ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Central Health said Thursday it is not on a different wavelength with Newfoundland and Labrador’s top medical officer, despite claims from an owner of two personal care homes in Glovertown that the authority endorsed his decision to suspend visitations.
Paul Oram, co-owner of Baywatch Manor and Birchview Manor, came out swinging Wednesday afternoon after Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald said she would not have advised the owner to shut the homes to visitors in light of two cases of COVID-19 in the community.
Fitzgerald would not confirm the identities or location of the two cases, but family Facebook posts and Oram himself confirmed they are a young father and his daughter in the town.
“Oram’s Birchview Manor and Oram’s Baywatch Manor are private facilities and not managed by Central Health,” the authority said in a short statement Thursday.
“There was no direction given to the personal care home by Central Health to close to visitation,” it said. “Risk to the community is low and there has been no connection to a personal care home identified.”
But Oram said Wednesday he contacted a senior staff member at the authority about his plan to stop allowing visitors and was advised it would be a good idea.
Central Health would not confirm whether that was the case.
Fitzgerald indicated Wednesday her office would be in touch with the operator to explain its position.
Late Thursday afternoon, Health and Community Services confirmed that both Public Health and Central Health contacted the owner.
“Central Health reached out to the operator to arrange a meeting yesterday. Central Health called twice — once in the morning and once in the afternoon,” a statement read.
“The offer to meet was declined by the operator.”
Oram did not return messages left by The Telegram.
Mixed reaction
Meanwhile, several people reached out to Oram on Facebook Thursday praising him for his decision to protect seniors in the two homes.
But some were not impressed with his insults against Fitzgerald.
“It was a sensible decision to lock down given the situation, but saying the chief (medical officer of health) doesn't know what she's talking about is absolutely ridiculous,” said one man. “Some of his comments toward the decision making by government sounds like party lines run deep … the guy was a former PC cabinet minister after all.”
Oram was health minister under the Danny Williams administration until he resigned in 2009 citing health reasons. At the time, he was under Opposition and media scrutiny as to whether his business dealings represented a conflict of interest.
At the time, he slammed media for scrutinizing the actions of MHAs and ministers.
Parrot weighs in
Meanwhile, the Opposition MHA for the district of Terra Nova said Thursday he’s concerned about the dispute and wondered why there appeared to be conflicting advice from health officials.
“Some of our most vulnerable Newfoundlanders and Labradorians live in homes just like this one,” Lloyd Parrot said in a statement. “The mixed messages between Central Health and Public Health is frustrating for residents, families, staff, and the operators. We simply cannot afford this confusion from our government after seeing what has happened in other provinces.”
Peter Jackson is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter covering health care for The Telegram.
