The seven city long-term care facilities listed on the new Ontario Long-Term Care homefinder webpage, all have had incidents in the past six months where written notifications were filed and corrective actions required, recent inspection reports show.
Also, in every case locally, there is a waiting list for Sudbury area citizens seeking residency in the care homes.
All seven homes — Extendicare Falconbridge, Extendicare York, St. Joseph's Villa, Pioneer Manor, Finlandia Hoivakoti Nursing Home, the Elizabeth Centre, and St Gabriel's Villa — have been subjected to inspections by the Ontario Ministry of Long-Term Care in recent months. In every case, inspectors have found situations where the homes have been required to take corrective action.
An inspection carried out at Extendicare York, filed in October, resulted in a formal report that had two Written Notifications (WNs) and a follow up plan of action.
In one case a WN was issued because a registered practical nurse failed to properly document giving medication to a patient with respect to the time and place.
The second WN was issued because the home failed to order blood work to be carried out as ordered by the patient's physician. As a result, the home was required to write up a Voluntary Plan of Correction to address the mistakes.
An inspection report for St. Joseph's Villa, filed in November 2021, resulted in three Written Notifications.
In one case, the facility was written up for failing to ensure a safe and secure environment was maintained as staff members had been seen not wearing face masks for their entire shifts and at times when staff members entered a patient's room.
In a second case, the home had a written notice for not following proper Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) for allowing a staff member to wear a mask below their chin and not wear proper PPE around a patient who required additional precautions.
In the third instance, there was a written notice for failing to ensure that a specific patient had a specific plan of care. Such a plan would have provided clear directions to staff for any specific care needs for the patient.
In another instance at St. Joseph's a written notice was filed for a situation where only one staff member used a mechanical lift to move a patient. No one was hurt, but under the rules, two staff members are required to use the lift. The home said this was done at a time when they were short staffed.
An inspection report for Pioneer Manor, filed in the first week of February, resulted in a written notice when it was found that the home failed to ensure that a patient received a special dietary intervention, as per their plan of care. It was reported that the food served resulted in actual harm to the patient. Along with the written notice, the home had to file a voluntary plan of correction.
The most recent inspection report for Extendicare Falconbridge was filed in September. It revealed there was one written notice for a situation that occurred when one resident reported an alleged abuse incident between two resident's on a specific day. The on-call manager was advised that one person was fearful of their roommate. The inspection determined that the facility’s director of care had not been informed quickly enough. The report did not reveal if any injury occurred.
At the Finlandia Hoivakoti Nursing Home, the most recent inspection carried out in December resulted in two written notices being filed.
In the first instance, the home was reported for failing to ensure that a hand-hygiene program was in place.
"The Inspector observed that not all residents were encouraged or assisted with performing hand-hygiene prior to being served their meals and after they finished their meals," said the report
In a second write up, it was revealed that a couple of registered practical nurses did not properly dispose of medication pouches by separating the patient's name from the pouch before putting the pouch in a garbage bin. The possibility was created that patient privacy could be breached if someone was to see the empty pouch
At the Elizabeth Centre in Val Caron, two written notices were filed after an inspection carried out in December.
For the first written notice, the inspector determined that a fall intervention plan was not in place at the time one resident experienced a fall, even though the patient had been identified as being at risk of falling, in their plan of care.
The second write up was filed after the home had failed to ensure that when a resident fell, that the resident had a post-fall assessment conducted using a clinically appropriate assessment instrument that was specifically designed for falls. No record was kept indicating that a post-fall assessment was done.
The home was ordered to put a plan of correction in place.
At Sudbury's St. Gabriel Villa, a written notice was filed when it was determined the home failed to ensure that all staff participated in the implementation of the home's infection prevention and control program.
During a walk through of the resident units it was noted that two resident rooms required isolation.
"The isolation signage which would indicate the type of precautions and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) that was to be worn was missing," said the inspection report.
Long-term care facilities
Extendicare York is a for-profit home that has 288 licenced beds and a waitlist of 45 people. The provincial report said 100 per cent of staff are fully vaccinated.
Extendicare Falconbridge is a for-profit home with 234 licensed beds and a waitlist of 50 people. The report states 100 per cent of staff fully vaccinated.
St. Joseph's Villa is a not-for-profit home that has 128 licensed beds and 634 people on the waiting list. The report states 98 per cent of the staff is fully vaccinated.
Pioneer Manor is a not-for-profit home with 433 licensed beds and 619 people on the waiting list. The report states 99 per cent of the staff fully vaccinated.
Finlandia Hoivakoti Nursing Home is not for-profit home with 112 licensed beds and 478 people on the waiting list. One hundred per cent of the staff are vaccinated, the report states.
The Elizabeth Centre is a for-profit home with 128 licensed beds with 265 people on the waiting list. It has 99 per cent of the staff fully vaccinated, said the Ontario report.
St Gabriel's Villa of Sudbury is a not-for-profit home with 128 licensed beds and 409 people on the waiting list. The staff is 100 per cent fully vaccinated.
