HOSPITAL: Who Will Say How Many Are Injured? (Nursing Homes - Ontario)
Ministry behind schedule on gathering data
Families sue, saying accidents preventable
Dec. 10, 2003. 06:24 AM

MOIRA WELSH
STAFF REPORTER

Thousands of seniors are injured in nursing homes every year.

Some injuries cannot be prevented but others are the result of short staffing, poorly trained workers, poorly designed
homes and faulty equipment.

The Star's ongoing investigation shows the health ministry does not take a hard look at injury rates to figure out
which homes have the best and worst track record.

The provincial auditor suggested the ministry do this a year ago, and senior bureaucrats recently told the Star the
ministry is still trying to develop a "tool" for this.

One of the problems is that the ministry does not have a handle on the number of injuries.

The ministry's database for "unusual occurrences" (such as injuries, abuse, missing persons) records only about half of
the total incidents.

The ministry's data shows about 10,000 serious injuries over the past five years. The real number of injuries requiring
hospital treatment is likely closer to 20,000 over the five years studied by the Star.

Many residents are injured when staff accidentally drop them from the mechanical lifts used to move residents from bed
to chair, said Judith Wahl, executive director of the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly.

Most homes have a policy requiring two workers to be present each time the lift is used. But, due to short staffing,
many workers try to operate the lift on their own.

"Residents usually end up with serious injuries, like broken hips," said Wahl, a lawyer. "A lot of this is a result of
short staffing, or workers who aren't properly trained."

Karen Sullivan, who heads up the Ontario Long Term Care Association, said she has told the Ontario Ministry of Health,
which oversees long-term care homes, that inadequate money for staff is responsible for many injuries.

"These are the kinds of risk issues that we've been trying to get across, that without additional staff, this is
happening," Sullivan said.

Today, the Star details the stories of two elderly women who were injured in Ontario nursing homes.

Their families say the accidents were preventable. And, they say the injuries forced their mothers to live with
unbearable pain in their final days.

Broken spine. Shattered jaw. Fractured left arm. Cracked nose. Gaping wound across forehead.

The doctor's report on 79-year-old Vera Muza listed the injuries she received in an accident at Meadow Park Long Term
Care Centre in London, Ont. The report ended with a cautious note:

"She remains at high risk for further complications and deterioration," the doctor wrote.

Vera's family alleges in a lawsuit that the home was negligent in causing the injuries and claims she died four months
later due to complications arising from the accident. The family says the home had broken equipment and a shortage of
trained staff ? both of which led to the accident. Vera died in hospital Sept. 19, 2002.

"She didn't have to die like that, in such pain," says Ohla Muza of her mother, a grandmother, gardener and renowned
perogie maker.

"It's Meadow Park's fault ? they made her life hell."

The nursing home will not comment on the lawsuit because it is before the court.

The case was filed in court July 2, 2003, but a statement of defence has not yet been filed due to discussions between
lawyers for both parties.

The new administrator at the home, Sandra Fysh, said Meadow Park had problems in the past that she is trying to fix.

"I agree there have been issues here," Fysh said in an interview. "I'm going to try not to look back, although I will
fix anything that needs to be fixed. I intend to have Meadow Park rated as a 10-out-of-10 home in a few months."

Meadow Park Long Term Care Centre is owned by Jarlette Health Services, a private family chain based in Midland that
operates a dozen long-term-care homes across Ontario.

According to data obtained by the Star, the London home reported 79 injuries requiring transfer to hospital over the
past five years.

That ranks the home as the eleventh highest injury rate in the province (there are 544 homes in Ontario). The 122-bed
home also had 68 complaints lodged against it over the past five years.

According to the allegations in the lawsuit, which have not been proven in court, Vera was finishing her weekly bath on
May 13, 2002, when the accident occurred.

Vera's favourite health-care aide, Tammy Delainey, was helping her. Tammy is also named in the lawsuit. The Star tried
to reach Tammy, but she did not return repeated calls.

Tammy was working alone. As a safety precaution, most nursing homes usually require two staff to operate lifts when
residents are transferred out of bed, or taken to the washroom.

Ohla remembers seeing her mom regularly moved by just one health-care aide.

The home, said Ohla, was short-staffed, and employees constantly complained to family members that they were run off
their feet.

Parkinson's disease had stiffened Vera's limbs, leaving her dependent on the care of the home. At 175 pounds, she was
big enough that one worker would need help moving her. Alone, Tammy helped Vera out of the bath with the hydraulic
lift, a contraption that raises residents in and out of the tub when they are unable to move on their own.

But on that day, there was another problem. Meadow Park's hydraulic lift, according to the family's lawsuit, was
broken. The belt that holds residents into place was jury-rigged with a belt that didn't match.

When Tammy slid Vera into the chair of hydraulic lift, she didn't fasten the belt properly, and as she stepped away,
Vera fell out. It was a drop of more than a metre, and Vera's head took the full impact, cracking against the floor.

When Ohla saw her at the hospital, she knew right away that her mother would never recover ? the damage was too much
for an elderly woman to withstand.

In its lawsuit, the family alleges that the home failed to notice the defective chair and fix it.

Ohla filed a complaint with the health ministry's compliance office.

The ministry investigated Ohla's complaint about her mother's accident. It ruled the complaint was "verified" and
determined that an "improper belt was used in its place, jeopardizing the resident's safety and ultimately resulting in
a serious injury to the resident when she fell."

However, the investigator found no evidence that the broken belt lift was earlier reported by staff to the home.

The ministry's investigation report shows that the home has done a thorough check of tubs used by residents. The home
was also reminded by the ministry not to use broken equipment and to ensure that two workers perform all transfers of
patients needing a lift.

Reference:

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SOURCE: The Toronto Star
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