TeleSense Canada Calls for a Healthcare Reform as Neglected Seniors in Long-Term Care Are Suffering Due to Inadequate Healthcare

THORNHILL, Ontario, June 2, 2020 (Newswire.com) - ​TeleSense Canada, a leading telemedicine solution provider helping Canadians benefit from next-generation healthcare technology, is calling for a healthcare reform in Canada as senior citizens living in long-term care facilities are being neglected and dying at a shocking rate due staff shortage and lack of medical attention.

• Senior citizens who live in long-term care homes make up 62 percent of the COVID-19-related deaths in Canada.
• Canada’s chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, attributed about half of Canada’s deaths from coronavirus to long-term care homes.
• More than 1,000 residents and several front-line staff members have died amid more than 200 outbreaks at such homes in Ontario, Canada alone.

While senior citizens are among the most vulnerable to COVID-19 and long-term care homes provide an ideal environment for the virus to spread, these are just two of the contributing factors. Lockdowns have prevented family members from visiting these facilities and advocating for their loved ones. Overworked healthcare workers, who lack sufficient protective equipment, become fearful of contracting the virus and walked out never to return.

Without family members, no one is left to ensure that residents receive healthcare. Physicians are only showing up one time per week, and they have no way of monitoring patients’ vitals remotely. Many have stopped showing up at all. The situation has become so dire, the Canadian Government has deployed its military. Provincial governments are ignoring the pleas for help issued by senior citizens and their loved ones.

Making matters worse, Canada's embattled senior-care sector has struggled with underfunding and neglect for years. The consequences of this situation include workers who are employed at multiple senior care facilities alternating between them, greatly increasing the risk of the virus spreading from one facility to another. Further compounding the problem is the low pay and paltry benefits given to those who work at long-term care facilities. Anxiety over missing a day of pay drives some to go to work even when they feel ill, posing a risk of transmission to residents.

“With the technology available today ready to be deployed, no senior should be left without the proper medical attention. Our seniors deserve so much more; we cannot sit and watch the statistics on TV, behind every number a life and a family. The healthcare system failed them we need to come together and fix the situation,” said Michael Haddad, President & CEO.

TeleSense Canada, a telemedicine platform that allows healthcare providers to make accurate diagnoses remotely, offers the solution that beleaguered senior citizens so desperately need. The consumer platform is built with a user-friendly personal clinic that patients or their caregivers can set up at a long-term facility. The personal clinic incorporates high-quality medical devices including a blood pressure unit, thermometer, pulse oximeter (SPO2), glucometer and scale. At a long-term facility the Professional Telemedicine unit is deployed as a cart system where it has additional professional instrumentation such as 3-Lead and 12-Lead ECG, Spirometry, digital stethoscope, multiple high-grade examination cameras and a portable ultrasound, operated by a local registered nurse.

Diagnoses made through TeleSense are very accurate due to these devices, the ability of the provider to integrate the patient’s electronic health records with TeleSense, and the option to consult with a medical specialist.

Patients communicate with their healthcare provider via video conferencing that uses their own Internet connection or that of the facility. The medical-based video conferencing is easy to use, with the provider inviting the patient into the virtual examination room and the patient merely clicking on the invitation acceptance.

Utilizing video conferencing, top-of-the-line medical devices, electronic health records and input from specialists, TeleSense acts as the health provider’s eyes, hands and in-office medical instruments to ensure an accurate diagnosis without requiring the patient to leave their bedside or the provider to enter the long-term care facility.

“We simply must do better for our senior citizens. They are in great jeopardy of perishing due to healthcare provider abandonment. The solution is caring for them with a true telemedicine platform, with instrumentation and real-time vitals. TeleSense Canada can help save many lives,” said Michael Haddad, President & CEO.

About TeleSense Canada

TeleSense Canada is a leading telemedicine solution provider helping healthcare organizations, medical professionals and utilities and energy sector organizations benefit from next-generation technology. TeleSense Canada is committed to delivering high-quality technology and healthcare services by creating a digital health platform that can evolve and scale to address ongoing needs and demands. The company’s solutions empower pharmacies, businesses, medical professionals, and healthcare organizations to take advantage of state-of-the-art telemedicine/tele-health technology. Learn more at https://www.telesense.ca/.

Media Contact
Michael Haddad
​​[email protected]

Source: TeleSense Canada