Lawsuits filed against two long-term care providers claim they were negligent towards residents

Two long-term care providers in Ontario are facing class-action lawsuits that claim they were “systemically negligent” toward residents. The lawyer leading the charge is calling on the government to shut down offending homes, or impose heavy fines.

A caution, some of the content of this story might be disturbing.

Statements of claim against Extendicare Inc.and Sienna Senior Living Inc. allege patients were left with untreated bed sores and one woman’s wounds becoming infested with maggots. None of the allegations have been proven in court.

The lawsuits seek a total of $300million in damages.

Amani Oakley is representing the plaintiffs. She’s calling for governments to crack down on alleged neglect at long-term care facilities by shutting down offending homes, or imposing heavy fines.

“We’ve gotta take it beyond simply cataloguing the misery and we need to start talking about fines. We need to start shutting down some of the homes. Halting admission until some of these issues are dealt with.”

Minister of Health and long-term care, Helena Jaczek says she can’t comment on this specific case, but she says the system is working.

“We have a system of inspection in this province that I think is showing good results. Orders are being served on homes that are not compliant, even with minor offences and we will continue to monitor the situation.”

Oakley’s firm has partnered with two others to form the “nursing homes action coalition” which has launched a website asking additional plaintiffs to come forward.

Extendicare says it does not believe the lawsuit has merit; while Sienna Senior Living says it’s reviewing the claim.