ST. JOHN'S — Abuse, missing residents, deaths and feces-strewn walls are among the findings in a new auditor general's report about personal care homes in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Denise Hanrahan's team looked at privately owned personal care facilities housing seniors and other vulnerable adults, most of which were for-profit enterprises. Their findings, released Tuesday, prompted the Opposition Progressive Conservatives to call for a police investigation, particularly into the reported accidental overdose of a care home resident.
"I am particularly concerned that there were instances where employees had criminal backgrounds, including assault charges,” Barry Petten, the party's health critic, said in a news release Wednesday.
"The Liberals owe the seniors in our personal care homes not just an apology, but real accountability for their failures in caring for the seniors of our province," he said.
Newfoundland and Labrador is home to the country's most rapidly aging population — the latest census numbers show about a quarter of the province's 530,000 residents were 65 or older in 2021.
More than 4,400 people were living in personal care homes during Hanrahan's audit, which covered the period from April 2022 to September 2024. The audit focused on 35 of the approximately 95 personal care homes operating in the province at that time, and Hanrahan's staff visited 13 facilities in person.
Their report said one resident died of an overdose after receiving multiple medications intended for another resident. Another didn’t return from a walk and was found dead later that day.
Noted infractions from monitoring reports included residents complaining of abuse by staff — including sexual abuse — and a room that was covered in "a large amount" of feces.
"Cleaning by staff was inadequate and feces was left on the wall," the report said. The owner of the home had been operating under a conditional licence for 27 months, it added.
At another facility, residents said they were hungry and cold.
"Some residents were told they could not shower more than once a week," the report said. "Residents reported the owner was disrespectful to them and they were fearful of bringing concerns forward. Residents were financially abused by owner."
Hanrahan's team found three of the 65 employees at the homes they examined had negative results on their certificates of conduct from police, including assault charges.
Ninety-one residents were essentially evicted by being dropped off at a local hospital emergency department and not accepted back by the care home — a practice that the audit found was known to health officials.
The report also flagged concerns about food quality, staff qualifications and inappropriate administration of medication.
Vivian Stamatopoulos, a long-term care researcher at Ontario Tech University, called the results of the audit "horrifying."
"What are we doing here? These are our seniors. These are the people that raised us," she said in an interview Thursday.
"Until we eliminate the for-profit motive from this sector, we will see stories like this time and time again," she added. "Actually, it's going to get worse, because our population continues to age, and rather rapidly."
While Hanrahan recommended the province develop better oversight procedures and make other changes to policy and practice, Stamatopoulos said the province should follow Saskatchewan's lead and get rid of for-profit care homes.
The Saskatchewan government took over the five for-profit facilities in the province in 2022. The move was part of a transition that began after a COVID-19 outbreak killed 39 residents in a private care home in Regina in 2020.
Newfoundland and Labrador's Department of Health and Community Services said in an email it would make several changes in response to Hanrahan's recommendations, including improving public reporting of inspection reports. Other changes have already been made, it added.
"We acknowledge that there are opportunities for improvement and agree that the system needs to collectively improve how seniors receive care," the email sent by media relations manager Khadija Rehma said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 3, 2025.
Sarah Smellie, The Canadian Press
