A failure to provide air conditioning in resident rooms has landed a long-term care home in west London in hot water.
The provincial government has fined McCormick Home at 2022 Kains Road in London $1,100 after the facility did not comply with legislation passed last year that requires long-term care homes to install A/C in all resident rooms by June 22.
McCormick is one of only two homes in Ontario to be hit with the fine. The other home suffering a financial penalty for non-compliance is Vision Nursing Home in Sarnia.
“After months of working with these homes and offering to fully-fund these projects, it’s very clear they have no intention to comply with our government’s legislation and that action is required,” Ontario Ministry of Long-Term Care Paul Calandra said in a statement Friday. “This is the first of many steps that can and will be taken if we do not see any willingness from these homes to get up to standard, including further financial penalties, compliance orders, changing management, and suspending or revoking licenses.”
The compliance order issued by the ministry to the two southwestern Ontario homes highlights the health issues residents can suffer if forced to live in extreme heat, including dehydration, delirium, increased falls, and other heat-related illnesses. It gives the homes until September 16 to comply.
However, both McCormick and Vision Nursing argue it has a cooling system in place that adequately regulates the temperature in resident rooms.
“Our residents’ quality of life is our top priority, and we work diligently every day to ensure their comfort, safety and wellbeing,” said Monica Fleck, McCormick’s director of communications. “We provide cooled air to our residents’ rooms using a tempered air system with enhanced cooling, which enables us to remain within the ministry’s temperature guidelines.”
Fleck went on to state that McCormick has been working with the province since April 2021 to review the facility’s current air cooling system with the ministry’s definition of air conditioning under the Fixing Long-Term Care Homes Act, which came into effect on April 11.
In light of the compliance order, the board of McCormick Care Group, which owns and operates McCormick Home, will be reviewing its options before issuing a response, Fleck added.
That was a sentiment echoed by the head of Vision Nursing, who reassured the Sarnia facility is monitored to ensure it is a comfortable climate for residents.
“We monitor room temperatures which meet the ministry standards of 26 C or below,” said Vision CEO Heather Martin. “We will be submitting a report in response to the ministry’s order.”
Figures from the Ministry of Long-Term Care show 554 of the province’s 627 homes have complied with the air conditioning requirement in resident rooms. The majority of the homes still listed as non-compliant have provided the ministry with receipts proving they have purchased the AC equipment with installation scheduled. Delays in the supply chain have previously been cited by the ministry as the reason for the installation delay at some homes.
