TORONTO - Ontario's auditor general says long-term care homes were poorly prepared for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bonnie Lysyk says both the provincial government and the nursing-home sector failed to heed lessons learned from the SARS epidemic.
In addition, Lysyk says concerns about systemic weaknesses raised repeatedly for years went unaddressed. Her special report also notes the sector's lack of integration within the health-care system.
As a result, she says long-term care homes were unable to benefit from hospital and public health expertise in infection controls.
COVID-19 hit Ontario's long-term care homes with brutal and lethal effect last spring.
In all, the disease killed at least 3,756 residents and 11 staff. At one point, the military had to go in to help at the worst-hit homes.