The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority is investigating the death of an elderly man whose frozen body was found outside a personal care home last week.

The body of Barry Collen, 74, was discovered around 4:30 a.m. on Jan. 2 outside the Sharon Home at Kanee Centre, a 157-bed personal care home in the city's William Whyte neighbourhood.

Members of Collen's family say they have been told he went into the care home's courtyard around 1 a.m. to have a cigarette. The temperature was around –20 C the night of Collen's death, with a wind chill of –31. 

Collen's sister-in-law, Ann Collen, told CBC News that Barry Collen had a medical condition that made him unsteady on his feet.

"What I was told was that he slipped and fell and banged his head, and he froze to death," she said. "And then the coroner's office phoned me and they said that he died of hypothermia. That's all they said."

Manitoba's medical examiner's office has confirmed that Collen died due to exposure.

"It's hard to speak about him," Collen said, breaking into tears. "Never had a harsh word against anybody — he was a kind, gentle soul."

Réal Cloutier, vice-president of the health authority, said it does not appear Sharon Home breached any regulations.

Collen was able-bodied, Cloutier said, and was allowed to come and go from the building at will.

"To go into the courtyard area, [the lock] is coded. I understand he did know the code. To get in, you don't require the code — it's an unlocked door to get back in," he said.

"We don't know why he wasn't able to get back in."
 
The situation may become more clear once the authority's investigation is complete, he said.

"The whole idea of the critical incident review process is to say, 'What have we learned from this particular incident, and what can we change?' — not only what Sharon Home can change, but what have we learned as a system arising from this incident."

Officials with Sharon Home declined CBC's requests for an interview, referring all questions to the health authority.