Harris changed rules on care homes
uting $798.3 million in dividends to its shareholders.
Harris’ Progressive Conservative government removed minimum staffing levels and established a competitive bidding process for long-term-care homes in the 1990s. In a statement, company spokesperson Sharon Ranalli said Chartwell’s Ontario longterm-care operations account for only 10 per cent of its overall business. “So most of the profit comes from private pay retirement operations. Having said that, our LTC team has a deep expertise, many years of experience in the sector and an exceptional corporate support.”
Executive compensation was determined by the company’s board, with advice from professional consultants, and voted on by shareholders in a process Ranalli called “highly transparent and rigorous.”
Chartwell, which also operates in Alberta, B.C. and Quebec, runs 24 long-term-care homes in Ontario and manages four others, overseeing more than 3,600 beds. There have been 302 cases of COVID-19 and 94 deaths in homes owned and operated by Chartwell, an infection rate 47 per cent higher and a fatality rate 68 per cent higher than the provincial average.
“The suggestion that the ownership of Ontario’s long-termcare residences is the determining factor in the severity of outbreaks and deaths during COVID-19 is false,” Ranalli said. “Furthermore, the suggestion that private operators provide inferior care to that provided in municipal and not for profit homes is also false.”
At Chartwell’s AGM, CEO Volodarski was asked about the Star’s previous reporting on higher rates of infection and death in for-profit homes.
“Correlation does not equal causality,” he said.
Volodarski said that for-profit operators own the majority of the province’s older long-termcare homes, which have a higher proportion of four-bed and two-bed wards.
“It is much more difficult to effect infection control, cohorting and isolation protocol in these older homes,” he said. “It is because of this physical plan limitation that the death rates and infection rates in these homes are much higher than in other homes. It’s not the type of ownership that makes a difference; it’s the type of the physical plan that makes the difference.”
Chartwell had inadequate staffing and PPE when the outbreak reached its long-termcare home in Aurora, according to allegations in a class-action lawsuit filed earlier this month by the family of former resident Teresa Pugliese, who died in April.
The company failed to implement proper infection screening for staff, who were working in other facilities, and did not adequately isolate residents infected with the virus from others by allowing them to share bathrooms, the lawsuit claims.
Asked to respond to the suit, Ranalli did not address any of the specific allegations and said the company intends to file a defence once it is served.
Sienna Sienna Senior Living Inc. operates retirement and nursing homes in B.C. and Ontario, but is concentrated in Ontario, where it operates 37 long-termcare homes with over 6,000 beds.
Over the last10 years, the company has pulled $348.8 million out of its business, paying executives $39.3 million in salary and stock options, and paying shareholders $309.5 million in dividends.
“To be very clear, Sienna makes no profit from government funding for long-term resident care and programs and suggesting otherwise would be factually incorrect,” Sienna spokesperson Gokchenian told the Star.
On top of provincial funding, the company said it has invested an average of $1 million for resident care and services and $7 million annually for maintenance over the last five years.
Sienna homes have reported 587 cases and 184 deaths in Ontario — an infection rate of 9.8 cases per 100 beds and a fatality rate of 3.1 deaths per 100 beds. This is nearly double the rate in long-term care province-wide.
“We do not believe that the type of home ownership is relevant to the COVID-19 pandemic in long-term care. While some homes have had a tremendous struggle with COVID-19 outbreaks, it is wrong to correlate this to home ownership,” Gokchenian said.
The state of long-term-care facilities is an important factor in how hard they were hit by the outbreak, she said.
“The majority of older longterm-care homes in Ontario are owned by private operators (198 out of 239 Class C and D homes). These older homes have very few private rooms, a higher number of four-bed and two-bed rooms, and less square footage per resident,” she said.
Last month Ontario’s labour board ordered weekly healthand-safety inspections at Altamont Care Community, which is owned by Sienna Senior Living, following an emergency application by the union representing personal support workers. The union had alleged critical shortages of personal protective equipment and understaffing at the home.
In a statement to the Star following the ruling, Sienna Senior Living said it was “pleased to have reached this agreement” and that the board’s decision “substantially reflects Altamont’s current practices and protocols, including the provision of and access to personal protective equipment, used in accordance with provincial directives.” At the company’s Annual General Meeting, held by conference call last month, Sienna CEO Lois Cormack paused for a moment of silence to remember all lives lost to COVID-19, including Christine Mandegarian, a personal support worker at Altamont who had worked at the nursing home for 31 years.
“Words cannot express the magnitude of this loss,” Cormack said, adding that the company’s fight against COVID-19 is “ongoing” and “difficult.”
“Sienna has been diligent in implementing extensive infection prevention and other precautionary measures to try and stop the spread of COVID-19 and we continue to work collaboratively with the provincial government, our sector association, regulatory authorities and others to help shape and implement important policies and protocols to help manage this situation.”