A Port Coquitlam long-term care home that had snuffed out a coronavirus outbreak in the summer is once again under outbreak protocols after three residents tested positive for the contagion.
Located at 2240 Hawkins Street, Nicola Lodge had been COVID-19-free since an earlier outbreak was declared over June 26.
But with the three new cases, it’s now joined Belevedere Care Centre and Lakeshore Care Centre as one of three Tri-Cities seniors homes actively battling a COVID-19 outbreak.
Under enhanced cleaning and infection control measures, residents are currently in self-isolation while Fraser Health contacts families and identifies anyone who may have been exposed to an infectious resident or staff member, according to a press release from the health authority.
Fraser Health has also restricted visitors throughout the facility and implemented twice-a-day screening of staff and residents.
Nicola Lodge is run by Sienna Living, a company that has come under fire and a multi-million dollar law class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of family members in Ontario after serious allegations of neglect, incompetence and abuse surfaced from whistleblowers and in a damning military report.
In June, Sienna Living launched a company-wide investigation as part of what it called a “sweeping set of initiatives” aimed at protecting residents.
The results of the investigation led to a series of recommendations in August, including improving staffing and labour relations policies; formalizing a complaints process; protecting whistleblowers; and reviewing and reinforcing a zero-tolerance approach to resident abuse.
