Long-term care corporation fires executive
Heard mocking families after virtual meeting
OT TAWA • Sienna Senior Living, one of the companies at the centre of the longterm care crisis in Ontario, fired its executive vice president of operations Thursday after she was heard mocking the concerns of families at a hard- hit Toronto care home after a virtual town hall meeting aimed at revamping the company’s image.
Joanne Dykeman apparently thought she was no longer connected to the meeting, said the union that represents workers there. Among other things, she made reference to a “bloodsucking lawsuit.”
The statements were condemned by frustrated family members.
Anthony Manieri, whose sister with multiple sclerosis lives in Sienna Woodbridge Vista Care Community, called the phone call disturbing and said nothing has changed.
“During a telephone town hall with resident families at the Woodbridge facility, Sienna Senior Living delivered prepared talking points in a transparent attempt to rebuild its corporate image after failing to keep workers and families safe during COVID-19. Before exiting the call, executives were overheard mocking and ridiculing the concerns of families.”
He called for an end to for- profit long- term care, noting Sienna paid $ 15 million in dividends to shareholders during the first four months of the pandemic.
“If Sienna is open to a real investigation and real change, they should call on Doug Ford for a full public inquiry and agree to testify in front of a judge.”
This week, the company, which is the focus of classaction lawsuit and runs one of the Toronto homes that were part of a damning military report, announced it was taking sweeping actions to improve care at its homes.
Among other things, the company said in a statement, it has hired a former provincial deputy attorney general, Paul Boniferro, to conduct a “companywide review into the policies, practices and culture at Sienna.” It also said it would improve communications.
In a statement, president Lois Cormack said residents and their loved ones “are deserving of our respect at all times and as a company we will ensure this respect guides our every action.”
Dykeman’s comments, she said, are not consistent with the changes the company has announced.
Among changes announced, the company says it plans to hold “re- education” sessions on the use of personal protective equipment, improve communications and accelerate hiring.
“While hiring and recruiting has been a challenge during the COVID-19 pandemic, Sienna is accelerating aggressive recruitment efforts. To further enhance quality and frequency of communication with families, we will also be allocating additional resources to this important work.”
Manieri noted the company had announced no plan to increase “dangerously low” staffing levels.
Sienna operates Madonna Care Community in Ottawa, where more than one- quarter of residents and two staff members have died of COVID-19. It also operates Altamont Care Community in Scarborough, one of the long- term care homes that was the focus of the damning Canadian military report about what its members saw when they went in to support five hard- hit Ontario homes.
“The information coming out about long- term care residences across our organization, some of which was detailed in the report of the Canadian Armed Forces, has shaken our team here at Sienna, most of whom go to work every day to provide compassionate, necessary frontline care for our residents. It is no secret that the challenges long- term care residences have been facing in dealing with the COVID- 19 pandemic have been extraordinary and have brought to light the many shortcomings that exist in our sector.”
The company said the report was written during the peak of the crisis and does not reflect the current situation at the home.
Among other things, the report talked about a culture of fear around the use of personal protective equipment at some of the homes.
Critics say a big factor in homes’ inability to cope with COVID-19 is lack of staff and that could be remediated by paying workers a living wage with benefits and paid holidays, something not currently done at most long- term care homes.