Ontario to take control of five long-term care homes after military report citing neglect, abuse - The Globe and Mail

The Ontario government is taking control of five long-term care homes, including four that the Canadian military says neglected and abused residents, while the Auditor-General launches a review into the province’s handling of the pandemic.

The government is facing mounting criticism for failing to discover deplorable conditions in seniors’ residences before the military stepped in.

Premier Doug Ford announced on Wednesday that in addition to taking over the homes, his government is ramping up inspections and fast-tracking an independent commission to probe the sector.

A Canadian Armed Forces report released on Tuesday details horrific conditions in five of Ontario’s long-term care homes – including residents left in soiled diapers and crying out for help for hours.

The Ontario government is appointing temporary management at five private, for-profit homes where a total of 263 residents have died: Eatonville Care Centre in Etobicoke, Hawthorne Place Care Centre in North York, Altamont Care Community in Scarborough and Orchard Villa in Pickering, all named in the military report, as well as Camilla Care Community in Mississauga.

The report describes orderlies in Quebec seniors’ homes disappearing during their shifts, boxes of surgical masks and narcotics that went missing, long-time employees quarrelling with newcomers and repeatedly ignoring safety instructions.

The coronavirus has killed 1,587 residents of long-term care homes in Ontario and 2,700 in Quebec, the two hardest-hit provinces.

Ontario will also expedite to July a previously announced independent commission to examine the pandemic’s impact on long-term care homes, which was set to start in September.

The Premier also promised “expanded and rigorous” inspections of the five homes named in the military’s report, as well as a sixth home the province is taking over in Mississauga, west of Toronto.

Meadus noted that in late March, the Ontario Ministry of Long-Term Care said it was “redeploying” inspectors to support nursing homes as they dealt with COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus.

She called on the government to reinstate comprehensive annual inspections of long-term care facilities, noting that only nine of the province’s 626 homes received in-depth inspections known as resident quality inspections last year.

Minister of Long-Term Care Merrilee Fullerton said her ministry inspectors have been “in contact” with struggling homes to provide support during the pandemic but she did not answer a question asking when the five homes in the military report were last inspected by the government.

She said the province’s inspections system is rigorous and is not to blame for poor conditions in nursing homes, noting that the previous Liberal government decreased the number of resident quality inspections after a report by the Auditor-General.

Lysyk found that while the government conducted comprehensive inspections of all long-term care homes that year, inspectors had fallen behind on responding to critical incidents, such as abuse or neglect, as well as to complaints.

Eatonville and Hawthorne are among 11 long-term care homes owned by Rykka Care Centres.

“We have worked tirelessly to ensure the homes that we manage have the resources and the tools they need to provide a safe and comfortable environment for the seniors who call our community their home,” said Linda Calabrese, a vice-president at Responsive Management Inc., Rykka’s operating partner.

The Armed Force’s 60-page report on Quebec summarizes the observations of more than 1,000 military personnel deployed at 25 seniors’ homes.

At Montreal’s Grace Dart Extended Care Centre, where 61 patients have died, some employees arrived late or would go missing during work for 30 minutes to two hours, the document said.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he will speak with the premiers on Thursday about how to address concerns in long-term care facilities.