March 30, 2021 – The Globe and Mail
Lack of medical care contributed to nursing home deaths: report
By: Karen Howlett
Dr. Samir Sinha, the Director of Health Policy Research at the NIA and expert adviser to CIHI, said residents sickened with non COVID-19 conditions were not sent to hospital because of physician absences at the homes and a lack of medical care. For those residents afflicted with COVID-19, he said, “blatant discrimination” was behind the decision not to transfer many of them to hospital.
“The overwhelming narrative was if patients [in nursing homes] get COVID, don’t send them to hospital,” Dr. Sinha said. “That narrative really shortchanged the situation for many of these residents.”