Mother calls for stricter actions after nurses suspended at Saanich care home for disabled residents
A mother is speaking out following the suspension of two nurses at a Saanich care home, where her son with complex needs lived for 300 days.
"He was treated like an object," says Edith Artner from her home in Vancouver.
She only wants to identify her now-24-year-old son by his middle name, Finn.
Finn is blind, non-verbal and has complex needs requiring 24/7 support. In 2017/2018, while living in residential care at Saanich’s Garth Homer Society (GHS) for people with developmental disabilities, Artner says her son wasn’t properly cared for.
For example, she says he was given food he can’t eat in defiance of a doctor’s report and that he suffered increased corneal scarring under the supervision of two currently suspended nurses.
"I kind of put a lot of trust into this investigation and I expected more," says Artner.
In disciplinary notices by the British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives, Euphemia Guttin and Victoria Weber were the subjects of years-long investigations following complaints from three families. Artner is among them.
The inquiry committee found Weber and Guttin were dismissive of parent concerns. Among other findings, the committee found Guttin didn’t ensure the proper policies were in place for the residential housing program – and Weber restricted the ability of some staff to contact health professionals about their clients.
While the notices say the nurses don’t agree with every finding made by the inquiry committee, they both admit to breaching nursing standards.
As a result, Guttin is suspended for 15 months and Weber for 18 months.
Both are still employed by GHS in administrative roles. In a statement, the society says: "Ms. Guttin and Ms. Weber continue to be integral members of the Garth Homer team and have our full support and confidence."
"We note that in its public notices on the suspensions as registered nurses that the college stated the inquiry committee was 'satisfied that the terms will protect the public,'" said the facility.
Artner wants an apology and to see more restrictions against them.
"I don’t want them to be responsible for vulnerable people," says Artner.
One parent has also filed a civil suit following the death of her daughter in GHS care. The claims have not been tested in court. The trial is slated for October 2022.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
A teen was found buried in a basement in New York. An engraved ring helped police learn her identity two decades later
For more than two decades, the unknown victim was nicknamed "Midtown Jane Doe" because she was found in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York City. But this week, investigators finally revealed her identity.