2 long-term care homes fined for unresolved issues from wound care to abuse training in Hamilton

Two Hamilton long-term care homes received fines for not resolving issues from previous inspections.

Blackadar Continuing Care Centre in Dundas was fined $5,500, and Shalom Village Nursing Home in Westdale was fined $1,100 this spring.

Blackadar, a licensed 60-bed home managed by Extendicare Inc. since 2012, is dealing with several issues, according to inspection reports.

A February inspection details problems with mould and cleanliness at the home.

“Inspectors observed that tubs located in the tub/shower rooms on the second and third floors did not appear as if they were cleaned after use, as there was a pink residue on the bottom of each tub that could be wiped off,” the report notes. “During follow up observations it was noted that the tub was not cleaned.”

There were more problems in the kitchen where “black mold like substances” and dirt were found on the walls in the dishwashing areas and under the sink and machine areas. Areas behind cooking equipment had a build-up of debris.

A more recent March inspection resulted in the $5,500 fine. The report states resident wound care was not up to standards. There should be weekly wound assessments but in some cases wounds were not checked for 14 to 31 days.

“There is a risk that a change in the resident’s wound could go unnoticed if the wound assessments were not completed as required,” the inspection report notes.

Blackadar did not respond to requests for comment from intheHammer. But they reportedly have an action plan to address the issues and have hired new leadership.

Shalom Village Nursing Home, a 127 licensed bed facility, is also under new leadership after they “stumbled a bit”, Pat Morden, interim CEO at Shalom Village, tells intheHammer.

Morden returned as interim CEO in September after 12 years away from the position and calls herself an “up-cycled CEO.” She was the CEO for 21 years.

She had moved on and started a business as an executive coach but put that work on hold to get Shalom back on track.

“So I come back with a lot of different experiences and ideas, and that I was really helping the team clarify their vision,” Morden says.

In March, Shalom was hit with the $1,100 fine for failing to comply with orders related to staff training.

Abuse training was ordered after an incident involving a personal support worker in 2021, according to a CBC story.

“And it wasn’t reported in a timely way,” Morden says. “That’s not okay.”

The home was ordered to train staff and, although Morden says the training was completed for all staff, the records showed only 80 out of 181 staff completed the training.

The training was well-done but the record-keeping wasn’t complete, Morden says.

“When the ministry came in, if it’s not recorded, if you don’t have proper records, they consider it not done,” she says. “We didn’t have our paperwork in order.”

Morden says it is her job now to get the paperwork in order and get the home back on course. She adds that Shalom staff is hard-working and caring.

“This is an organization full of dedicated, persistent, courageous caregivers who are firmly dedicated to the residence, and they showed up all through COVID.”

After shocking failures in long-term care homes across the province during the pandemic, the Fixing Long Term Care Act was passed in late 2021. There are 196 things to fix long term care.

Morden says Shalom is working on getting them done.

“To make that kind of transformational change, it takes a lot of work,” says Morden. “And we are doing that work at Shalom.”