THUNDER BAY — The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care says a recent inspection at Bethammi Nursing Home found what the ministry describes as "widespread non-compliance" with provincial regulations, the most concerning being neglect.
It's issued an order setting deadlines for implementing a series of corrective measures.
Until that happens, St. Joseph's Care Group is permitted to admit no more than one new resident per week at Bethammi.
Several of the incidents of neglect identified during a 13-day inspection in March relating to the actions of one employee.
The inspection report documents an instance in which three residents were neglected by their personal support worker when they were left unattended from 7:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m., causing them to miss breakfast and lunch.
"PSW #104 failed to provide any care or services to the residents as per their plan of care," the report states.
"Resident #001 did not receive their breakfast or nourishment. Resident #002 was not given breakfast and was left in bed for six hours. When Resident #002 was discovered by another staff member, they stated 'they were hungry.' Resident #003 did not receive their breakfast or nourishment and did not receive another specified type of care as required."
The three residents didn't eat until sometime after 1:00 p.m. when they received lunch meal trays in their rooms.
The report cited two additional cases involving the same PSW.
One resident received no care for six hours, between 7:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., and was eventually found to be incontinent with their clothing and mobility device soiled. The resident was supposed to receive continence intervention every two hours.
A second resident was left soiled for three hours even though the PSW was aware the resident was incontinent.
Tracy Buckler, CEO of St. Joseph's Care Group, won't say how the worker was dealt with. "But I can assure you that was addressed appropriately," Buckler said in an interview Tuesday.
Speaking of the staff in general, she said "There is no one that is willfully neglecting anyone." SJCG has stringent hiring practices, Buckler said, and trusts its staff "to do the right thing," but added "Sometimes it doesn't work out....we'll always try to reeducate and redirect whenever we can."
Buckler said the ministry orders mean SJCG has to ensure its staff are "fully up to date on the educational requirements, for example reporting on abuse and neglect...we have a plan to make sure that every staff member is able to sign off on that and everyone's aware of their responsibilities."
She said many of the ministry's requirements have already been addressed, but some will take longer because they are system-wide.
According to Buckler, the nursing home will take the time to communicate with the families of all 112 residents "to make sure they're OK with safety measures" connected to the use of bed rails following a review mandated by the ministry.
In her order, MOHLTC Director of Inspections Stacey Colameco said it is based on "the scope and severity of non-compliance, and the LTC home's compliance history over the past 36 months. The scope is identified as widespread...and represents systemic failure that affects or has the potential to negatively affect a large number of residents."
Despite the negative tone of the report, Buckler said she believes the majority of Bethammi residents and their families are pleased with the care that's provided.
"There are 112 residents...it's a very caring atmosphere."
The ministry and long-term-care home licensees each has the responsibility to make sure provincial regulations are adhered to, she said.
"I think the inspection process is doing what they need to do in terms of complying," Buckler stated, observing that the current system creates challenges for operators.
"I'll give you the example that 111 residents had something that was fully compliant. One resident had something that didn't go quite right, so that makes you out of compliance. I think that makes it challenging...That's not to say the one thing that did not go well isn't important, because it is."
She noted that a provincial review of the inspection process is now underway, and that it's possible it will result in some changes.
