Many long-term care residents still without air conditioning

More than a year after Premier Doug Ford promised to “move forward rapidly” to legislate mandatory air conditioning in rooms at long-term care homes, residents in nearly 40 per cent of homes are still sweating it out.

Last July, Ford sympathized with residents. Today, Ontario’s long-term care homes are only required to provide air conditioning in common areas or cooling spaces. Long-term care advocates say that doesn’t help the majority of residents who have mobility issues and spend most of the day in their rooms.

“It’s completely untenable to assume that having air conditioning in common areas is anywhere near good enough, given the fact that a lot of these residents are two-person transfers. They require significant assistance to simply get out of bed,” says long-term care advocate Dr. Vivian Stamatopoulos.

Temperatures soared past 30 degrees Celcius this week, with the humidity making it feel closer to 40. There’s no relief in sight for at least a few more days and the heat poses a health risk. For example, June’s record-breaking heatwave in B.C. caused hundreds of sudden deaths. Many of those were seniors found alone in unventilated homes, the B.C. coroner said.

On hot days in Ontario, long-term care staff are expected to monitor the temperature in rooms, but Stamatopoulos says staff are already stretched to the limit.

“There aren’t enough staff to provide basic care in these facilities, let alone to be doing temperature checks and then to be making sure that they’re assessing these seniors for symptoms of heat exhaustion,” she said.

The Minister of Long-Term Care, Rod Phillip, says more than 60 per cent of long-term care homes are fully air conditioned, including residents’ rooms. While it’s an improvement from last year’s 37 per cent, one family believes the government needs to fully mandate air conditioning.

“A lot of things with long-term care will not change because if the government does not mandate these changes, these companies will not implement them,” says Helen Da Silva.

Da Silva’s 83-year-old mother has lived in a home north of Toronto for the past five years and says she was stunned to find out the rooms had no air conditioning.

She has since installed a window unit in her mother’s room but says other residents are forced to suffer through the hot and humid conditions without even a fan.

The heat can also be dangerous for staff, who do a lot of heavy lifting on the job in full PPE.

“We have to think of [air conditioning] as any other necessary aspect of medical equipment,” says Dr. Amit Arya, a palliative care physician. “Just like we provide wheelchairs and we provide hospital beds, air conditioning is an absolute must as well.”