Care home goes to court to prevent release of files after senior's death

Winnipeg Free Press

15-07-2025

A personal care home is trying to prevent Winnipeg police from accessing critical incident records after a 90-year old woman died at the facility following a fall, arguing provincial law prohibits the release of the records.
Concordia Hospital filed a notice of application in the Court of King's Bench last week, seeking to quash a production order obtained by the Winnipeg Police Service in February to investigate the death.
The court filing says the critical incident occurred at Concordia Place — a care home run by the hospital under an agreement with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority — on Oct. 9, 2024, when the senior, who was suffering from dementia, fell from her bed.
Daniel Crump / Free Press Files
Concordia Place care home where a 90-year old woman died following a fall from her bed last October.
An aide lifted her back onto the bed, the court filing says, and the next morning, staff observed swelling.
An X-ray confirmed she had a fractured leg, but because of her age and medical conditions, she wasn't taken for surgery to repair the break. It's not clear whether the fall or being lifted back to the bed caused the fracture, the court papers say.
The court filing claims there's no evidence linking the woman's death a week later to the fall.
She had been suffering an overall decline in her health in the year preceding her death, the court papers say.
The fall was probed as a critical incident by a review committee.
Winnipeg police Det. Sgt. Parnelli Parnes then sought a production order to compel Concordia Place to disclose reports, communications, contact information and investigative files related to the incident, including photos and X-rays, which a provincial court judge granted in February.
But on March 26, the care home told police it could not release some of the information sought because it was barred from doing so by the Manitoba Evidence Act and the Health System Governance and Accountability Act, the court filing says. It released other records to police.
The acts prevent the disclosure of records or information prepared for the use of a critical incident committee, according to the court filing.
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'Because of these statutory prohibitions against disclosure, Concordia Place staff are assured confidentiality in the critical incident process. They are told that this process is strictly confidential and based on provincial laws, critical incident documents are not compellable in court,' reads the court filing.
'This is designed to create a culture of safety and to encourage reporting and participation in the investigation and review of critical incidents.'
The application argues the provincial court judge failed to impose adequate conditions to minimize the risk of disclosing privileged information and failed to consider whether that information could be obtained from other sources.
The application is scheduled to be heard in court in August.
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Erik PinderaReporter
Erik Pindera is a reporter for the Free Press, mostly focusing on crime and justice. The born-and-bred Winnipegger attended Red River College Polytechnic, wrote for the community newspaper in Kenora, Ont. and reported on television and radio in Winnipeg before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Erik.
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