Outbreak at Brampton Civic Hospital now over, but 21 other Peel institutions still trying to control spread of COVID-19

Brampton residents who rely on the city’s only full-service hospital can breathe a little easier.

Brampton Civic, which had to declare an outbreak of the novel coronavirus on April 10, when 10 staff members of a specialized kidney care program tested positive, has announced the outbreak is over.

“An outbreak was declared on April 10 following a joint investigation between Osler’s Infection Prevention and Control and Occupational Health and Safety teams along with Peel Public Health, after a number of health care workers tested positive for COVID-19,” the healthcare system said in a release.

Osler, which runs Civic and Peel Memorial, as well as Etobicoke General Hospital, says the outbreak was declared over on April 15.

“All Infection Prevention and Control precautions were implemented. Additional precautions have also been taken to further protect the health and safety of patients, staff, physicians, volunteers. Osler continues to be a safe place to work and care for patients. As we continue to see community spread of COVID-19, Osler remains prepared and committed to providing safe, quality care,” the health system announced in a statement.

William Osler has announced that an outbreak at Brampton Civic Hospital is over

The outbreak involved healthcare workers from Osler’s renal program, which is run at Brampton Civic and Etobicoke General. 

It stemmed from a training session held for staff members and not from interacting with COVID-positive patients, according to Osler. There are currently 58 COVID-19-positive patients being treated at the two hospitals, but Osler does not break down its data by individual hospital.

The training session took place before provincial regulations called for gatherings not to exceed five people. Osler’s renal program involves 200 staff members who provide an average of 450 dialysis treatments to patients every week, Donna Harris, manager of public relations for William Osler, told The Pointer previously.

It’s unclear how the virus was contracted by the first staff member who tested positive. Osler said it’s “likely” the individual acquired the virus in the community, according to an “initial investigation”. It’s unclear how this determination was made.

While staff did not have contact with patients after developing symptoms, they could have spread the virus before realizing they were infected. Harris said all patients in the renal unit were notified about the outbreak and monitored, while spread control protocols were initiated to control the outbreak.

There are currently 21 other facilities across Peel still experiencing an outbreak of the novel coronavirus, including both of Mississauga's hospitals. All the other institutions on the list are either long-term care facilities or retirement homes.

Bramalea Retirement Residence at 30 Peel Centre Drive, Brampton, declared an outbreak on April 17 and Regency Retirement Residence at 29 Mississauga Road North in Mississauga, declared one on April 16. The two facilities were the most recent additions to the outbreak list maintained by Peel Public Health.

Despite the two latest outbreak declarations by Peel Public Health, the company that owns the Bramalea facility, Greenwood Retirement Communities, has not updated its website, which as of Monday morning states, “Current Status: No confirmed cases of COVID-19 in any Greenwood homes.”

The Regency facility in Mississauga is run by Chartwell Retirement Residences, which has little information on the outbreak on its website, as of Monday morning.

It’s unclear who has been impacted by the two outbreaks, how they occurred and how many people are infected.

Brampton’s Grace Manor declared an outbreak on April 6, which has now over-run the facility.

Officials from Holland Christian Homes, which owns the facility, are advising those with family members at Grace Manor to prepare for the worst as the COVID-19 outbreak that has already been fatal threatens to consume the facility. 

After one case was reported and the outbreak was declared on April 6, by April 13 the virus had spread to a total of 17 residents and five staff. As of April 18, 15 staff had been infected and 42 residents.

The company has also reported the death of one resident inside the home from COVID-19. 

The crisis led the Central West Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) to bring in a team of paramedics to swab test every resident in the facility. In a notice on the company’s website, it states families will be notified of the results in the coming days and they are advised to begin making funeral arrangements, in case a loved is infected and succumbs to the disease.

The ownership of Grace Manor, in its letter to families, said there are not enough staff to move patients into COVID-19-designated areas.

“At this time, we are unfortunately not able to transfer a resident off site to a specific COVID unit on our campus as we do not currently have enough nurses and (Personal Support Workers) PSWs to do this. Space and supplies would also be a challenge due to the large number of positive residents at this time.”

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @JoeljWittnebel

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