Police rule out probe of Maples care home

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This article was published 01/12/2020 (1960 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It comes as no surprise to a Winnipeg man that police have concluded there’s no basis for a criminal investigation into the deaths of eight residents at Maples personal care home over a 48-hour period last month.

He believes his father died of dehydration during a COVID-19 outbreak at the 500 Mandalay Dr. facility after the crisis weekend.

“I’m very disappointed. I don’t know how else to pursue it,” said the man, who asked not to be named. “I don’t think justice is going to be served here.”

On Tuesday, the Winnipeg Police Service said it had completed a preliminary assessment into a crisis at Maples the weekend of Nov. 6-8. “That assessment has ended with a determination that no police investigation will be required at this time.”

No details were provided.

Paramedics were called to the care home more than a dozen times that weekend because the health of patients had deteriorated rapidly and there weren’t enough workers to care for them. Several residents were rushed to hospital; others received treatment, including IV fluids and oxygen therapy, in the home.

The bodies of eight residents were removed.

Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman held a news conference to ask the provincial government to call in the military to help.

The private facility, run by Ontario-based Revera Inc., is the site of Manitoba’s deadliest care home outbreak: 49 deaths.

While the man’s father had contracted the novel coronavirus while at the care home, his son believes he  died from dehydration.

“I’m very suspect of, or believe that, residents were being neglected weeks prior to the incident that weekend,” he told the Free Press. “I also believe that’s what led to the demise of my dad.”

He is unsure how to pursue justice for his father, but said he hopes provincial and municipal bodies that oversee care homes are held accountable for what he believes amounted to “criminal neglect.”

“This is about holding people accountable for what they’re charged to do, and they’re charged to provide care — reasonable care. And I don’t believe that was done in this case,” he said.

Adria Penner, whose mother contracted and recovered from COVID-19 at Maples, also called for someone to be held accountable.

“It’s a tough situation to really digest because I think there’s levels of accountability,” Penner said Tuesday. “I don’t know if it’s just the nursing home’s fault, it seems to be really systemic in the sense that there are regulations that really aren’t in place.”

“This is about holding people accountable for what they’re charged to do, and they’re charged to provide care — reasonable care. And I don’t believe that was done in this case.”–Son of Maples care home resident who died

Penner said long periods of isolation at the care home have had a lasting effect on her mother’s health.

“I do think there is some negligence in the sense that when you’re without staff, people are not going to be cared for the way they need to, so where does the accountability piece of that fall?” she said.

“I really think it’s more of a political issue. It’s bigger than just Maples, I think it’s a provincial thing — so where do you point the finger?”

Penner said she wants to see protocols and regulations enacted to address infectious diseases in personal care homes to prevent similar tragedies.

“It almost seems as though they were not prepared. Obviously, this means something is wrong in the way infection control is being done, because these are things that are not new,” she said.

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority said Tuesday that 28 of 39 care homes in the region had COVID outbreaks, including 10 “large-scale outbreaks.”

Measures to help mitigate the effect of outbreaks include staffing changes, on-site support and daily update calls with management, the WRHA said.

julia-simone.rutgers@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jsrutgers