Three Winnipeg-area personal care homes do not have fully functioning air conditioners amid an intense heat wave.
Hot, humid weather has hit the city in recent days, with humidex temperatures surpassing 40 C over the weekend.
Pembina Place Personal Care Home, the Middlechurch Home of Winnipeg in West St. Paul and the Donwood Manor Personal Care Home do not have fully operational AC units, a spokesperson for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA) confirmed in an emailed statement for Global News on Monday.
Work on repairs, and temporary fixes to keep residents cool, are underway at all three homes, according to the spokesperson.
“The health, comfort and well-being of residents remain our top priority, and staff continue to monitor residents closely while this work is underway,” the statement from the regional health authority reads.
At Pembina Place Personal Care Home, the almost 20-year-old rooftop air conditioning unit failed, causing the outage, according to Gary Ledoux, CEO of The Bethania Group, the company that owns the home.
He estimated the temperature inside to be around 25 C.
Instead of replacing the rooftop unit, which Ledoux said he was told would take two years, three new units are being installed on every floor of the 57-bed facility.
The province expects those units to be operational on Wednesday.
Mechanical issues knocked out the air conditioning in some parts of the Middlechurch Home of Winnipeg, and “are being fixed as quickly as possible,” WRHA said.
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“In the meantime, residents are being supported with interim cooling measures, including access to air-conditioned common areas and portable cooling equipment where needed,” its statement said.
The province told Global News it expects the replacement part to arrive at the home on Wednesday, adding it will be installed as soon as possible.
Flood-related damage, following heavy rainfall in early June, stopped the AC at Donwood Manor. The WRHA said temporary units were installed in residents’ rooms while repair work continues.
Norbert Bargen’s 94-year-old mother lives in Donwood Manor. He commended staff’s efforts to keep residents cool and comfortable.
“They’re working very hard under the conditions to help our loved ones,” he told Global News, saying staff is “doing what they can.”
An air conditioning unit is visible through the window of a unit in Winnipeg’s Donwood Manor Personal Care Home.
Jordan Pearn / Global News
Sue Vovchuk, executive director of the Long-term and Continuing Care Association of Manitoba, said the AC issues are a symptom of something larger — a lack of funding.
“Everyone is underfunded,” she told Global News. “When you go to a meeting with government, you leave and there’s a lineup behind their offices. So, it’s a matter of how do we give some to everyone? I don’t think it’s out of maliciousness, but I think there’s just (a) lack of monies available.”
“We need to make sure that older adults remain front and centred.”
Building infrastructure, resources and staffing are impacted by fiscal constraints, she added.
“We have to make sure that we have modernized equipment and we’re properly funded,” Vovchuk said.
“We have to make sure we do have, not disaster management planning, but a plan in place when we know that we’re going to have (a) heatwave, like we’re going to have times where the weather is really hot, or we have flooding, all those pieces.”
An emailed statement from Manitoba Minister of Health, Seniors and Long-Term Care Uzoma Asagwara said the ministry’s first priority is assuring residents are safe and have access to any and all tools they may need to stay cool.
“We are working directly alongside personal care homes and regional health authorities to respond to immediate needs and improve conditions,” the minister’s statement said.
“Residents and families deserve to know their loved ones are safe and supported. We will continue working alongside facilities and regional health authorities to provide the resources needed, respond to emerging issues and protect residents throughout this period of extreme heat.”
WRHA said no residents have been treated for heat exhaustion or heat stroke.
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