Bethammi Nursing Home subject of 44 non-compliance issues after inspection

A nursing home in Thunder Bay, Ont., is so often understaffed, that the home's administrator admits that even the basic level of care is often a struggle to deliver.

Bethammi Nursing Home, operated by St. Joseph's Care Group, received 44 issues of non-compliance after an inspection on March 26, 2018.

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The home's administrator said in the report that it, "could not expect staff to do any more than basic personal care, which they struggled to get done."

Most of those issues were written notifications, but there were ten voluntary plans of correction, eight compliance orders and one director's referral.

The majority of the issues identified in the report by the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care were related to staffing.

Concerns of personal dignity

In one case, the home was written up for not changing a resident who had to wear an incontinence product, after they were not changed for over five-and-a-half hours. The report also notes that resident was not changed until it was requested by a family member, and the mobility aid used by that person was also soiled. 

An e-mail from a family member regarding this particular incident, noted that when the mobility aid was washed, the "water immediately turned [colour] and smelled [of the body fluid] and a lot of [the body fluid] poured out." 

The family member stated, "I am concerned that this issue is not really resolved from a staff role, education, awareness or understanding of what personal dignity means."

In this specific case, a video taken by the family member showed that there were puddles of liquid on the mobility aid, underneath the seat cushion, and another part of the aid was saturated with the body fluid.

Daily charting incomplete

After a complaint about staffing shortages, the Ministry noted many records were incomplete, as they were unable to be filled out by staff during a shift. The lack of documentation also shows a lack of baths provided for residents, as well as a lack of information on the general health of residents, including daily charting.

On one of the floors at Bethammi, charting shows 11 of 56 residents had only one bath documented for January 2018.

One resident, who was interviewed by a Ministry inspector noted they were only given a bath once a week over a one-month period. The general standard is two baths per week.

Inspectors with the Ministry of Health also interviewed RPNs working at the home, who said they had administered medications to residents in the dining room, during mealtimes, instead of in a private location. The staff noted the workload did not allow residents to be moved to a private area to receive their medication.

'Struggled with staffing'

The staffing coordinator at the home told the Ministry the home, "struggled with staffing, due to empty rotations, sick calls and staff not picking up shifts/over time shifts."

Reviews of the software that logs calls to resident rooms noted multiple occasions where staff took up to 75 minutes for their calls to get responded to. Staff said the long waits could be attributed to employee shortages.

Another item to fall by the wayside was providing residents with snacks and beverages between meals. One employee said that snacks in the morning, afternoon and evening were often not provided, however, residents who are diabetic would get the priority for an evening snack.

Documentation noted by an inspector showed the home had been short staffed on 84 percent of its day shifts, and 87 percent of its evening shifts in January.

St. Joseph's Care Group, which operates Bethammi Nursing Home told CBC News in a statement that, "All long-term care homes in Ontario undergo periodic inspections by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, and receive subsequent inspection reports."

"Following an inspection, the homes meet with inspectors and hear their concerns, and begin to put measures in place to meet the areas identified even before the official report is written and published."

"Since opening its doors in 1979, Bethammi Nursing Home has had a solid track record of providing safe, high quality care, and has been a home of choice in Thunder Bay for almost 40 years.  It is home to 112 residents."

A facility-wide outbreak of respiratory illness was declared at the home on Monday.