Director of WN Nursing Home Wants to Forbid Unvaccinated Caregivers Until Spring

The home also has no plans of rehiring the trained and educated staff they have let go. Despite widespread resident neglect and staff shortages

In a recent interview with La Tribune, the Director of Au Chateau, Jacques Dupuis, made it clear, he has no intention of letting in unvaccinated essential caregivers anytime soon. 

Dupuis told the Tribune that

“After winter, we will reevaluate the policy, but now is not the time to loosen measures”. 

The policy he is referring to is the LTC home’s visitation policy which requires all entrants to be “up to date” on their COVID vaccinations. 

As noted in December and widely known by the community, Au Chateau does not enforce their visitation policy other than towards approximately a dozen essential caregivers who have opted to refrain from all COVID shots. The majority of visitors entering the home are only asked to prove they took the original shots, even if over 12 months ago. This is in direct contradiction to the official visitation policy Dupuis often refers to which specifies entrants must have all recommended boosters. 

Many community members are left wondering why such a policy is needed if it is not being enforced. It is also why some essential caregivers see the current arbitrary application of the rules as a quasi punishment for their holdout. 

 But Au Chateau seems adamant on keeping the arbitrary rules in place for at least one more season. 

Dupuis has stressed that:

“the Au Château board reviews COVID protocols at the beginning of every season and makes its determination based on data at that time.” 

They last renewed their rules denying all those not “up to date” from entering the premises in October 2022. 

Unfortunately after numerous follow ups, Dupuis has refused to provide what data or medical advice the board had received or relied on. 

At the time of publication, no health authority in Canada currently recommends barring people from settings based on vaccination status. This is likely because many experts see the COVID vaccines as a form of personal protection and not one of community protection like traditional non-mRNA inoculation.

There is also no recent published data or report in Canada indicating that vaccination statuses correlate with population spread. 

A quick glance at Health Canada and Public Health Ontario’s recommendations on vaccines discusses the personal benefits of the shots. But for several months now, none of these authorities state “protecting others” as a benefit of the COVID shots. 

The Au Chateau board of management’s next meeting is set for January 18th and the current visitation policy at the home is likely to be an important issue on the agenda. 

Staff Shortages Still Major Issue but No Plans to Rehire Qualified HCWs

Staff shortages are still a major issue at Au Chateau. A similar predicament to most health care institutions in Ontario.

In his of year interview, Dupuis noted that

the home was short-staffed, with several employees working double shifts and most working 7 days per week instead of five.

In December many hospitals across the province started considering rehiring the thousands of health care workers who have been sent home due to COVID vaccine policies over the last year. 

As reported by CTV news, many experts agree that with the current crisis in health care and the fact that COVID vaccines don’t stop spread, these workers should be brought back to alleviate the burdens in health care settings. 

However Au Chateau has no plans to rehire the trained and educated staff they have let go for not getting the correct number of COVID therapeutic doses.

This has left caregivers such as Lise Rheault very frustrated. Lise has seen her mother’s care drastically decline over the last few years. She believes her mother as well as many other residents are neglected because of inadequate and overworked staff at the home.

‘The lack of care in this home is unacceptable. The service we signed up for has diminished immensely and this can be avoided”

Rheault’s sentiment is a common one among those who have family members at Chateau. It’s also a common sentiment felt by staff themselves. Many are frustrated that even though they work 12 hour shifts while barely taking a break, they still feel they do not meet the basic obligations of the residents they are tasked with caring for.