Former Oakview Place health-care aides face one assault charge each

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This article was published 08/12/2022 (1053 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The number of criminal charges against two health-care aides accused of abuse at a Winnipeg long-term personal care home has dwindled as the investigation continues.

In September, two staff members at Extendicare Oakview Place were facing a total of five assault charges related to allegations of abuse against several of the home’s residents. Now, the former health-care aides face only one assault charge each, provincial court records show.

Both have their next court dates early in the new year (Jan. 3 and Jan. 4, respectively).

On Sept. 13, the Winnipeg Police Service announced it planned to charge a 49-year-old woman with three counts of assault, and a 36-year-old woman with two counts of assault.

On Thursday, the Manitoba Prosecution Service declined to comment when asked whether a prosecutor had reviewed the case and decided not to move forward with the other charges.

“The investigation is ongoing — and the matter is before the courts, so it would not be appropriate to comment further at this time,” a provincial spokesperson stated in an email.

The Winnipeg Police Service did not respond to a Free Press request for comment, but it told CTV News this week: “When a person is released from police custody on an appearance notice or undertaking, their charges are then reviewed by Crown officials.”

At least 15 residents of the St. James long-term care home may have been victimized, Extendicare Inc. and Winnipeg Regional Health Authority officials announced in June, when they revealed two employees were under criminal investigation for unspecified mistreatment.

Dianna Klassen’s father, David Middleton, lived at Oakview Place for four years before he died in January at 92. Allegations her father was abused didn’t result in criminal charges.

Klassen said Thursday she’s “beyond upset” no additional criminal charges have been laid. “Of those 15 cases, they are only proceeding with two of them, which breaks my heart, because for 13 people, there is going to be no justice.”

Although she noticed personality changes in her dad about six months before he died, Klassen said family weren’t informed about abuse allegations until much later. She said she was told criminal charges couldn’t be substantiated in Middleton’s case because he had since died.

Extendicare knew about the allegations involving at least 15 potential victims for four months, but they stayed hidden until a whistleblower came forward to the WRHA in June. Initially, only one of the residents’ families was notified.

Extendicare issued a public apology, replaced the administrator of Oakview Place and brought in a new management team. The company hired a new Manitoba regional director, and, following an internal investigation, terminated the employment of the two former health-care aides.

In a statement Thursday, an Extendicare spokeswoman said although the police investigation has concluded, an investigation by the provincial Protection for Persons in Care Office is still ongoing.

“Our residents and their families place an extraordinary amount of trust in us, and we take our responsibility to them extremely seriously. Earlier this year, that trust was broken, and we unreservedly apologize to our community for the deep distress these events caused,” the company stated.

The company said it shared the results of its internal investigation with the WRHA, and completed r-training its staff on zero-tolerance policies for abuse and neglect, as well as reminded them about the whistleblower protections afforded to anyone who anonymously reports a concern.

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca