A long-term care home in Owen Sound says efforts have been made to correct issues identified during regulatory inspections this summer.
Southbridge Owen Sound — located on 16th Avenue East — underwent inspections in late July, followed by three in August, and it was found there were a number of infractions that needed to be addressed.
The Ministry of Long-Term Care issued a cease admissions order to Southbridge on August 16th, in a letter to South-West Home and Community Care Support Services.
Brad Robinson, the Assistant Director of the Long-Term Care Inspections Branch, said in that letter he believed that ceasing admissions was directed based on his own belief “that there is a risk of harm to the health or well-being of residents at the home or persons who might be admitted as residents.”
According to the public inspection report, those infractions included a resident leaving the home without supervision or power of attorney present, a resident getting injured after they had wandered off, complaints of residents having to wait an unusually long time to have their personal needs met, improper incontinence care and other issues.
Southbridge Owen Sound has only been open around nine months.
Bayshore News reached out to Southbridge Owen Sound for an interview, and received a prepared statement from Executive Director Brenda Lowe in response:
“Southbridge puts resident care and wellbeing first in all that we do. Our new home in Owen Sound has been opened for nine months and we are meeting community needs, moving from the care of 50 residents to the capacity to care for 160 residents. The citation concerned issues primarily related to the adoption of new technologies and the opening of a new building. We had addressed each point within the citation by the target date, which was October 6. We are also awaiting a Ministry inspection, which is normal protocol, so we can welcome more residents to this state-of-the art new home.”
