Union demands action on staffing at Dresden retirement home

The union representing staff at Dresden’s Park Street Retirement Residence, currently under a regulatory order, is calling for action to address ongoing staff shortages.

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“Front-line health-care workers at Park Street are burned out, with some working as many as 17 straight 12-hour days, due to the critical staffing shortages,” said Lisa Cook, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) health union representative .

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“In addition, they’re putting in extra effort to do their part to ensure the shortfalls by ownership and management are not felt by the residents,” she alleged.

The firm licensed to operate the home is an Ontario numbered company, according to the Retirement Homes Regulatory Authority (RHRA) website. Efforts to reach company representatives for comment by telephone and email Friday were unsuccessful.

SEIU members have been “absolute rock stars,” Cook said, “They truly feel that the residents are like their family and they have stepped up and gone over and above throughout this transition time.”

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Care, dietary and housekeeping staff and the maintenance person are “all hands on deck,” she said. “Without them, the situation could have been way worse.”

Staff are working extra hours to make sure shifts are covered and people from other departments have been assisting to make sure residents get needed care, she said. “The care they have for residents is amazing.”

Staff shortages at the home prompted the RHRA to issue an order Sept. 25 for the retirement residence to hire an interim manager, at his own expense, to manage the operations. The order also called for the interim management to be afforded full co-operation and access.

The order was prompted by an RHRA final inspection report dated Sept. 18, in which the agency said there were “reasonable grounds to believe that extraordinary circumstances exist in the home that require immediate action. . . regarding to staff shortages that rose to a critical level.”

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There are “reasonable grounds to believe that extraordinary circumstances have resulted or may result in harm or a risk of harm to one or more residents,” the report added.

An RHRA inspector spoke to residents, staff and relatives, and reviewed relevant documentation kept by the home, the report said. The inspector also received anonymous reports alleging missed care, including assistance with bathing, in part due to insufficient staffing, the report said.

“The inspector found that the home had significantly lower staffing levels on a number of occasions, and that several residents did not receive their bathing care on Sept. 16, 18 and the morning of Sept. 21, in accordance with their plans of care, ” the report said.

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The report also alleged the licensee’s assistant, who was operating as the home’s manager, knowingly provided false information regarding claims about bathing care provided to residents.

Cook alleged the facility has serious retention issues caused by unacceptable working conditions and mismanagement, including late wage payments, missing pension contributions, and interrupted essential services for residents, such as food delivery due to unpaid bills.

“As an employee, I don’t feel the integrity of staff and lack of staff is anyone’s fault other than ownership,” said one staffer, who didn’t want to be named.

Ownership has not been involved and heard the needs of the facility on a day-to-day basis, the staffer alleged.

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“It has been brought to attention of ownership numerous times of the need of a backup plan of an outside agency for emergency situations, which was never addressed,” the staffer said.

This was demonstrated during COVID outbreaks, when half of the staff were off ill at times, the worker said. “But again, staff stepped up to the plate and worked through outbreaks.”

The worker said staff returned after testing negative for COVID, but still weak and not feeling well, to make residents were properly cared for.

Cook said she will be at the facility next week, adding the interim manager is willing to meet with her to discuss staffing and plan going forward.

“We need to get the facility back on track, for sure,” she said.

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