B.C. care homes still worry about running low on masks, gloves and gowns: survey

VANCOUVER -- Long-term care facilities have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, and elderly people who rely on home care are especially vulnerable -- but staff who work in those fields are still having a hard time getting masks and other protective gear.

SafeCare BC, an organization that supports care providers, conducted a survey across the province and found the situation is improving compared to earlier in the month -- but care providers are still in danger of running low.

Michele Thomson, of Buron Healthcare, runs long-term care facilities in Penticton and Prince George. She said her supplier is having difficulties meeting demands.

“We're not always sure what we're going to get and how much we're going to get,” she told CTV News. “It's incredibly distressing to be down to one-to-two days of supply and not know if we will get it in time.”

According to the survey, 42 per cent of care providers say their current supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) will last three days or less. That's an improvement compared to the 69 per cent who said the same for an April 11 survey.

When it comes to surgical masks, 27 per cent said what they currently have will last them for three days, compared to 38 per cent on April 11.

For protective gowns, 15 per cent of care providers surveyed said they had no gowns, while 27 per cent said they only had a three-day supply.

Half of the 543 care providers surveyed said they would run out of hand sanitizer within a week.

B.C.'s provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, said the PPE shortage is "a worldwide, global phenomenon."

Henry said the B.C. government continues to work on getting more protective gear, but the reality is that right now, "we are only able to provide a three-to-five-day supply, as we get more personal protective equipment in and as we test it to ensure that it meets the standards that we need."

While Henry reassured providers that there is enough supply, Thomson said another issue is the lack of clarity around how to get it.

“We just don't know how to access the provincial supply chain, and it's becoming increasingly frustrating,” she said.

The province’s seniors advocate, Isobel MacKenzie, said every licensed care home can access the necessary supplies through their local health authority.

“Those care homes can phone into their health authority and say, ‘I need some surgical masks; we’ve had an outbreak and we need N95s’ ... and those supplies will come to them from that central hub,” MacKenzie said.

She also said she believes part of the reason there’s increased pressure on the system is lack of education.

She believes there’s a perception that care providers need to all be wearing N95 masks, but she stresses that’s only when there is a confirmed outbreak.

“They may want a surgical mask because you’re protecting the resident, rather than yourself, but the use of the PPE and some education around that would, I think, be helpful,” she said.

SafeCare BC has been running a PPE donation program to try to fill the gap, and says that since the campaign launched, 485 donors have given nearly 600,000 pieces of equipment.