‘Stark, unmistakeable and tragic’: The failure of long-term care during COVID

Episode 107 of Down to Business podcast

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As the federal government considers reopening Canada’s borders to international travellers, it’s an ideal time to look back at the past year and a half.

This week’s episode of Down to Business features Alex Himelfarb, a former clerk of the privy council and chair of the steering committee of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives in Ottawa, on the topic of long-term care.

During the COVID-19 crisis, more than two-thirds of Canada’s overall deaths occurred in long-term care homes, a ratio more than 50 per cent higher than in other OECD countries, according to a May report which Himelfarb co-authored.

In Canada, there are many kinds of long-term care homes, including public, private for-profit, private not-for-profit and religious-based care. Although many long-term care homes did not experience high COVID-19 death rates, among the 15 long-term care homes with the highest number of resident deaths, 13 were operated by for-profit entities, the report found. Himelfarb discusses what he views as some of the reasons these types of homes fared worse.