“People go to jail for treating their pets in the same way,”

Staff at Extendicare nursing home abused woman before her death from dehydration.

According to AHS, there were 273 allegations of abuse at seniors’ homes it funds between April 2018 and March 2019. Most were determined to be unfounded, but many still prompted suggestions for improved care.
 
 
Josephine Ewashko died from dehydration and a urinary tract infection. An investigation found Extendicare Viking guilty of “failing to provide adequate nutrition, adequate medical attention or another necessity of life”. (Submitted by Miranda Ewashko)
 
 
 

A CRIMINAL CODE offence section 215 states:

Duty of persons to provide necessaries

215 (1) Every one is under a legal duty

(b) with respect to a duty imposed by paragraph (1)(c), the failure to perform the duty endangers the life of the person to whom the duty is owed or causes or is likely to cause the health of that person to be injured permanently.

An elderly woman who died from dehydration and a urinary tract infection — caused by sitting in wet diapers — was abused by staff at an Alberta nursing home who admitted they were too overworked to care for her properly.
Josephine Ewashko had been a resident at Extendicare Viking in Viking, Alta. — southeast of Edmonton — since 2016.
She was rushed to hospital in November 2018 and died two weeks later, just shy of her 80th birthday.
“Sometimes I feel like a hitman, because we were paying to have our mother killed,” said her son, Dana Ewashko.
“It’s sickening, is what it is,” he said. “If somebody doesn’t get enough water? Somebody doesn’t get changed? They didn’t do their job.”
Shortly after his mother’s death, he complained to Alberta’s office of Protection for Persons in Care (PPC) , which recently issued a report, describing Josephine’s slow deterioration due to the staff’s neglect.
As a result, says the report, she experienced “serious bodily harm” leading to her death.
“I used to work in the financial world and for a lot less than a life we would have our licenses stripped if we … didn’t follow protocol,” said Dana, 57. “Doesn’t seem like the health industry has any consequences to something like this.”
Markham, Ont.-based Extendicare — one of the three largest nursing home chains in the country, with 96 homes in four provinces — has not been fined in this case.
Alberta and Nova Scotia are the only two provinces in the country where regulators can issue fines when nursing home operators don’t meet standards of care.
Josephine Ewashko’s son, Dana, filed a complaint against Extendicare Viking with the regulator following his mother’s death.
Dana says in the months leading up to his mother’s death, he and other family members spoke to Extendicare Viking staff many times about her repeated bladder infections, which he says exacerbated her dementia symptoms.
“Her cognitive ability was greatly affected. She would sleep a lot — even fall asleep mid-sentence sometimes,” he said. “It was a lack of care.”
He recalls helping his mother out of her wheelchair three months before she died and looking at its seat cushion.
“It looked kind of an odd shade of black,” he said. “I reached down and touched it and it was soaked in urine. It was as though you took a sponge out of the tub.”
He says when he and other family members asked staff to help their mother get to the bathroom, or change her foul-smelling diaper, it would often be hours before a nurse or aide responded.

EXTREMELY DEHYDRATED

Another nagging concern for the family — that Josephine’s water glass was often several feet away from her wheelchair.”She couldn’t reach it,” said Dana. “We always thought Mother was thirsty.”
Family members raised their concerns two months before Josephine’s death, in an October 2018 meeting with nursing home staff. They later learned those concerns were never recorded in their mother’s care program.
“The nurse said he was just too busy to do that type of paperwork,”
A month later, his mother became increasingly weak, was often incoherent and slept for long periods of time. On Nov. 22, 2018, he insisted that she be transferred to hospital.
The PPC investigation into Josephine’s death found:
o She was “barely responsive” upon arrival at the hospital.
o She was “extremely dehydrated.”
o Blood work detected “critically high sodium levels” — an indication of dehydration and kidney disease.
o The skin in her mouth “was sloughing off due to dryness.”
The report also noted that, in the weeks leading up to her death, a computer system at Extendicare Viking issued a dozen alerts, noting changes in her condition — but none was reviewed by a nurse or care aide. Among other things, the alerts signalled:
o “New or worsening lethargy.”
o “New or worsening disorganized speech.”
o “New or worsening altered perception.”
The report does not include any details of interviews with managers, but a nurse told investigators: “We often don’t have time to read [the alerts] or review charting.”
Another nurse said: “We are supposed to check the alerts … but this is difficult [due to workload].”
Two aides also said they didn’t have time to check the alerts.
Josephine’s family doctor had concerns she put in a letter last February to Alberta’s Ministry of Health.
“I do believe … that Josephine’s needs were neglected, not on purpose but due to staff shortages and lack in experience,” wrote Dr. Marna Hagan, who went on to say that her concerns about staffing were not new.
“This is not the first time I feel there was a lack in care and experience,” at the Viking location, wrote Hagan. “Shortage of staff and experience is lacking.”
The province’s investigation also reported concerns about staffing and training, noting that employees needed better education about nutrition, hydration and monitoring infections.
It also directed the facility to develop policies that ensure staff review and respond to computer alerts. It gave the facility until Feb. 29 to comply.
Extendicare’s CEO received total annual compensation of about $4 million last year.
According to AHS, there were 273 allegations of abuse at seniors’ homes it funds between April 2018 and March 2019. Most were determined to be unfounded, but many still prompted suggestions for improved care.
Instead, a spokesperson for the Viking facility wrote that it is “very sorry” about her death and that she is “dearly missed by the team and residents.”
Spokesperson Darlene Thibault also said Extendicare Viking has “taken steps to address the situation” and is working “to provide the highest quality of care, dignity and safety to our residents.”
Dana says it’s hard to deal with the grief of knowing his mother’s death may have been preventable, and that Extendicare didn’t pay a financial price.
“People go to jail for treating their pets in the same way,” he said. “It’s pretty shocking that nothing [no fine] has happened.”
 
 

IF IT WAS DETERMINED THAT MRS. EWASHKO HAD BEEN DENIED THE NECESSARIES OF LIFE PER THE CRIMINAL CODE OF CANADA, WHY WEREN’T CRIMINAL CHARGES LAID?
 
Adapted from CBC January 26, 2020
 
 
 

February 1, 2020