LONDON, ONT -- The Ontario Nurses Association (ONA) has won a legal battle against four long-term care homes including Henley Place in London over access to personal protective equipment (PPE).
In mid-April the ONA filed a court application alleging the home’s owner, Primacare Living, was not providing nurses with adequate PPE.
Thursday night the news came down that the ONA had won a ruling in the Superior Ontario Court.
The ruling orders Henley Place and the others named to immediately fix the safety concerns being raised.
“It is truly a huge relief to know that after exhausting all other avenues, the Ontario Superior Court has agreed with ONA that these employers must follow health and safety practices to prevent the spread of infection among long-term care residents and the registered nurses and health professionals who care for them,” ONA President Vicki McKenna said in a written statement.
Court documents obtained by CTV News state that as of April 15, there were two resident deaths at Henley Place due to COVID-19 and roughly eight other cases.
The documents allege that ONA members were not provided with access to proper PPE when providing care to residents with confirmed, suspect, or presumed COVID-19.
Long-term care homes have been the focus of the COVID-19 battle in recent weeks as the majority of deaths in Ontario have come from such facilities.
On Thursday it was announced that three news deaths in the Middlesex-London region were from long-term care or retirement homes.
There are have been 26 deaths in the region with nearly half being in long-term care homes.
With files from CTV Toronto, and CTV London's Amanda Taccone.
