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The Saskatchewan Health Authority has suspended transitional care admissions at a Warman personal care home after a recent, unannounced Health Ministry inspection found eight “non compliance” infractions.
Those infractions included not reporting serious incidents within the last year to the health ministry.
650 CKOM recently spoke with Charmaine Macooh, whose 92-year-old father Barney was allegedly assaulted at Diamond House in February, resulting in a brain bleed and extensive bruising around one eye and forehead.
Macooh said she learned from a Diamond House nurse and another employee that her father had wandered into another man’s room, where he was assaulted and injured. She claimed she wasn’t given the details until 12 hours after the incident occurred, and was originally told her father had slipped and fallen.
Macooh said she also learned from staff members that the 65-year-old man who allegedly committed the assault would remain in the facility because he has “nowhere to go.”
The family of 92-year-old dementia resident, Barney, says he was attacked by another resident while living at Diamond House in Warman on Feb. 5, 2024.
The RCMP was notified about what happened, but no charges were laid.
Meanwhile, Macooh said her father has since been moved from Diamond House to another care home. But, she added, his brain bleed has not abated, and the family will have to decide what health-care options are available to him, given his age and dementia.
Macooh said she believes the man who allegedly attacked her father was a resident sent to the personal care home from another health-care facility as part of an agreement between the Saskatchewan Health Authority and Diamond House to accept transitional patients from other health-care settings, which began in late 2023.
Charmaine Macooh moved her father out of Diamond House on March 25, 2024, after he faced an alleged violent assault that left him with serious injuries to his face and bleeding in his brain. (Lara Fominoff/650 CKOM)
The latest inspection, dated March 26, 2024, listed eight areas where the home was not in compliance:
- accurate record keeping;
- caring for residents with difficult behaviours in a positive and constructive manner;
- ensuring enough staff are on duty to care for residents at all times;
- complying with all terms and conditions contained in the licence;
- providing appropriate oversight around care management and administration;
- ensuring assessments are completed within a week of an admission;
- reporting serious incidents within the last year to the ministry; and
- ensuring the licensee “can describe what a serious incident is and who to report a serious incident to.”
Golden Health Care Inc. runs Diamond House and six other care homes in Saskatchewan. CKOM once again tried contacting Golden Health’s CEO Heather Haupstein and Diamond House administrator Kelvin Ooms for comment on the SHA transitional patient program suspension and the results of the inspection.
Ooms initially said he would not comment on the matter when contacted at Diamond House, but he later called back and said the allegations about the care home he is currently administrating have affected resident care.
“I can not begin to tell you about all of the false accusations that are going on about this home, and some disgruntled employees that are putting a lot of bull**** out there about our home,” he said.
“It’s affecting our staff, and it’s the way they do their job, and this has got to come to an end because we’re here to take care of seniors, and we do a damn good job of it,” he continued, before abruptly hanging up.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Health, the government’s priority is to ensure that residents get safe and appropriate care in a safe and appropriate environment.
“The infractions have been shared with the licensee, and the care home has been informed that they must be addressed and all regulations met,” read the statement.
“While the home works to address these infractions, the Saskatchewan Health Authority has suspended further admissions to Diamond House as part of their contract for transitional care,” the ministry noted, adding that additional details are not publicly available for privacy and confidentiality reasons.