A new investigations unit has been created by the province to ensure "every long-term care resident lives with dignity and experiences the quality of care they deserve."
A government news release issued Monday says it will spend $72 million, on a 10-person unit designed to be "an effective deterrent and tool" when escalated enforcement is needed to improve compliance and ensure resident safety.
Locally, the issue made headlines in 2023 when Orillia's Dav Langstroth, a resident of the Leacock Care Centre, called long-term care homes a 'death factory.'
Exasperated by the conditions inside the Museum Drive facility, he took the bold step of taking his sad situation to the public when he contacted OrilliaMatters.
On May 24, he told a reporter about how he had to sit in his own excrement overnight due to a chronic lack of personal support workers inside the home.
Langstroth, 69, suffered from incontinence and no longer had the ability to use his lower body. He sat in his waste from 10:30 p.m. on May 22 until 6 a.m. on May 23, when he finally received the care he needed.
He said a shortage of staff led to the situation, adding it typically requires two people to change him.
“I’m finding this to be a situation where it’s no longer tenable for me,” he said. “There have been other nights, many nights, when people couldn’t change me because, again, (there’s) one person on.”
He suffered both mental and physical anguish as a result of the incident, as his waste became like a “mild acid” on his body, causing pain and discomfort, which led to an “extremely painful” process when he finally received care.
He said he had few issues with the staff at Leacock Care Centre, noting they do their best to carry out their work under trying circumstances.
He said he decided to speak out on the situation on behalf of others, as well, who might have difficulty advocating for themselves.
“It’s dehumanizing, but (this is) not so much for me. It’s for all the other people that can’t make that communication,” he said. “If that level of care is not being done for me, what is not being done for other people who don’t have a voice?”
Three days after the story broke, Paul Calandra, Ontario’s then-minister of long-term care, said the conditions described at the facility “are unacceptable.”
“The Ministry of Long-Term Care will be conducting an inspection of the home to ensure any and all instances of non-compliance are corrected as quickly as possible,” Calandra said in a statement.
“Any home that fails to meet the care standards set out in the Fixing Long-Term Care Act is subject to corrective actions, including written notifications, administrative monetary penalties, and compliance orders.
“Repeated instances of non-compliance will result in escalating penalties, which could include mandatory management and cease of admissions orders.”
Four months after the minister’s public statement, the province announced it had found five violations at the Orillia facility.
Langstroth said he was committed to being a voice for residents who cannot speak out for themselves.
“I have no ability to make change. However, what I can do is ensure that the people who can’t speak have a speaker on their behalf,” he said. “Those that don’t know who they are, where they are, what they’re doing, why they’re here — a lot of them are crying because they figure that they’ve been abandoned.”
For Langstroth, due to several health issues, he lived confined in his bed, and opted for medical assistance in dying (MAID).
Beyond the problems at the Leacock Care Centre, or any other long-term care home, he said his end-of-life issues exemplified a fundamental break in the circle of life — in which the old take care of their young, and vice versa.
“There is a circle of life, in that the elders look after the youngers, who look after the adolescents, who then start to care for the parents as the parents start to become elders. If ever there was a time to examine that circle of life — right now, the circle is broken,” Langstroth said this week.
“The circle of life, as we know it, is broken beyond repair.”
He raised issues with sequestering the elderly from the rest of the population, and also highlighted the fact some are provided with care beyond a reasonable point — when their lives consist mostly of suffering.
“The level of staffing has gotten so poor … that (long-term care) is a death factory,” he said. “I hate that idea. There should be schools where people that have youth and energy are taught by people with age and wisdom. That’s ideal. It’s something that’s always been in my mind.”
On Oct. 23, an Indigenous elder helped see him through the MAID process.
As he prepared for death, Langstroth urged others to care for their elders, and he said he has been so outspoken about long-term care with the hope that others will be inspired when he is gone.
“Always, always care for your elders — no matter what it takes. Maybe somebody else will listen. Maybe somebody else will pick up the torch and say, ‘I can make a difference,’” he said.
“The circle has become broken, and all of those sections that are broken need to be fixed, and they need to be fixed, individually, at the same time. It will take a huge amount of money — actions by governments, collectively — and that’s the way it has to be done.”
According to today's press relase from the province, the new unit is now active and will investigate allegations such as:
- failing to protect a resident from abuse or neglect,
- repeated and ongoing non-compliance,
- failing to comply with the ministry inspector’s orders,
- suppressing and/or falsifying mandatory reports, and
- negligence of corporate directors.
“These new investigators have the authority to add more accountability in the long-term care sector and will help address the most serious forms of non-compliance,” said Stan Cho, Minister of Long-Term Care. “The new unit complements what is already the toughest inspection and enforcement program in Canada, helping give residents the safety and quality of care they need and deserve.”
The newly appointed investigators underwent 19 weeks of in-class training, self-study modules, and field experience.
The new unit’s investigators are designated as Provincial Offences Officers under the Provincial Offences Act and will investigate allegations of offences under the Fixing Long-Term Care Act. While inspectors identify and address non-compliance under the Act, investigators determine if there are grounds that an offence under the Act has been committed, which if prosecuted could result in fines and/or imprisonment.
“The creation of this new investigations unit under the Fixing Long Term Care Act marks an important step forward to continue protecting Ontario’s long-term care home residents,” said Attorney General, Doug Downey, a long-time Orillia lawyer.
“By providing investigators with the ability to refer cases to prosecutors as needed, this team will help to improve compliance with the Act, keep residents safe and provide comfort and certainty to residents and their families.”
The release says Ontario is now a leading province in terms of inspector per long-term care home ratio in Canada, with one inspector for every two homes in the province.
