Months after John Dobbin s elderly parents contracted COVID-19 and nearly died, the couple is finally out of hospital and living together in a personal care home.
Months after John Dobbin s elderly parents contracted COVID-19 and nearly died, the couple is finally out of hospital and living together in a personal care home.
They aren t the only Manitoba seniors moving from hospitals into personal care homes during the pandemic.
Mike and Gail Dobbin, both 82, share a room at the downtown Beacon Hill Lodge. The couple, married for 57 years, moved in two weeks ago from the Victoria General Hospital. They spent 100 days in the COVID unit, their son, John, said Monday. They didn t want them to get sick again and Beacon Hill was ready to take them in. They had to quarantine for two weeks after they got there and they have now been cleared. This keeps them together.
WINNIPEG Several long term care homes in the city have declared active COVID-19 outbreaks, and recent data from the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority shows that many others in the city are turning the corner. The province has started testing asymptomatic people and hopes to bring vaccines into care homes in the new year. Jan Legeros, the executive director of the Long Term and Continuing Care Association of Manitoba, said the pandemic has disproportionately affected people in long term care. “40 per cent of deaths in Manitoba from COVID are in personal care homes, so I would say that we are certainly in a very tragic situation.”
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Editor’s note: After two weeks away from my desk with surgery and a second bout in hospital with complications, I want to thank all the people who prayed for me. Thank you to son, Mike, for writing a column and wife, Christine, for doing the same. I hope and expect to make a full recovery, but won’t likely be back to full strength for some weeks yet. I have never slept so much in my life before. The care I received in three different hospitals was outstanding.
After spending nine grinding months facing death, despair, fear and frustration, it’s time for Manitoba to change the channel.