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Seniors at risk in retirement home, investigation reveals

October 01, 2010

Dale Brazao and Moira Welsh

The 82-year-old man, in diapers and suffering advanced dementia, slid off his chair and crashed to the floor of the Toronto retirement home.

No staffer came to help. An undercover Toronto Star reporter helped Sam up and waited. Five minutes. Ten minutes. Fifteen minutes. At twenty minutes a tired, overworked staffer appeared.

“Sam does not belong here,” she said.

That was our first night inside In Touch Retirement Living in Toronto’s west end at Lawrence Ave. and Weston Rd. Over the next week, the Star witnessed profound neglect in a place where more than half of the 18 residents should be in a nursing home receiving higher quality, regulated medical care.

People left in urine and feces-filled diapers for hours. Washrooms with no toilet paper so residents, some suffering from dementia, wiped themselves with their hands or a flimsy communal towel. No stimulation. Bad food. Poorly trained and underpaid staff, with just one on duty overnight.

While one reporter investigated from the inside, another delved into management of the home owned by Elaine Lindo. We found health records showing dangerous food preparation; court records detailing a confrontation that led to an assault allegation; and Lindo’s attempt to evict a resident who refused to pay a massive rent increase.

Lindo, in a brief interview, defended the home. “We are one of the best in the city and everybody knows that.” Lindo declined many requests for a full interview. She also did not answer written questions.

The story of this home is played out more and more across the province, where aging seniors are forcing a crisis. The Starfound that while the Liberal government’s upcoming plan to provide consumer protection may protect high functioning seniors who want to get a fair price for a haircut or other services in a home, it will do little to help people like Sam (names of residents have been changed to protect their privacy).

The Star found numerous problems at In Touch.

Public health records reveal a recent food safety conviction following two years of warnings. In August 2009, after discovering dirty kitchen conditions, along with beef stew and five dozen eggs stored on the counter instead of the refrigerator, the inspector laid three charges under the provincial Health Protection & Promotion Act.

“Leaving out hazardous food at room temperature allows bacteria to multiply very fast and that can turn into food poisoning which creates a lot of problems for the very young and the very old,” said Toronto public health manager Jim Chan.

Lindo pleaded guilty to one hazardous food charge this summer and was fined $250. The city prosecutor withdrew two other hygiene-related charges.

According to a Star data analysis of public health inspections on Toronto’s retirement homes, In Touch had the worst inspection results in the city since since Lindo bought the small home in August 2006.

Inspectors recorded 23 different violations since Lindo took over, including food risks, pest control (mouse droppings), lack of washroom supplies such as soap and paper towels for staff, inadequate lighting, and failure to properly sterilize utensils.

The Star’s undercover reporter lived in the houses for seven days and found that the food served never matched the printed menu posted on the wall. The menu portrayed a healthy diet of meat, fruits and vegetables. Instead, residents ate cheap, processed food with an occasional glimpse of protein.

Complaints from residents and families interviewed by the Star focused on the food, the cleanliness of the resident washrooms – none had toilet paper – and bullying tactics over money. The Star also found there were no programs for residents, just a television where the picture rarely matched the audio. Puddles of urine were left on the floor for more than 24 hours, cleaned only after the Star reporter complained it was a slipping hazard.

The fees at the home are low (roughly $1,200 per month for a bed in a double room) compared to upscale homes which charge about $6,000.

In 2009, home owner Lindo began proceedings to evict resident Nancy MacEachern, a 56-year-old woman sent to the retirement home by a hospital to recover from an illness.

MacEachern said her dispute with Lindo involved several attempts to raise her rent by $400 and the type of care she needed. Lindo took MacEachern to the provincial Landlord and Tenant Board to have her evicted.

According to MacEachern, Lindo told the board that she had been very good to MacEachern, helping her shower, comb her hair and walk down the stairs. MacEachern denied this, saying she had lived at In Touch for two years without receiving any extra help.

Earlier this year, the board dismissed the eviction application, and ruled Lindo’s description of care services was “not persuasive and trustworthy.”

MacEachern believes that Lindo also wanted her out because she sided with resident Caterina Pileggi over an incident that ended in assault charges against Lindo.

Lindo was found not guilty after a trial.

Police came to the home after a December 2008 argument in the kitchen with Pileggi, 74, a four-foot tall disabled woman who enjoyed cooking.

Pileggi told police that Lindo became angry at her for making too much chicken, and had pushed her. Police laid a second assault charge after Pileggi told them about a scuffle in her bedroom six months earlier, alleging that Lindo had smashed her hand against the door, causing deep bruising.

According to the trial transcript, Lindo denied both assaults. In the most recent assault allegation, Pileggi testified that Lindo pushed her in the shoulders, knocking her into the kitchen wall. A kitchen worker testified she saw Lindo hit Pileggi, but said it was on the forehead, which troubled the judge hearing the case.

Lindo told court the kitchen worker was a “pathological liar”, and said that Pileggi was violent, and sometimes wielded a knife.

Two of Lindo’s personal care workers testified on their boss’s behalf. They said Pileggi was aggressive, prone to swearing and violence.

Staff and residents at the home have told the Star they have concerns over the accuracy of the testimony provided by Lindo’s two workers. One staff member, who was not present when the alleged assault took place, told the Star’sundercover reporter that one of Lindo’s workers “saved Elaine” during the trial.

Justice Thomas Cleary said the case hinged on the reliability of the accused and the complainant. Cleary noted the evidence of Lindo’s witnesses and said he was left with a “reasonable doubt” about both assaults.

In the months leading up to the trial, Lindo was not allowed at the home. She returned there after she was cleared. MacEachern and two other residents moved to a retirement home down the street.

“It’s smaller, but we are also treated with respect,” MacEachern said.

The Star’s undercover reporter heard complaints from workers that they were paid as little as $5 an hour and made to work long shifts.

The Ontario Labour Relations Board found in July that former care worker Denise Ellis was paid $85 for a 12-hour shift — $7.72 an hour — below minimum wage during the time period ($8.75-$9.50).

The labour board ordered Lindo to pay $3,614 in back wages and public holiday pay. Lindo is appealing the decision.

Money is at the heart of another complaint, where Lindo is accused of cashing a dead woman’s rent cheque.

Dave Dineno said his mother, Nellie, 94, died on July 30. In his small claims court complaint, Dineno said he told Lindo not to cash the $1,177 rent cheque for August and said she told him, “I don’t steal from the dead.”

In his complaint, Dineno said when he went to the home on August 4 to retrieve the cheque, Lindo told him that she had cashed it. Lindo, he said, then verbally attacked him, telling him that he “wanted his mother dead,” according to his claim.

In her statement of defence, Lindo’s lawyer said the Residential Tenancies Act allows her to charge a resident up to 30 days following a death. The case is still before the courts.

“It’s not that I can’t live without the money,” Dineno said, during an interview. “It’s the principle. And it’s the cheapness of the way this place operates, and how it affects everyone. My Mom used to call me and say ‘Dave, Dave, I need to go to the washroom but there is no toilet paper here. Can you please bring me some toilet paper?’”

Data analysis by Andrew Bailey

Moira Welsh can be reached at (416) 869-4073 or mwelsh@thestar.ca

Dale Brazao can be reached at (416) 869-4433 or dbrazao@thestar.ca