A letter from Diana Sebera to Premier Doug Ford: As a retired RN of 28 years, I’d like to provide some perspective on the Long-Term Care crisis. Although I speak of nurses and nursing, my comments also apply to personal support workers, who provide most of the daily care. Ontario has a big task ahead of itself.  A drastic change is required - one that will make nurses stay in their jobs. It starts with a good work environment.

Wendy Dunn is one of the 60 nurse practitioners (NP) working in Ontario’s nursing homes as an Attending NP. Wendy shared with us her experiences at RNAO’s weekly webinar with NPs on the management of an outbreak at Greenwood Court. She has kindly put together some of the lessons learned through this challenging experience.

The references in the media to efforts to bring medical specialists prompted a RN who works with seniors to write, brilliantly detailing the specialized knowledge required to work in long-term care. She prefers to remain anonymous. Please know that I am deeply appreciative for your willingness to share your exquisite knowledge and commitment.

The tragedy in long-term care defies description. Of Ontario's official toll of 713 COVID-19 deaths, 72%, or 516 of those deaths, have occurred in long-term care facilities. There are currently outbreaks in 132 nursing homes, or just over a fifth of the 626 homes province-wide, and there are outbreaks in 63 retirement homes.

Today, we spotlight the needs of persons requiring mental health and addiction services, one of the most neglected sectors in healthcare. On behalf of RNAO, our tremendous appreciation to Kim Moran (CEO, Children’s Mental Health Ontario), Adrienne Spafford (CEO, Addictions and Mental Health Ontario) and Camille Quenneville (CEO, Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario) for contributing the article that follows. RNAO calls on government to immediately heed their call!

The numbers are sobering, as the government is expecting 1,600 deaths by end of April and between 3,000 and 15,000 over the 18 to 24 months course of the pandemic. RNAO’s concern is that this planning still happens under a “best-case scenario,” from the outset, RNAO has been calling not to make that assumption.

I touch on the tremendous concern of domestic violence at a time when most people are staying at home. I also elaborate on the action to protect persons experiencing homelessness, and the action required by the province and the city of Toronto to implement the plans to support them.

We are living through a pandemic, but we don’t know much about the way the pandemic is advancing since we have so little epidemiological data. RNAO continues to call for massively escalating testing for COVID-19, for two reasons.

Today is World Health Day. Long before the COVID-19 pandemic was in sight, the World Health Organization (WHO) was planning to use, April 7, to release a report on the state of the world’s nursing workforce.