Alberta health minister pledges to fix ‘huge gap’ in post-hospital discharge system
Alberta Health Minister Adriana LaGrange admitted Monday to a “huge gap” in the system for referring discharged hospital patients to housing and support after a case in which a non-profit moved vulnerable people into hotel rooms.
LaGrange and Jason Nixon, minister of seniors, community and social services, said during a news conference that concerns about the organization Contentment Social Services are prompting them to pursue new accreditation and licensing rules.
CBC News broke the story last week about Blair Canniff, a stroke patient with high care needs who was discharged from hospital in Edmonton and moved into a hotel south of the city, in Leduc, through a program run by Contentment Social Services.
Canniff had been expecting to go to an assisted-living facility. He and his family reported the hotel room wasn’t properly equipped for his wheelchair, his hygiene wasn’t being managed, and he was given fast food to eat.
Another woman also spoke to CBC News about concerns about the quality of care for her father, Glen Green, after he was discharged from hospital and moved between two Leduc hotels, also with Contentment Social Services.
LaGrange on Monday thanked Canniff for coming forward, and for “the fact that it’s highlighted this huge gap in our system, that we have to make sure that we vet properly anyone who’s provided as an option.”
Nixon said government officials have been unable to reach anyone in charge of Contentment Social Services.
That’s despite unpaid hotel bills that put more than two dozen people at risk of being evicted and sent to a homeless shelter, he said.
“This situation shines a light on the need to look at what rules are in place to organizations who advertise themselves to provide services beyond just housing,” Nixon said.
Four investigations
The government has now ordered four separate investigations, Nixon said.
The Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee has already been directed to review the situation. Nixon said his ministry is opening an investigation into the use of government income support funds, and another into allegations of elder abuse in the form of neglect.
As well, Service Alberta will start a consumer protection and residential tenancy investigation.
Premier Danielle Smith previously said the government was working to find new living arrangements for 39 people in hotel rooms under the care of Contentment Social Services.
27 people in hotel rooms
Nixon said Monday that a further review over the weekend revealed that the organization actually had 27 people in rooms at the Leduc Park Inn — many of them vulnerable, some discharged from hospital.
The people living there were cleared to be on their own with community assistance like home care, Nixon said. Most receive some form of government support, with 80 per cent on Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH).
Nixon said the people had been moved twice in March: first, from apartment housing owned by a private landlord to the Leduc Travelodge, and then to the Park Inn.
He alleged that the organization had unpaid bills in all three housing arrangements. He said the government had to pay some of the bills in order to make sure no one was forced to leave the hotel over the weekend.
WATCH | Province taking over care of Contentment Social Services clients:
The Alberta government says it is stepping in to find housing for people under the care of Contentment Social Services after some being discharged from hospital were sent to hotels.
“This is an organization that appears to be not delivering services,” Nixon said.
“I can’t recall, and the department can’t recall, anything that we have seen like this.”
Nixon said the government has now arranged with the previous landlord for most people to return to their apartments, and officials are working to make sure food and community supports can be provided there.
All but one person who wanted to stay at the Park Inn are moving, Nixon said, and one other person is in hospital to pursue a different option.
CBC News asked Contentment Social Services president Norton Smith on Monday to respond to the province’s investigations and its plans for new regulations.
He was also asked to comment on the government’s move to take over the care of Contentment’s clients.
He said he had no comment.
In a previous interview with CBC News, Smith defended his organization’s actions.
He said the agency had been planning to purchase a hotel and convert it into a care facility, but the deal fell through.
“We are not in the habit of putting clients in motels,” he said. “It was a temporary measure. It was not something that we are trying to do on a permanent basis.”
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