The owner of a Springdale seniors home says the outbreak at the facility, and the crisis in health care, demands help from abroad.

Shane Penney operates Springdale Retirement Living, where at least a third of all residents and staff have tested positive for COVID-19.

Penney says it took Central Health a week to respond after the first signs of trouble, due to its own reduced staffing levels.

He says that’s a worrisome sign.

Penney says if the health care system is stretched that thin—which he says he can confirm from his own first-hand experience—then officials should reach out to other provinces or Ottawa for help to fill the gap in the short term.

As of Tuesday, 36 staff and residents had tested positive for COVID at the home, but Penney says all cases have been managed without hospital admission.

Both he and his wife have also tested positive, preventing them from helping out at the centre.

He says 95 per cent of all residents have had at least two shots of the vaccine and most have also had the booster. All staff are vaccinated.