Nearly four months ago, a 75-year-old woman died from COVID-19 in a hospital bed in Barrie.
Her death made headlines days later. Only her death, not her name.
Joan Kantor was the 11th resident from Owen HIll Care Community to die from COVID-19, which she contracted while living at the home.
Now, her daughter is determined to make sure her mom is counted and remembered.
Kantor was mother to three kids, including Barrie resident Lisa Politakis.
She was born in Derby, England, where she picked up what her obituary referred to as her “marvellous accent.” In her senior years, she enjoyed crossword scratch tickets.
Kantor was one of 27 residents and 21 staff members from Owen Hill's 57-bed facility to contract COVID-19.
Politakis thought her mom was safe in her small long-term care home. She was sad not to visit, but wanted to comply with the rules created to protect her mom.
On April 24, the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit declared an outbreak at Owen Hill Care Community after a staff member tested positive.
Politakis was told the affected staff member was not in direct contact with residents.
On April 27, she got a call from her mother’s doctor.
“He didn’t have to speak; I knew that meant mom was positive,” said Politakis.
Kantor did test positive, but was asymptomatic at the time. Politakis said her mother told her she felt fine, and was shocked she tested positive. Eventually, she was moved from her shared room to isolation, where Politakis could no longer call.
Then the fever started.
Regular updates from the doctor came to Politakis by phone.
“He was trying to give me hope, and he said there wasn’t a lot they knew about this disease,” she recalled.
Kantor’s fever broke. But it was not the positive sign her family hoped for. She was put on oxygen supply the next day.
“We were praying that mom didn’t die on Mothers’ Day. I’ll remember that for the rest of my life,” said Politakis.
She decided to have her mother admitted to Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH) in Barrie.
Hours after her mom arrived at the hospital, a doctor called Politakis to say there was nothing they could do.
For the first time since lockdown was initiated at Owen Hill and all long-term care homes in the province, Kantor’s family could visit – provided they wore hospital-provided personal protective equipment (PPE) and only stayed briefly.
Politakis told her mom to keep fighting and, as if on-demand, Kantor rallied once more. Her improvement lasted less than a week.
The family repeated their goodbyes and on May 16 at 10:30 a.m., Joan Kantor died from COVID-19 at RVH. She was 75.
“We haven’t had a funeral because we can’t,” said Politakis. “We couldn’t even hug each other as a family because you’re not supposed to. We are three households. It’s really, really hard.”
In the days that followed, Kantor’s children were tasked with picking up her belongings from Owen Hill. It was a brutal task made colder because the home was in outbreak and visitors were still banned. Staff brought Kantor’s things to the parking lot in plastic bags to hand off to Politakis.
Grief is still an open wound for Politakis. Instead of closure, she has questions.
“No one’s explained how (the virus) got in there,” she said. “I want them to figure out what happened. … They need to figure out how it got into all these homes. … Then how did it spread? Was it the ventilation? Were they doing proper PPE? How come hospitals were able to contain it when they had COVID patients?”
Owen Hill Care Community is one of many long-term care facilities owned and operated by Sienna Senior Living. During the outbreak at Owen Hill, the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit confirmed the deaths of 11 residents who contracted COVID-19.
In response to questions from CollingwoodToday, Sienna sent a statement expressing condolences to Politakis and her family.
“We can confirm that we were in compliance with all ministry and public health requirements prior to the outbreak,” the company stated in an email. “Owen Hill Care Community has remained out of outbreak since June 19.”
The company confirmed the outbreak in April began with a single staff case on April 24. By April 26, one resident tested positive for the coronavirus.
“For the safety of all of our team members and residents, we mobilized quickly to ensure all outbreak protocols were in place,” stated Sienna, adding they worked with the health unit, RVH, and the North Simcoe Muskoka Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) Home and Community Care Unit for testing and best practices for infection prevention and control.
After her mom tested positive for COVID-19, Politakis also found out from the doctor that her mom had a severe rash, likely caused by incontinence products.
Politakis said she and her sister consistently checked that her mom had a fresh supply and was wearing clean products. They also made sure Kantor showered at least once per week. But they hadn’t visited their mom since early March.
Politakis said the rash was so severe, staff at Owen Hill had to send photos to a specialist for treatment advice. Kantor was on pain medication for the rash until her death, according to her daughter.
She and her family had agonized over moving Kantor into Owen Hill. Kantor was showing signs of dementia and would forget to take the medicine she needed to control her diabetes. Politakis and her siblings would visit everyday, they hired homecare workers, but it wasn’t enough.
On a doctor’s strong recommendation, they moved her into Owen Hill Care Community, where Kantor paid $1,517 per month for her room, board and care. She shared her room with another female resident with dementia.
They chose Owen Hill because it’s small and it was closeby, allowing one of Kantor’s two daughters and her son to visit each day.
“We couldn’t take care of her anymore. That’s why we put her in the home. We put her there to keep her safe … they were supposed to take care of her,” said Politakis. “I hold them totally responsible, because they were supposed to prevent (the virus) from getting in there. They were supposed to be keeping her safe.
“Her death hit me really hard,” Politakis added. “We haven’t been able to grieve properly. I don’t know if I feel guilty for putting her in there.”
She has hired a lawyer and says she intends to pursue a civil suit against Owen Hill over her mother’s death.
“I don’t want to see anyone go through this again. I don’t want to see another outbreak,” said Politakis. “If they haven’t figured it out … they can’t prevent it from happening again.”
Sienna stated Owen Hill and the rest of its long-term care homes are “focused on preparing for a potential second wave of the pandemic.”
The company has hired Dr. Andrea Moser as chief medical consultant and Dr. Allison McGeer as chief infection prevention and control consultant, and stated both are experts in their fields.
“Each of these health-care experts are providing us with advice on best practices and helping us to prepare for any eventuality,” stated Sienna in the email.
The company has a COVID-19 guide to train staff and has developed contingency plans for staffing.
“We will also be conducting a tabletop exercise to test our preparedness in simulated scenarios,” stated Sienna. “We have always had an adequate supply of PPE and we continue to maintain our PPE inventory since the start of the pandemic.”
Throughout the outbreak, Politakis said she received communication from Owen Hill indicating staff were wearing PPE and being diligent. They provided updates about how many cases had been confirmed through testing.
“We knew people were dying in the home because you guys were reporting it in the news,” said Politakis.
Sienna said its regular communication to families included calling the primary contact for every resident at Owen Hill to advise them of the outbreak and providing daily status updates on the Sienna COVID-19 website.
“We also provided regular email communications, biweekly e-newsletters and recorded messages that went to all family members at Owen Hill,” read the statement from Sienna.
Politakis acknowledged there was regular communication, but it was she who broke the news of her mothers’ death to a Sienna staffer who called with an update on the home.
“Not once did Owen Hill say when people died. … They never acknowledged her death,” said Politakis.
She's afraid people are forgetting about those who have died.
Those like her mother, who was one of six children. Kantor was born in England and met her husband there when he came from Canada for work. She moved to Canada and had a family with her husband of 20 years. After their divorce, Kantor worked as a waitress.
Her obituary stated she would be remembered for her smile, her laugh, and her wonderful accent.
Politakis will remember her mom was — however stubborn — well-loved by all who met her. She didn’t like to be a bother and, with some of her last breaths, told her children not to come too close for fear she would spread COVID-19 to them.
On her last visit with her mom before COVID, Politakis brought coffee, treats and scratch tickets, which her mother loved. Though her daughters reminded her to keep them so they could be checked for prizes, Kantor always forgot and tossed them out before her kids came back.
In the bags of her belongings from Owen Hill, Politakis found old scratch tickets – saved from their last visit.
