THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME

The article below was previously published by the following:

February 3, 2025, Donna Thomson
https://www.donnathomson.com/2025/02/long-term-care-will-2025-be-year-we-fix.html
January 27. 2025, The Ottawa Citizen
https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/cloutier-long-term-care-2025
January 12, 2025, Divine Magazine for Canadian Women, www.divine.ca
https://divine.ca/en/long-term-care-will-2025-be-the-year-to-reinvent/ 

LONG-TERM CARE: Will 2025 be the year we fix it?
The next Ontario government must stop repeating the current mistake of funding new long-term care homes built by companies with bad records.
Lise Cloutier-Steele

I believe December 2024 took the prize for the most demoralizing reports of neglect, abuse and reprisal in the Ontario long-term care sector. All made me wonder: What is it going to take to sort it all out?  

Some argue that resolving this mess would require a massive investment of money the government doesn’t have. The reality, though, is that millions of taxpayer dollars have been awarded to private for-profit long-term care corporations, without any evidence of a corresponding improvement in the quality of care. 

It may be commendable to provide funding for the construction of new, more modern homes to resolve capacity issues, but it’s far from a complete solution. If the level of care within these new homes is no better than what we’ve seen in the older facilities, are we really making progress?   

One example of misplaced taxpayer dollars is Extendicare, a Canadian corporation that offers housing and care to seniors. Extendicare has been one of the main beneficiaries of Ontario government funding in recent years, and in May of 2024, the Minister of Long-Term Care and Extendicare executives proudly announced the opening of the newly built Extendicare Countryside care home in Sudbury. 

The new facility was described as a modernized and comfortable home that would provide residents with an improved quality of life. The positive vibes didn’t last long, however. In the months following the opening, numerous complaints were made by residents and family members about the substandard level of care offered at the facility.

These concerns were supported by multiple citations for non-compliance issued to the home from September to December 2024, by the Inspection Branch of the Ontario Ministry of Long-Term Care, and on December 16, less than seven months after the facility opened its doors, Brad Robinson, Director of the Inspection Branch, issued a ‘cease admissions order’ to the home. You can read the January 2, 2025, investigative report by Len Gillis of Sudbury.com here: https://www.sudbury.com/local-news/angry-family-members-concerned-for-loved-ones-at-extendicare-countryside-10018608

Earlier in the year, on May 2, Mr. Robinson also suspended new admissions to the St. Joseph’s at Fleming long-term care facility in Peterborough. Robinson’s order was based on his belief that ‘there is a risk of harm to the health and well-being of residents of the home or others who might be admitted’, the same statement he made recently about Extendicare Countryside of Sudbury.

Caregivers who have the courage to speak out about the substandard care of their loved ones should be especially cautious. If managers of a facility feel threatened by their complaints, they may issue a visitation ban under the authority of the Ontario Trespass to Property Act (TPA), or file a workplace harassment complaint against a caregiver while the facility conducts its own internal investigation, which may not include any input from the caregiver facing accusations from staff. The latter process can extend the visitation ban for a longer period.

Both retaliatory measures can have a devastating effect on a family. Such was the case for Diane Tamblyn of Peterborough, who was banned in May 2022 from visiting her 87-year-old father, a resident of the St. Joseph’s at Fleming facility.

Tamblyn was first issued a trespass notice she believes the home imposed because she complained about the care her father was receiving, and she was further burdened with restrictive visits by a workplace harassment complaint filed against her. Given that St. Joseph’s at Fleming was issued a ‘cease admissions order by the Ministry of Long-Term Care in May 2024, Diane Tamblyn likely had good reason to complain when she did. Her story is here: https://www.kawartha411.ca/2022/03/24/peterborough-woman-says-long-term-care-home-is-restricting-her-visits-with-her-father/

Despite the Ministry of Long-Term Care’s actions to help resolve issues at the St. Joseph’s at Fleming facility, a report in the Peterborough Examiner of January 17, 2025, indicates that the situation has not improved and the province has issued a call for new management.    

For over a year, Paul Ziman of Windsor was banned from visiting his mother at the Village at St. Clair facility after he expressed concerns about her care. According to the December 3 CBC Windsor report, Mr. Ziman contacted the Long-Term Care Action Line, the Patient Ombudsman, the Ministry of Long-Term Care and a number of lawyers, and he had yet to get the help he needed to get the ban lifted. You can read the complete report here: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/windsor-man-barred-from-ltc-home-pushes-back-1.7396178

There have been new developments in Mr. Ziman’s story. He broke the ban imposed on him by the Village at St. Clair facility to visit his mother for a few days over the Christmas holiday. On Boxing Day, police were called to the home, and because Ziman failed to leave the building when he was directed to do so, he was removed in handcuffs, released outside the home, and issued a $65 fine under the Ontario Trespass to Property Act (Act). You can read the complete update here:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/police-handcuff-and-fine-son-for-visiting-mom-in-ltc-home-after-breaking-unlawful-ban-1.7431805

Lastly, and closer to home, the Ottawa Citizen published a report on December 12 regarding the Villa Marconi care home on Baseline Road, where staff said they had to wash and dry residents using pillow cases, torn bedding and paper towels. Although this facility might have been the pride of our Italian community at one point, its current conditions tell another story. Equally concerning was the fact that some of the staffers, caregivers and advocates who provided comments for this story preferred to do it anonymously. Read the article here: https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/ottawa-long-term-care-home-hygiene-villa-marconi

What can be done?

It might sound simplistic, but I believe there needs to be a shift to common sense.

For instance, if remedial measures intended to address non-compliance issues fail to bring about improvements, there is no point in continuing with them.

The Ministry of Long-Term Care should enforce its ‘Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021, c.39, Schedule 1’, to protect whistleblowers from retaliation for reporting care issues in Ontario facilities. All forms of retaliatory actions by facilities against caregivers who complain should be abolished altogether, because the biggest losers in these disputes are the residents themselves, and they’re the ones who need the most protection.

More severe penalties, such as significant fines, should be imposed for non-compliant facilities.

By now, it should be clear that awarding millions of dollars to nursing home chains with some of the worst records serves no purpose other than to encourage a continuation of the same unacceptable practices.

Staff shortages and high levels of absenteeism by overburdened personal support workers and nurses continue to be major obstacles to improvement. Better working conditions, higher salaries and improved benefits would help persuade young people to consider this line of work as a viable career option. 

No one wants to spend their later years in an institution, and if improvements could be made to home care, it might be a better option for many in need of assistance. It would allow seniors to age in dignity in the privacy of their own home, for as long as they can. An added benefit of investing in more adequate and accessible home care is that it could discourage long-term care facilities from admitting more residents than they can realistically care for. 

We should never underestimate the good that just one caregiver can do, and the rippling effect it can have on others. But, if you are a caregiver tired of trying to make improvements to long-term care all on your own, you may want to consider lending your support to established organizations that share your objectives, and have made great strides in advocating for residents in care and their caregivers.

Examples of these are: Concerned Friends of Ontario Citizens in Care Facilities (CF), www.concernedfriends.ca,
Email: info@concernedfriends.ca; Advocacy Centre for the Elderly (ACE),
www.acelaw.ca; and the Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence (CCCE),
www.canadiancaregiving.org,
Email: info@canadiancaregiving.org