THUNDER BAY – The provincial government has lifted an order that placed a Thunder Bay long-term care home under third-party management after nearly four years.
The Ministry of Long-Term Care lifted its mandatory management order on Hogarth Riverview Manor as of Thursday, the government confirmed.
The ministry issued the order in October of 2017, citing areas of non-compliance including failure to properly report matters to the director, follow plans of care, ensure adherence to policies of zero tolerance of abuse and neglect, and protecting residents from abuse.
The issues were identified over 18 inspections following the home’s expansion in 2016 to over 400 beds (it can now accommodate 544 residents, according to its website), making it one of the largest LTC homes in the province.
St. Joseph’s Care Group worked with the ministry to select Extendicare Assist, the consulting branch of Extendicare, to provide third-party management services beginning in 2017.
A representative for the Ministry of Long-Term Care said in an email the home had been deemed to achieve compliance and demonstrated the ability to do so going forward.
The home has been subject to some continued findings of non-compliance in inspections conducted by the Ministry of Long-Term Care in 2021, including one compliance order issued in June over its response to a resident’s fall.
SJCG president Tracy Buckler said on Friday the home was no longer under any compliance orders, and said she was thrilled to see the management order lifted – a development that came on her second-last day in the role before retirement.
More funding and staffing is needed to help LTC homes provide better care, she said, for example by upping minimum hours of care per day.
“There has been an acknowledgment of the challenges that long-term care has faced as a sector, including underfunding and critical health human resource shortages," she said.
She also said the pandemic had played a role in delaying the lifting of the management order.
“There’s no doubt the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the lifting of the mandatory management order,” she said. “But it’s another testament to what was done in our long-term care homes that there was absolutely no evidence of spread of COVID-19 in either of our long-term care homes.”
Note: This article has been updated with comment from Ontario's Ministry of Long-Term Care.
