rapidly evolving nature of the drug toxicity crisis, a public safety response is urgently required and may include continued funding of safer opioid supply programs that were expanded beginning in March 2020, improved flexibility in take-home doses of opioid agonist treatment, and enhanced training for health care workers, harm reduction workers, and people who use drugs on appropriate responses to opioid toxicities involving polysubstance use.
In conclusion, the authors wrote that during the height of the COVID pandemic in 2020 and 2021, the burden of premature death from accidental opioid toxicities in Canada dramatically increased, especially in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.
“In 2021, more than 70 per cent of opioid-related deaths occurred among males and about 30 per cent occurred among people aged 30–39 years, representing one in every four deaths in this age group. The disproportionate rates of opioid-related deaths observed in these demographic groups highlight the critical need for the expansion of targeted harm reduction–based policies and programs across Canada,” said the study.
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