Elders in peril as Ford government ignores its own long-term care legislation
Orchard Villa’s longstanding history of neglect and abuse proves the owners repeatedly violate basic standards of care and human rights. Why give them an 87-bed expansion and new 30-year license?
Cathy Parkes and the Ontario Health Coalition (OHC) are asking the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to require the Ford government to adhere to their own long-term care (LTC) legislation.
Parkes and OHC are seeking a judicial review of the Ford government’s decision to grant an 87-bed expansion and new 30-year license to Orchard Villa, a 233-bed LTC facility, owned by Southbridge who subcontracts operations to Extendicare. These private, for-profit corporations generate generous profits from public funding and residents’ fees.
Parkes and OHC are also asking the court to quash the undertaking. Ford’s own Fixing Long-Term Care Act, requires the provincial government to ensure the past conduct of LTC home owners offers reasonable grounds to believe that the home will not be operated in a manner that is prejudicial to the health, safety and welfare of the residents.
By all accounts, Orchard Villa’s longstanding history of neglect and abuse proves that the owners repeatedly violate basic standards of care and human rights.
In April 2020 the Ford government sent the military into Orchard Villa. That exposed horrific conditions including residents lying on mattresses on the floor; a lack of hygiene, unsafe infection control and medication practices, and inadequately trained staff.
They also found cockroaches and flies, rotten food, residents in soiled diapers, residents without access to hydration and improper feeding among other highly problematic issues like oxygen generators without oxygen.
The military reported systemic issues that could be directly tied back to inadequate staffing and chronic under funding.
That finding did not surprise family members who testified before the COVID-19 Long-Term Care Commission detailing dangerously low levels of staffing on a regular basis that led to chronic neglect of residents long before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Claims made by the military and family members were backed up by a documented history of chronic non-compliance. In fact, Orchard Villa continues to be cited for poor care in a litany of inspection reports that describe many of the same issues exposed by the military almost a full two years ago.
Eventually, the local hospital took over management of Orchard Villa. The remaining residents were taken to hospital where it was determined that they were severely dehydrated, anorexic, and some in kidney failure. A hospital spokesperson reported that Orchard Villa had only 20 per cent of the necessary staff on duty.
Paul William Russell Parkes was a resident of Orchard Villa when he died April 15, 2020 from what his daughter, Cathy Parkes, claims was dehydration.
A total of 206 of Orchard Villa’s 233 residents contracted COVID-19 and over 70 residents died. With a record of 30 deaths per 100 residents, Orchard Villa has one of the worst pandemic death records in the province.
Yet, the Ford government forced through approval of Orchard Villa’s expansion issuing a Minister’s Zoning Order (MZO) despite Pickering City Council unanimously voting to oppose the plan.
“The Ministry has approved a new-build for Southbridge Care in Pickering in contradiction to its own legislation. Long-term care homes with repeated failures do not deserve a free pass,” said Cathy Parkes.
“After the deaths of so many loved ones, including my father, and the continued failures detailed in incident reports, Southbridge care should not have received the award of extra beds and a 30-year license for Orchard Villa. Ontarians deserve to know that care is the primary focus of long-term care,” she added.
Just as egregious, is the fact that no one has been held accountable for the deaths of Orchard Villa residents or the ongoing trauma of family members. Corporate owners were never fined. They never lost their license.
Instead, in the fall of 2020, the Ford government passed a law shielding Orchard Villa, and other for-profit LTC home operators, from lawsuits for negligence. Families who had filed lawsuits for negligence then had to file lawsuits for gross negligence which requires a higher burden of proof.
On July 15, 2021, the Ministry of Long-Term Care held a public consultation telephone conference regarding the new 30-year license and 87-bed expansion proposed for Orchard Villa. Despite a record number of delegations, the Ministry limited participants from asking questions and prevented them from commenting on the corporation’s abysmal record.
OHC made a formal complaint and sent an open letter to then Long-Term Care Minister Paul Calandra calling for a renewed, fair process that would include consideration of the evidence around Southbridge’s fitness to run a LTC home for 30-years. OHC also requested the Ministry consider the criteria, including the operational record of the corporation in running the LTC home, as required under the Long-Term Care Homes Act.
As a result, the Ministry had to restart the consultation process for Orchard Villa. The LTC Ministry decided that only written submissions would be accepted and provided an incredibly short window for submissions. There was, in fact, no hearing at all.
“The Ford government promised accountability but is doing the opposite. A massive expansion and a new 30-year license is absolutely not in the public interest,” stated Natalie Mehra, executive director of the OHC.
Orchard Villa’s deplorable history predating COVID-19 shows that expectations and enforcement of reasonable standards of care, while important, does little to protect vulnerable elders from corporations whose bottom line, and shareholder financial interests, far outweigh the protection of residents from neglect and human rights abuses initiated and tolerated in the name of unbridled profit.
Meanwhile, the #FordIsKillingUs government continues to legislatively enable and legally shield corporations responsible for blatant, ongoing elder abuse.
Hear Cathy Parkes tell her father’s story and explain some of the changes needed to improve LTC.
The current Ontario Minister of LTC is Stan Cho — get in touch with Cho here.
OHC is raising money for this legal action. Donate here.
This is criminal and insanity!
How much damage- irreversible damage can this government do before they are out of office.
Appalling! Such abuse must not be rewarded by this government.