Issues ongoing at Falls seniors home
Bella Senior Care Residence says it has undertaken numerous reviews of its policies, procedures, processes
A Ministry of Health and LongTerm Care investigation continues at Bella Senior Care Residence in Niagara Falls.
“Inspections continue due to ongoing issues at the home,” said ministry spokesman David Jensen.
“The cease of admissions (issued Nov. 24) continues to be in place at the home. The ministry continues to monitor the situation at Bella Senior Care through regular followup inspections and ongoing contact with the licensee.”
Jensen told Postmedia in December that the ministry conducted a complaint inspection regarding allegations of abuse and improper care at the private longterm care home between July 26 and Oct. 6.
He said compliance orders were issued in the areas of police notification; positioning and transferring; responsive behaviours; plan of care; duty to protect; infection prevention and control; and quality improvement.
Michael Bausch, administrator for Bella Senior Care Residence, said it has undertaken “numerous” reviews of policies, procedures and processes to “better discharge its responsibilities to residents, families and staff.
“Many educational sessions have been conducted to ensure all of this is communicated to and understood by Bella staff,” he said.
“An action plan was filed with and accepted by the ministry and has been largely executed. Some of the changes specified in the action plan remain to be fully completed and Bella continues to work closely with the ministry to achieve the objectives detailed therein.”
In the December interview, Jensen said the compliance order for police notification had been complied with.
He said Bella was required to notify Niagara Regional Police of information they were aware of, as per the Long-Term Care Homes Act.
The other orders had compliance due dates ranging from Dec. 19 to Feb. 17.
“The ministry has completed followup inspections and is in the process of finalizing the inspection reports,” Jensen said this week.
“Inspections are still ongoing and we are not able to provide the outcome of the inspections at this point.”
A compliance order is issued by a ministry inspector to a longterm care home to correct an area of non-compliance where they are not meeting a standard cited in the Long-Term Care Homes Act, said Jensen.
The ministry’s inspection report also included a number of written notifications, voluntary plans of correction and director referrals, he said.
In December, Jensen said additional non-compliance issues were identified related to reporting to the director; Resident Bill of Rights related to abuse; implementation of the abuse policy; actions taken in response to abuse, skin and wound care; continence care and bowel management; training of staff; medication administration and storage of medications; general program requirements; and complaints process.
The ministry licenses the longterm care home on Willoughby Drive, which opened in 2003.
Jensen would not say what, if any, ramifications/penalties Bella has or will face due to the investigation, or if any staff were reprimanded or relieved of their duties.
“It is the responsibility of the licensee as the employer, to make decisions about the employment status of individual staff members; therefore any questions about human resources decisions should be directed to the licensee.”
In December, Jensen said the ministry was aware that the home had taken action regarding a number of staff in the home.
Jensen said the home remains open, and continues to provide care for its current residents.
But the home is not permitted to accept more residents after the cease of admissions was issued due to the compliance issues.
Niagara Regional Police spokesman Const. Phil Gavin said they conducted an investigation in December into an alleged assault at Bella, but the investigation has since been closed and no charges were laid.
Bausch said human-resource issues are “always sensitive and so, to maintain respect for all concerned, we will not comment on the human-resource implications inherent in the execution of our plan.”
He said Bella’s status of being unable to admit new residents continues and “we continue to work diligently and closely with the ministry to have this final restriction eased or lifted.”
Wayne Gates wants to see funding in the upcoming provincial budget for the construction of a south Niagara hospital on the outskirts of Niagara Falls.
In a letter sent to Finance Minister Charles Sousa, the Niagara Falls NDP MPP asks that the project be included in the budget, and that the new site open sooner than the proposed 2023 timeline.
“We are very pleased to have been endorsed for Stage 1A and as you know (Niagara Health) has submitted Stage 2 for approval,” Gates wrote in the letter.
“While we appreciate the province’s desire to work with our residents on this issue, we fear the timeline is too far away to be practical. Residents in Niagara need access to this care as soon as possible. We have serious concerns about gaps in care that exist in Niagara and the inclusion of the new Niagara Falls hospital in the upcoming budget would provide residents of Niagara with the health care they are entitled to.”
Gates said with tens of thousands of residents relying on these medical services and more than 14-million visitors to Niagara Falls each year, “it is imperative that we do not continue to operate with this lack of necessary services.”
The south Niagara hospital is proposed for the corner of Montrose and Biggar roads to replace aging facilities in Niagara Falls, Fort Erie, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Welland and Port Colborne.
It’s proposed to be a centre of excellence for stroke, ophthalmology, complex care, geriatric/psychogeriatric and wellness in aging.
It’s expected to provide emergency and urgent care, as well as surgical services, inpatient services, hemodialysis, ambulatory clinics, mental health and addictions services, and diagnostic imaging.