City hall to debrief with operator ‘in the coming weeks’ about death at micro-modular shelter for homeless Londoners

Daryl Newcombe with an update on the circumstances surrounding the death of a resident at London’s micro-shelter community earlier this week.

Two days after a resident was found dead at the Micro-Modular Shelter (MMS) for homeless Londoners, city hall isn’t saying if policies or procedures at the facility need to be updated to prevent a similar tragedy.

Shortly after noon on Wednesday, emergency services were called to the MMS on Cheese Factory Road after a resident was found deceased.

Later that day, London police told CTV News that the death does not appear to be suspicious in nature.

However, whether the death will prompt any changes at the site remains unclear.

On Friday, CTV News requested an interview with civic administration, but received a written statement instead.

The statement did not provide the frequency of wellness checks at residents’ cabins, the procedure if an occupant doesn’t respond to a wellness check, nor details about the entry/exit procedure that would allow staff know which residents are on site.

The city also won’t confirm how many hours, or days, passed between the last time the deceased resident was seen alive and the discovery of their body.

Instead, CTV News was referred to the coroners’ investigation, but the Office of the Chief Coroner doesn’t provide information related to individual death investigations due to privacy legislation.

“Civic administration will conduct a debrief with Xpera in the coming weeks,” wrote Kevin Dickins, deputy city manager of Social and Health Development in the statement that adds the current focus is to support staff and residents following the death.

However, whether any changes to policies and procedures can take place before that debriefing with the contracted operator is unclear.

The statement does list the roles of the contractor, “Xpera staff are on site 24/7 and interact with participants throughout the day through regular operations, including cabin checks, check-ins, check-outs, shuttle rides, meals and other service touchpoints. Staff may also complete additional wellness checks when there are specific concerns.”

About the policies and procedures that were in place at the time of the death, Dickins wrote, “Many were adapted from practices used by other similar modular shelter programs in Ontario and local shelter providers, then reviewed and tailored for London by Xpera, the City and community partners.”

In October, city council approved $7 million to construct and operate the shelter on Cheese Factory Road until April 2027.

Last month, a progress report explained the facility was temporarily housing 68 people, all of whom were previously living unsheltered.