Care home staff fired for taking inappropriate photos
Last Updated: Tuesday, March 4, 2008 | 5:00 PM PT
CBC News
The company that runs the Summerland Seniors Village has confirmed that one employee was fired and two resigned after inappropriate photographs of seniors in their care were taken.
The Interior Health Authority fired an employee after it investigated allegations of emotional abuse of residents at the Summerland Seniors Village in Summerland, B.C.
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Tony Baena, the vice-president of the Summerland, B.C., facility's parent company, Retirement Concepts, issued a statement Tuesday saying they first became aware of the allegations in October 2006.
RCMP were called immediately and an investigation was launched by the Interior Health Authority, said Baena.
One employee was fired after the health authority investigated the allegations of emotional abuse of residents at the care home, he said.
An employee who took the photos and another who witnessed the photo taking, but did not report it, both resigned, Baena said.
"It is unfortunate that from time to time, health care, like any other industry, is confronted by unacceptable actions by misguided individuals," he said.
B.C. Health Minister George Abbott says the 80-unit facility in Summerland was brand new at the time the alleged incidents took place.
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"But what's important is that procedures are in place to deal with them quickly and effectively," he said.
Health Minister George Abbott said on Tuesday what the staff did was shocking.
He said the 80-unit facility was brand new at the time the offences took place.
"When a new facility comes on line … obviously you have to staff up very quickly to provide the care in those facilities," he said.
"When you do that, you may have the staff who don't have the depth of experience of someone who may have been working in the facility for a large number of years."
Families concerned about care home
A woman who pulled her parents out of the Summerland Seniors Village said she's disturbed but not surprised by the allegations of abuse levelled against the home.
Valerie Tuhkala's mother and father were in the assisted living wing at the facility in 2007, but stayed only five months because it failed to deliver a games room, a library, and quality food, Tuhkala said.
"The food, I wouldn't feed my dog. It was like processed stuff. A quality meal for them would be macaroni and cheese that was so overcooked, it was hard and crunchy," Tuhkala told CBC News on Tuesday.
Dr. Paul Hassleback, a medical health officer with Interior Health, said abuse allegations at Summerland Seniors Village were investigated and the operator took appropriate action.
