The family whose complaints led to an investigation into the Estevan Regional Nursing Home say they are disgusted by the final report into the matter.
In an interview with The Mercury on June 20, family spokeswoman Maggie Dupuis said the document they received from the Sun Country Health Region had all recommendations made by the independent third party investigator redacted from it. As well, she felt the remainder of the report focused on smaller matters and did not look at the bigger issues they have been trying to raise with Sun Country.
"The recommendations, which were the main reason for the investigation, have all been blacked out," Dupuis said. "There's no accountability. We have no idea of the recommendations and if they are going to follow through on them."
The investigation into ERNH began last year after a frustrated Dupuis approached The Mercury to raise concerns about the treatment of her mother, Mary Mack. Dupuis said she had documented a number of cases of neglect and possible abuse, and after failing to see any action from Sun Country, went public with her mother's story.
Shortly after the article appeared in the June 6, 2012 issue of The Mercury, Sun Country CEO Marga Cugnet said they were taking the allegations seriously and would hire an independent third party investigator to carry out the review. The investigation was completed earlier this year and a final report was presented to Sun Country in the spring.
Although she regretted the investigation took so long to complete, Cugnet said she was relieved to learn the report confirmed that abuse was not identified at the nursing home, which is owned and operated by the health region.
The Mack family recently received their own copy of the report but was angered to find the recommendations were redacted.
Dupuis said they also remain frustrated about what she described as a lack of communication between them and Sun Country management.
While fighting back tears, Dupuis said the matter continues to cause great stress for her and other family members. Asked if she is happy that they came forward, Dupuis said there have been times where she questioned the decision but had no choice but to act.
"If I had to do it all over again the stress of it and all and everything, I don't know. We had nowhere else to go," said Dupuis who added the support the family has received from the public has helped them get through their lowest points.
"Thank God we have had a lot more positive reaction from the public and people but there are days we want to just give up. We are trying to fight the system, they are not being held accountable where do we go?
"We are banging our heads against the wall. But all of a sudden out of the blue someone will message with encouragement or there's flowers sent or just on the second night of the fair someone approached me and said 'do not give up, you do not realize how much public support you have.' But there are days where this is exhausting and they just keep saying don't give up because people need to know the truth of what goes on in there."
Asked if the family feels they are back to square one after reading the report, Dupuis said no because they have been able to build a much better relationship with many of the staff members at ERNH. After the initial allegations were made public, Dupuis said there was a definite rift with staff at the facility. However, in recent weeks they have spoken to some of the employees and made it clear they feel the majority of them do an excellent job, but a small group of three to four workers are giving them all a bad reputation. In those conversations, Dupuis sensed the majority of staff is also frustrated, both with management and that a small group of co-workers continue to cause issues. She added the staff says management went out of their way to pit employees against the Mack family.
"They really stressed how sorry they are (for having hard feelings towards the family). We said 'if the shoe was on the other foot we would have hard feelings too because (management) lumped you in one big group.' They couldn't apologize enough. They had kind of figured they weren't getting told the whole story."
Dupuis' claims were supported by e-mail conversations the family has had with employees over the past couple of weeks.
"They painted your family black and we believed it hook, line and sinker," said the employee, who allowed The Mercury to print the e-mails on the condition of anonymity. "I am embarrassed, upset and very angry that I wasted a year believing them. I do know that many others feel the way I do."
The emails went on to paint a very clear picture of the level of frustration the majority of employees are feeling at ERNH.
It's noted that a group of four employees is responsible for most of the issues and staff feels management are not properly dealing with them. Dupuis said one of the four is the same employee that her family has had concerns about and eventually had removed from caring for her mother. It was mentioned in the e-mails the same employee had a harassment complaint filed against them by a co-worker.
The employee also feels the investigation and final report was a "sham," claiming that many of those interviewed by the investigator were "handpicked" by management.
Dupuis said after speaking with a few of the employees, she now feels they are also fighting for them as well as the rights of her mother.
"One hundred per cent. They don't want to be clumped together with these four people. When you look back to the very first article, I said 98 per cent of the staff is terrific and there is a handful of rotten apples," she said. "(Management) does not want to deal with specific people so they just clump them all together and (those causing issues) are not dealt with.
"If this would have been dealt with right off the bat it would be over."
Dupuis said since she first raised alarm bells in 2012, the quality of care her mother receives has been better but she said some concerns remain. Most notably, she found a number of bruises on her mother's arm that staff were not able to explain.
Furthermore, Dupuis claimed the bruises were not documented on her mother's chart until after she raised the matter.
Although she acknowledged the bruises could have happened very innocently, the family can't help but worry when no one is able to provide any information to them. She cited another example where her mother's legs were bruised by accident, the whole matter was properly documented and explained and that was the end of the conversation.
"I never had any concern."
Despite the ongoing frustrations Dupuis and other family members have endured, she vowed to keep battling for what they feel is right.
The Estevan Police Service also conducted their own investigation into the allegations raised by the Mack family. Sgt. Jerry Michalski of the EPS carried out the investigation and although there has not been a formal announcement from the department, Dupuis said she understands that no charges will be filed.
