It’s always nice to come back from a week off to a flood of mail. Not entirely surprising, our reporter’s coverage of nursing homes in Wellington County attracted some fire.
As often happens when issues take flight at Queen’s Park, questions arise on what is happening at the local level. Abysmal circumstances in nursing homes outside of our area led to significant media coverage, which put some heat on Queen’s Park politicians to address the abhorrent conditions facing many frail seniors.
Our reporter’s intent was to provide an information piece for citizens across the county who are interested in how local homes rate, and if in fact they have met all standards prescribed by law. To note that all standards were not met is merely a statement of fact rather than an indictment of how those homes are run. There were no glaring causes for concern, which is good News for residents of these homes.
Apart from undercover investigations, the only real mechanism to monitor provincially regulated facilities, is to have regular inspections by ministry staff charged with finding out if set standards are being met. Within the industry, there are concerns if the regulations are in fact realistic considering that costs continue to rise and interpretations by inspectors can be subjective. Let’s not forget that if inspectors repeatedly find nothing wrong, their own existence comes into question.
The decision to place a loved one in a home for the aged is not an easy one. For many, it is an agonizing recognition of reality that the individual requires greater care and monitoring than can be provided at home. It is very easy to see the sense of helplessness facing care givers at home, and we are quite sure their desire for the best of care might make it difficult for an institutional setting to meet those needs; hence complaints. But professionals in the field of long-term care do their very best most times to provide comfort to their residents.
It is abundantly clear there is sense of fierce pride in the good work taking place at the Wellington Terrace. That perhaps is the great reward for care givers and managers who try to provide a comfortable setting for their residents.
