Houses of Horrors
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The public long term care facilities are nightmares and alot of that has to do with funding. My mom was in a private facility and the monthly rent was over $6000 and care and activities were great. In public homes funding is so low that understaffing and under supplied makes it very difficult for staff to provide optimal care. It still is no excuse for abuse but conditions are next to impossible
Agreed. My mother was in a private facility that cost a similar amount. She had Alzheimer's and was often not very compliant, especially when it came to areas of personal care that she found an affront to her dignity. Nonetheless the staff were patient and amazing, and in truth she would have been better off there than the prior three years of early dementia while insisting on staying in her own apartment. There she had 24/7 caregivers, but her routine involved only vacantly watching the TV or sleeping while waiting for our daily visits.
In the facility they had programmed activities, and she even found a "boyfriend", also with Alzheimer's. This after not at all being interested in men after my father passed away many years before.
Of course the difference is money. Very few people can afford that level of care. However there has to be a minimum basic level of care available to all who need it, as is the case with our health care system in Canada. If this means the government has to take over to ensure that long term health care basic needs are met, so be it.
I'm astounded that the long term health care department of the government, headed by the long term care minister Merrilee Fullerton, was not aware of the abhorrent conditions. Either the inspectors are not qualified to do their jobs, or some may be getting paid off to look the other way, especially in "for profit" facilities. Hopefully conditions were somewhat better before Covid-19 emerged and pressurized the whole system, but imho Ms. Fullerton should resign.
I don't know Fullerton's history or track record. I watch the Ford update each afternoon and happen to remember her being directly questioned as the head of the long term care, her answers were:
-She actually started in long term health care 15-20 years ago as a physician so she had direct experience in field.
-Staffing issues along with increase of intake of aging population over the last 15 years is a big consideration of the situation - it's been a slow but continuously growing problem over time.
-This is not just Ontario, this is Canada wide.
-Ontario is the only province that actually has a long term healthcare minister.
-Doug Ford was voted into power June 2018. Therefore Fullerton and her position has only been in place for less than 2 years at most. That may sound like a lot but anyone who knows governments and making changes at this scale knows this is not a lot.
I don't argue your opinion of should she should resign or not - just wanted to share her answers (not fact checked to be clear as well, just shared) before considering suggesting this is her fault and she should give up her position.
Today's video I pulled this information from, including her talking about what she is doing and what plans to do moving ahead:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vya0kvqax6Y&t=2400s
What a sad sad situation for so many. Even more sad is when we hear of COVID spread through countries around the world in long term care leaves you to wonder what conditions they are operating in as well.
With conditions that horrid, and assuming that at some time in the past two years she might have actually found time to visit some of the homes that her inspectors may have reported as being problematic, surely some correctional action could have been taken.
I agree if it was the case of many/most of the locations.
I suspect but obviously do not know percentages (but believe we will know a lot more publicly over the months to come) how many of the locations are well ran and how many are horrific.
Remember the Canadian Military were deployed to only 5 of the 630 long term care homes in Ontario. Yes they were the hardest hit and needed the help, thank god they got the help they needed.
Until much more independent review/inspection of the 630 homes (speaking just for Ontario) is done will we won't know the full picture. I agree however that it could be quite scary if many more are confirmed to be in just as poor conditions.
Yes, but there is also this.
Ontario scaled back comprehensive, annual inspections of nursing homes to only a handful last year
Great link. Thank you Frankfooter.
Hopefully this exposure will drive a proper inspection of all the LTCH locations and the funding needed.
According to one news report, the problem with inspections is that the inspectors are there only a few times a year and only for a brief period of time. The military were in the 5 homes basically 24/7 so they saw the full extent of the horror. Kudos to our military. Too often they are deployed to foreign lands when we actually need them right here in Canada.
Asian families tend to have 3-4 generations in the same household. I'm surprised by the number of elderly Chinese women who go out everyday to collect empty beer bottles/cans to redeem for a dime each. I assume they live with their families and not in old age homes.
What about parents who are too sick physically or mentally to be cared for at home? I don't know if you've had a parent with mid to late stage Alzheimer's related dementia, but home care is extremely difficult to impossible in that situation. Other long term care patients may require daily medical attention that can only be provided in a dedicated facility.
That does not excuse what we heard today, and that situation must be corrected.
If they are without families then how would their non existent children be able to leave them at a nursing home?
Now try reading my response again and this time think.about.it.
According to the report seniors were left without food, medication, in soiled diapers, without showers for weeks.
Is this the type of care you cannot provide at home ? Cause it sounds to me like they'd be better off out on the street vs one of these hell holes. But it's a hassle and people will try to justify their actions.
I believe you are either confused or innocently but incorrectly worded your post.
Obviously your mom was very fortunate to receive VIP treatment at a price of 6K/month that many cannot afford. However, the problem you stated about "public homes" is factually incorrect. Public homes have fared far better with the same amount of money as have "publicly funded" for profit private care homes. Far, far better for the same amount of funding. The difference being the "for profit" part in privately owned and operated home that has been the source of the problem.
Yes, the "for profits" are the major problem. They should hold the owners accountable.
BTW: I heard on the radio that there is a home (who's name escapes me) that had either zero infections or zero deaths.
