Inquiry must look beyond killer nurse, Horwath says
The independent inquiry into serialkiller nurse Elizabeth Wettlaufer must reach beyond her case to larger systemic problems in long-term care homes now at a “breaking point,” says NDP Leader Andrea Horwath.
As the Ontario government ponders the scope of the public inquiry promised after Wettlaufer was sentenced this week to life in prison with no parole eligibility for 25 years, Horwath said it should be broad enough to consider staffing levels, funding, long waiting lists, resident-on-resident violence and more.
There are too many anecdotal stories of poor care, such as nursinghome residents being left too long in soiled diapers, developing painful bedsores or assaulted by fellow residents with dementia, she told reporters Wednesday.
“This is our opportunity to shine a light on what’s happening,” Horwath said. “Demographically, the province is aging . . . We need to get a handle for the next folks that are coming along.”
By way of example, she cited the Walkerton tainted water inquiry, which first examined how seven people died, then looked at broader issues of drinking-water safety across the province.
Health Minister Eric Hoskins and Attorney General Yasir Naqvi both said this week that the government is taking a few weeks to determine the scope and terms of reference for the inquiry along with a commissioner — likely a judge — to lead it.
“We want to provide reassurance to Ontarians, and reassurance to the communities and the loved ones who were impacted by this, who are asking the question how this could possibly happen?” Hoskins said on his way into a cabinet meeting Tuesday. “That’s a fundamental question that needs to be answered here. But I don’t want to predetermine or prejudge what the scope might be. That’s the process that we’re undertaking now.”
Wettlaufer admitted to fatally injecting eight residents with insulin at three nursing homes and a private home between 2007 and 2014.
Hoskins said the commissioner will be given “significant and substantial powers” to call witnesses and gather information.
The commissioner will decide if the inquiry should be held in the Woodstock or London areas, where the deaths occurred, Naqvi said.
Hoskins said Ontario residents should not worry about the safety of their loved ones in nursing homes in the wake of the Wettlaufer tragedy.