Families, politicians, call for investigation into Extendicare Countryside in Sudbury, Ont.
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Sudbury-area NDP members of parliament and family members are calling on the Minister of Long-Term Care to open an investigation into a local long-term care home.
Jamie West and France Gélinas held a joint press conference Wednesday about Extendicare Countryside. They were joined by family members of residents living in the facility.
The facility opened last year, and since then has been plagued by issues, investigations and criticism from loved ones of residents.
"I get complaints from every part of our health care system," Nickel Belt NDP MPP and health critic France Gélinas said. "But I started to get a lot of complaints about what was happening at Countryside."
Gélinas said she was surprised to hear the government issued a cease to admit order for the facility.
"This is a very serious order," she said. "You don't see this happening very often at all. It happens because things were not safe for residents."
Mina Thibeault's aunt Rose Brown is one of the residents at the facility. Thibeault said she started to worry about the care her aunt was receiving, and noticed she was being left in the same clothing for days and a lack of assistance from staff.
"When Rose has an accident in her bed, the mattress is not properly disinfected and soiled clothes are left lying around," she said.
"Recently when this happened, Rose was given a towel to clean herself up. Staff did not help her in any way even though Rose said she needed help."
Thibeault said there have been issues with her aunt not getting her medication on schedule and delays in ordering medical tests.
"The system is broken and things need to change," she said. "It's not right that staff have been proven to neglect our loved ones."
'Strict standards'
Last September, the facility was issued three compliance orders from the Ministry of Long-Term Care and multiple notifications and compliance orders have been issued since then.
On April 16, West and Gélinas sent a letter to Ontario Minister of Long-Term Care, Natalia Kusendova-Bashta.
In it, they said they have established "good lines of communication with Extendicare Countryside."
"While we appreciate the efforts being made by both the facility and your Ministry to address the issues at Extendicare Countryside, we have also received deeply troubling information that is not aligned with the standards of care we believe your ministry expects of a long-term care facility in Ontario," the letter states.
"The contrast between what is being reported by Extendicare's senior management and the experiences being shared by those on the ground is stark."
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Long-Term Care said all long-term care homes in the province are required to meet the "strict standards outlined in the Fixing Long-Term Care Act."
"The Ministry has been actively monitoring the Extendicare Countryside long-term care home through regular inspections and on-going engagement with the licensee and management," the statement said.
"The Cease of Admissions Order will remain in effect and will only be lifted once the ministry is confident the home has achieved full compliance with ministry standards and has shown they are able to maintain that compliance moving forward."
In a statement, Extendicare said it welcomes the ministry's presence on site.
"While we are encouraged by the progress that has been observed by the ministry, we recognize that we must remain focused on continuing to improve care," the statement said.
"We are concerned by MPPs Gélinas and West's perception that there is a discrepancy between the ministry's observations and the feedback they are hearing. We continue to listen and remain focused on improvement."
Extendicare also said a number of actions have been taken, including a deep clean of the home and expansion of the internal housekeeping team, a focus on staff to improve care consistency, education for staff on medication management and increased manager support for mealtimes.
"We continue to host regular town halls for residents and families, meet regularly with our Resident and Family Councils and encourage ongoing feedback as we continue to work to improve care every day."
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