Updated: Wed Jul. 16 2008 6:17:58 PM

CTV.ca News Staff

Ontario's ombudsman launched an investigation Wednesday into the way the province monitors its nursing homes. Andre Marin says he plans to look into the way the Liberal government enforces its standards, and whether those standards are appropriate.

"First, we will investigate the ministry's monitoring of long-term care facilities to ensure compliance with statutory requirements and policy standards," he told reporters at a news conference.

Marin said the second part of the investigation would ask whether "the standards imposed by the ministry (are) unrealistic, trivial or irrelevant to the extent that they detract from effective compliance monitoring."

The announcement came on the heels of media reports that found three-quarters of the province's facilities weren't meeting targets set by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. The standards include regulations on cleanliness, care and safety.

The report found that in seniors in some homes have died while physically restrained. In others, residents have been left in soiled diapers for hours.

Facility operators have complained that several of the 400 provincial benchmarks are not essential to patient care and distract employees from the most important part of their work.

Marin said a recently conducted "pre-investigation" provided sufficient proof that a full examination is required. He said he has also received hundreds of complaints from residents and their families.

"I think that by the very nature of the business, those who are in long-term care facilities don't always have the means to express themselves... We've only touched the tip of the iceberg."

He would like the power to directly investigate conditions inside seniors' homes but the government refuses to change his mandate to allow it, he said.

"For 33 years, six ombudsmen in a row have complained this is an area that has been overlooked," he said. "There's no independent recourse for those who have complaints on how this process is run."

Provincial opposition leaders pointed fingers at the Liberal party upon hearing news of the investigation, saying Premier Dalton McGuinty has not given nursing home operators the funding and guidance they need to run high-quality facilities.

"We have our most vulnerable, most deserving citizens... going with the funding, going without the standard of care that we would expect them to have," Conservative Leader John Tory told CTV Toronto.

McGuinty said he welcomes the probe.

"The fact of the matter is we're on the same side," McGuinty said Wednesday from the premiers' annual meeting in Quebec City.

McGuinty admitted "progress is a little bit slower than we would hope for,'' despite his government having hired thousands of nurses and having spent $1 billion more on long-term care.

"If Mr. Marin can go in there and turn something up for us and give us some good advice, as he's done in so many other areas in the past, I would welcome that," he said.

"I've known Andre for more than 30 years now -- I grew up on the same street. I've never found that he's ever let anything get in the way of getting his job done.''

About 75,000 people live in Ontario's 622 long-term care facilities.

Janet Lambert, executive director of the Ontario Long-Term Care Association, said homes also welcome the investigation, provided it prompts the province to boost staffing and funding in nursing homes.

"Right now, Ontario is actually second to last when it comes to a measure of the qualified people that care for our residents, and that is a per-resident per-day measure," Lambert told Newsnet. "It's second to last compared to the rest of the provinces in Canada, and Ontario shouldn't be second to last."

Lambert said the standards should also be less focused on paperwork and more focused on resident care.

Marin's report will be completed within the next six months.

Comments are now closed for this story

Dave
400 regulations which, in the end, all add up to inadequate care because provincial governments do not provide enough funds to properly take care of nursing home patients. Yes, I use the term "patients' and not "residents" which term simply covers up the real state of health of most of the people who are in these nursing homes. The neglect brings shame on all of us.

Margaret
Something neeeds to be done with the nursing home standards.Why bother to have standards if there is no one to monitor them....our elderly deserve more...Many of our seniors default their life savings to live in these "nursing homes".
The provincial goverments needs to take some of that tax monies that they have in surplus and put it to good use....this would be a good investment.....

Big Mike
I know, the Ontario Gov't should introduct a new tax to solve this problem. It's the Liberal way, after all!!!!!!!

David
The biggest problem is that too many people go into retirement with only the Canada Pension, or similar inadequate support as their sole source of income.
If they require institutional care that amount is woefully inadequate to cover the kind of care people are demanding.
I have had the unpleasant experience to have to place an elderly person in care. Unfortunately their level of expectation was in no way equivalent to their means. If you don't have at least $2000.00 a month in Ontario, don't expect a level of care much greater than that of a prisoner.

The population is aging, and this is going to become even worse. For all those who demand better care I will ask: where is the money going to come from?

Lindsay Morgan
I think we need to realize that this situation will affect all of us sooner or later. It is not about how much money we have or have not saved (not everyone is fortunate enough to have had a pension plan; RRSP contribution plans started too late for many of us. This is about substandard care and is absolutely unacceptable. Perhaps we need to have protests in order to get governments to do more than they are right here affecting our own that have in most cases contributed to the well being of Canada and deserve a better end to their lives, instead of being so concerned about what is going on in other countries around the world.

MikeCanada
Children might want to consider taking care of their elderly parents themselves. What is not discussed here is that people are simply living too long. It's horrible to watch people fade away strapped to chairs. We are kinder to our pets.

Mr. Den
Our convicted felons get better treatment in prison,I don't get it.

Chris
This is sad indeed. While I agree there are standards which must be met and the government must be held accountable to said standards. I think that the standards should be met and that's it. I don't feel a social responsibility beyond that to take care of the elderly. I am 24 I've worked for 10 years already and I'll probably work for another 40. Yes I've been contributing to a CPP. However I also recognize that it isn't enough and today now, I am starting to save/invest money for when I retire. So should this particular situation arise I can afford care for myself and my wife. How much more of my hard earned money should I have to pay to take care of others ?

Reece
BigMike: its the liberal way to introduce big tax? Who´s idea was the GST? And I´m not evening critical of the GST, it pays for services and infastructure and if more is needed to correct problems i´m all for it. You only need to travel to the USA to appreciate how wonderful our streets and services are. Yesterday I transited via LAX airport in los angeles and let me say....damn, what a dump! Bottom line...you get what you pay for, and Canadians who´ve never travelled to the States have no idea how great we have it here.

Cheryl
I have always said that they need someone to go in there belonging to no organization. Just a person like you or me and report to the government what they see.

As soon as the nursing home knows someone is coming from the government, then they are on high alert and you will never get to the bottom of what is going on.

Similar to a mystery shopper if you will.

Anon
I work in a nursing home.We work so hard to try and care for the residents but when you have over16 residents to care for per health care aide and only 2.5hrs to get them dressed Its hard We love these residents like our own family.We need more help to give them the attention they deserve

nowonder
We are one of the most heavily-taxed people in the world. Still infrastructure is crumbling, public services suck, education levels are falling rapidly, health care is deteriorating at a huge rate and we can't even humanely care for our elderly! Where is all our money going??????????????

Jodi
I am very troubled by the way this is being approached. Nursing home workers are overworked, underappreciated and are not to blame. People are living longer and so there needs to be an increase in the number of caregivers in these homes. There is no time for undivided individual attention for the elderly and so we have workers who cannot meet the standards (which are not to high) there are not enough workers to meet these expectations. The real solution to this problem is more workers, but the Government of Canada does not have the funding to provide more workers. There would be no problem if the resident:caregiver ratio was more practical. Do not blame the staff, there are very sincere, dedicated staff at these homes, who give all they have to provide for the people living in these conditions. Blame the health care system. Something needs to be done.

Nowonder
Reece, it depends WHERE in the US. I have been to US cities that are model cities and I wished Toronto was more like them (eg, San Francisco or the transit system in Washington which is efficient, clean, safe and affordable).

Nancy
It's about time someone pays attention to the elderly!

Response to Chris
I would like to respond to "Chris". I appreciate that you have worked a whole 10 years but what you fail to realize is that the elderly have worked hard to give you this lifestyle. Where would you be without the elderly to fight in wars, fight for rights, fight for CPP (by the way which was not around when they were working). The only thing the elderly are looking for is a little dignity. I take care of my 93 year old father with the help of a live in caregiver. Every day it gets harder and harder to cope with the battle of age. I hope that you one day will realize that dignity is not a word it is a right.

Doug BC
Humane levels of care are essential.No one should be warehoused like some kind of commodity during their elder years.
But,having said that,I think these homes also have the potential to become the same kind of money pits as health care,or our education system.No matter how much money is spent,more can always be spent.
What's sad,it that most people feel the government should to the paying.Is this society so sick that we can't even contribute to the welfare of our aging parents and grand parents?? The people who gave their all to take care of their families.
This "nanny state" is shameful,greedy,and to self absorbed.
Subsidized elder care homes should be a last resort.Familes should care for their own,or at least be willing to help pay for that care.
There is no such thing as "free" people.Like health care,like day care,like education,this is not about "free".This is all about people who want services,but want someone else to pay for it.

Frank Buchan
Mre taxes will never address the basic problem, which is that many people live too long in a poor state of health. This costs more than we can afford.

At 40, I am already aware choices I made in my 20s have reduced my quality of life moving forward. To address the aging issue, we need to recognise that and assist the next generations in understanding the consequences of choices. The simplest example is smoking: maybe we create a system where your choice to moke means no access to health care of a specific form? It's harsh, but practical. And unless we at think about these things, we will eventually be forced to be far harsher when the cash runs out.

R D
To NOWONDER and others who wonder where all the money goes. If you can still access "Public Sector Salaries Disclosures -2007" take a look at the 1000s of people on that list and you'll soon find out why there's not enough money for diapers, tooth brushes, and good meals for our seniors. Just in the Ministry of Health alone will scare the hell out of you.

Carol
My mother is in a nursing home in Nova Scotia and the standard of care there is no better. It seems that each week, there is another issue with care being raised and I was told that residents in long term facilities are scared to say anything as it will be taken out on them, which it does happen. Some of the workers are over worked and others are there just to get a paycheque. I think there needs to be more scrutiny on who is hired as some shouldn't be allowed to care or work around the elderly. One thing that I know for sure, is that I hope I never have the need to be in a long term facility not under the standards that is in place now.

Marty
Unfortunately, the standards in Long Term Care facilities are not being monitored properly. I agree that undercover investigations should be conducted regularly. The medical care and infection control is not adequate. I have witnessed and questioned the lack of care in two different homes, only to be told they are under staffed. This answer is of little consolation when you are watching a loved one suffer and there is nowhere to turn for help. I support Andre Marin and hope his findings will result in better care for our seniors.

Sandra A.
Once again, this has been a 3 minute news item and people will forget about it.
The elderly should have home care, but the Ontario government, in all it's glory are spending excess money on trivial things instead of taking care of our elderly citizens.
They are abused and even die in these homes, but no one cares.
They have fought wars, been through the depressions and raised us. This says a lot about Canada, if you are sick or old you can be eliminated. Why don't they hire older workers to take care of these people. They have more compassion.

Robert Thomas
My mother needed chronic care.

They needed a bed for someone who didn't place too many demands on the staff.

A bath once every couple of weeks or a diaper change once a day might have been something my mom had paid for throught her 60 years of taxes.

Guess who won?

Carole
I am still recovering years after a neck/spine injury and have another chronic condition resulting in pain & fatique. I am pretty young still and have no family. Now, I receive homecare assistance and I marvel at how disinterested the workers are and even worse, the supervisors. They have a hodge-podge system which in spite of using a software tool, allows for every one in the chain of care to take a different perspective on what is required for my care - and almost no one consults me, I just hear the results. I initially spent many months in a rehabilatative hospital ward - and a nice one at that. While I was learning how to move my arms and legs again, I constantly had to help in any way I could, the elderly patients around me. I remember always ringing for the nurses because my 80+ something room-mate was about to fall out of bed trying to go to the washroom. She'd ring for assistance a good 20-30 mins. earlier and couldn't wait any longer. Spending 95% of time in bed, she wanted out! As well, many patients I have witnessed were slumped over in contorted positions for hours because the nurses would walk by. Apparently, they felt it would do no good to position them upright. If we don't have the empathy, the right ratio of staff to patients without the burn-out factor in hospitals - I'd be scared to see what goes on in a nursing home where people just become invisible. Look out if you lose both legs as did my $3,600 monthly pension plan equipped Aunt - because due to needing more assistance than some, they took every penny and she was in a super-modest semi-private room for the rest of her days. They even charged her extra for laundry! And she had no choice because of her condition. Its grim folks. We are still a wealthy nation - we can do waaaay better! That and too many of the staff in the chain - sorry, just being honest from my experience, just don't care.

JJ
RD. Right on.

Chris
Ok,

Again I certainly don't mind meeting a standard and if we're not meeting a standard then yes we need to spend money/redirect money to fix those issues and bring them up to snuff. I have no problem with this.

I went to Bosnia, and I went to Afghanistan. Yes I may have only worked for 10 yrs right now. However there have been times I've worked 2 jobs . I look at my grandfather, who went to War who worked hard to give someone like me many of the things I enjoy today. He's worked on a farm his whole life , ran a successful business. Now he's got enough money that my grandmother is taken care of, if he dies or they both need to goto into a nursing home.

I am worried about rising taxes and taking more money to take these facilities beyond what is needed to improve them. Because the more money the gov't takes from younger generations to help the older generations, the less effective I become at being able to help myself and my family when I get to that point. Its a vicious cycle. Higher taxes are not the answer.

RPK ~ Kitchener
This news of greater involvement into examining the criteria Nursing Homes are working to and in fact complying with is a "Breath of Fresh Air".

NOT all Nursing Facilities in this Province are breaking rules daily ~ Yet ~ many are, & running free to do so, because they can.

I am on the Board of Directors of Senior Facilities in Kitchener Ontario and I can assure anyone we meet and in some cases exceed the government rules.
We use "Common Decency & Respect" for our guests 24 - 7 .
So many young citizens are using a nursing home as a dropping spot to get rid of ole grandpa & grandma or mom or dad.
These terrible nursing locations exist because no one reports their actions not to the ministry but to police authorities.
Elder Abuse is an illegal action as is child abuse.
At least some of us are dedicated to not only meeting the physical n eeds but we address the social & spitual needs of the elderly so that their days can be fruitful as limited as some are.
Don't blame the government all the time take a look at what you are doing to be a part of the cure of a real live problem.

When regulations choke the system...
At what point do these overbearing regulations become the very burden that causes nursing home patients to suffer because the workers are just too busy being "politically correct" trying to comply with the regulations?

What they need are more inspectors who get around more often and issue fines to management who are not in compliance with the basic of necessities.

Getting old meself
Having lived close by to an old folks home in Eastern Ontario and getting to know a few of the old folks I was surprised to hear of many of the stories they told me.
One old lad I got to know told me he had a furniture business and several houses before he ended up there. and all the money he had was now held for "Future considerations" by the corporation that ran the facility. Although he was 84 yrs old he seemed very aware and was angry that he no longer had any control over his finances and was given $5 a week as spending money.
He also claimed that when he passes on the home will take a percentage of his remaining monies and deduct Lawyers fees and many other charges until there is virtually nothing left.......
How much truth there is in this I don't know. but his other gripe, which I have witness is the fact that he claimes he is paying about $3000 a month for care, while the guy who lives in the next room who has no money gets the same room,meals and care that he does.....he claims he wished he had given all his money to his grand-kids and then gone down to Vegas for a week and told them he had lost it all at roulette!
This old chap really does have his wits about him and although he says the staff treat him well he feels cheated and abandond.....
The other prob. we ran into is when we asked if we could take him out for the afternoon down to the lake we were met with a very rude "NO!" as the insurance would not allow it
He calls the place Stalag 17 and has advised me to ensure I am dead broke before putting myself in any long term care facility!
Sounds like good advice if all he says is true !

Max
Come on, people. Don't blame the government; blame yourself.

Based on our socialist "nanny-state" mentality, we expect the government to look after us, on some level, our ENTIRE lives. We're absolutely delighted to pay insane taxes in exchange for the government babysitting us, cradle to grave.

It should come as no surprise that institutional entities that rely on government dollars perform poorly or, at best, profoundly inefficiently (wastefully). Look around you. The examples are everywhere.

Indeed, I want to live in a world where we collectively look after those who need assistance for whatever reason; HOWEVER, it's time we started being more self-reliant and financially responsible in order to afford the monumentally high cost of old-age care. Too many people cruise through life beyond their economic means, saving only a paltry sum for retirement and old age, and then expect the government (we taxpayers) to look after them with stellar institutional care when the needed time comes.

I'd rather pay lower taxes along my personally-responsible journey and be left to afford a "private" nursing home where, certainly, I'd receive acceptable care.

This issue is growing in importance daily. We need to resolve it very soon. Demographically, this is a time bomb.

Lastly, more people are going to have to drop their entrenched "ME" lifestyle in favour of looking after Mom and/or Dad themselves, at home.

Larry L
To those who suggest the state has a limited or no role in the care of the elderly, here's something to think about.

In the mid-1960s, a very nice house could be had for $15K, a fully loaded mid-range car cost $6-7K, gas sold for just over $0.09/litre, a monthly electricity bill of $8 wasn't unusual, a good suit cost around $75, $30 worth of groceries filled 4-5 large paper bags, and a McD's burger cost $0.27.

Extrapolate those prices to: today; the year you plan on retiring (say 2048), and; the year you and/or spouse turn 80. Still think you can go it alone to make your future secure? Think you'll still feel the same way when you and/or spouse are 80?

Oh, don't count on being able to make uninterupted payments to CPP and RSSPs for the next 30-40 years. Life has a way of taking at least one or two big bites out of what you sit on, e.g. debilitating illnesses, child expenses (and they only increase), prolonged unemployment, etc, etc.

David
I agree with Max completely. By all means, the government needs to set REALISTIC standards of care.
But, simply put, if you didn't save enough for your retirement and eventual and inevitable old age, you can't expect to enjoy more than a minimal lifestyle. You should expect to be housed in a ward and you should expect nutritious, but not extravagent meals. You should not expect one-on-one nursing care.
If that is not your expectation, then you better have saved some money.

JoeC
My mother has been in a nursing home since November of 2005. She had been on a waiting list since then to get into a better nursing home. A bed became available last week, and we moved her. It was like going from hell to heaven. I have since found out that she was in a class "C" nursing home, and the one that she is in now is a class "A" nursing home. I was told that, as money becomes available, they are building new nursing homes to replace all class "D" nursing homes. I wish we could have gotten her into this nursing home back in November of 2005.

Max
To "Larry L":

I can certainly appreciate what you're saying with regard to the MAJOR cost of retirement and old-age care...but, the important point still remains, that most people today live (spend) like there's no tomorrow and, consequently, don't have enough money set aside for their remaining years.

Furthermore, the government continually grabs a huge portion of your income...and this adds up to MAJOR money down the road, when you've been working for decades!

Sure, some people's plans for their life get squashed due to unforeseen illness, etc. We can have a system that helps them. No problem. However, these people are a tiny minority.

Save your dollars and resist higher taxes. There's a plan!

Terry
Terry
When will something be done about the conditions in our nursing homes? I was a adovcate for my parents for 10 years. I found the nursing home negligent for all sorts of misapporiate behaviour and medical inconstancies. When I wasn't around I hate to think of what the patient care was, that I didn't get to monitor.
I implore the government to step in quickly and monitor these homes & their staff.

jill
My thought of all of this is even if there is more hands on given to the facilities by goverment or any other source the problem still will remain. I myself as a P.S.W. have seen first hand what the over all problem is. i had also experiencec this for my own mother as well as in training, i had seen one of your own newscast persons grandmother being dealt with in a inhumane way. her name was Mrs.Hayes. this is about dignity for people who cant speak up or are not to be believed when speaking about themselves in ways they dont want to be treated, and when a complant is put in it only in my dealings gets brushed under the rug for shame on those who inflict such conditions and for those in charge who dont get to the root of the problem and resolve it. for what ever reason there is all i know iam left with the guilt of my mother who endure such thoughtlessness of workers that are to care for these people. the change has to be in all areas of concern and results have to come with change in our health care system instead of worrying how it may look on the facility if word got out of abuse in all forms.

Peter
For sure increase direct hand on care PSW who have completed a six month course. Lots of these do not know how to write english. Then let the owners hire contracted services for all non nursing department at minimum wages and staff that has a hard talking english. These poor people have to work two or three jobs to provide their own families a fairly good standard of living. They come back to work tired and who else suffers?