Licencing deal means residents of 4 central Hamilton care homes won't be displaced
Questions remain for former staff and residents about quality of care
More than 40 vulnerable residents will be allowed to stay at residential care homes in central Hamilton after city licencing staff announced that the lodges' owner would be withdrawing his licences and a new operator is applying to run them.
The announcement came at the start of a licencing hearing Friday where the city was trying to revoke the licences for a series of violations of city bylaws.
The hearing was expected to flesh out the city's concerns about public safety risks at the lodges, outlined in letters to the owner last month.
But the buildings' owner, Andrew James of Bellbrook Meadows, decided to withdraw the licences voluntarily.
City licencing staff announced the resolution at the beginning of the 10 a.m. meeting and the whole hearing was over a few minutes later.
'This is really only the beginning'
But workers who say they were let go from the lodges earlier this year say the uncertainty about the lodges and the residents, who live with a range of mental and physical disabilities, remains.
The city had detailed issues with the properties:
- adequate food supplies
- incorrect storage of medication
- insufficient employee documentation
- property standards violations
- yard maintenance violations
- significant fire code contraventions
A woman whose stepson lives in one of them said she will be watching to see that the care improves for people who live there.
"This is really only the beginning of what has to be done," said Helen Barton, stepmother of a 51-year-old man who lives at Burris Lodge. "I was prepared for a real hearing."
James did not comment at the meeting beyond saying he agreed to the resolution.
People who'd previously worked at the lodges say they still talk with residents living there.
"It's still so smoke-screened," said Dee Bisson, a former employee at Burris Lodge who now works privately as a support worker for Barton's stepson. "Nothing was really said to help them feel like they're going to be in a safe environment right now.
"That's what scares me," she said. "I have to go back to them, and tell them, well, you know, to be hopeful. Because nothing was fully explained. And I think that the city might have a little bit to look into in the future."
'Ensure that residents are protected'
Supportive Living, a Niagara-based care facility company, has been managing the lodges after hearing about issues there for the past few weeks. That company has filed applications to be the licence-holder for the lodges going forward, said chief administrative officer Vishal Chityal. Another company may also try to buy and run the properties, according to the former employees.
The city says it will continue to monitor the homes and residents will be given a choice of whether they want to stay or move to a different facility.
"Significant resources have been put to this issue by the city, and will continue to be," said Brian Duxbury, a lawyer retained by the city to conduct the hearing.
Duxbury said that the city will "continue to monitor and inspect these homes from this day forward through the application process, to make sure that the requirements under the multiple bylaws and guidelines of the city will continue to be met."
James will still have obligations as the properties' landlord.
"The city has taken great care to make sure that it has in place a program to ensure that these residents are protected and have choices going forward," Duxbury said.
Chityal said the transition is underway for Supportive Living to take a formal management role in the next several days, and that the residents and their families should be optimistic about the lodges in the future.