Another high-risk behaviour complaint has been substantiated at Joseph Creek Care Village in Cranbrook after sexual assault charges were filed against a resident earlier this year.

Image Credit: Goldenlifemanagment.ca

Bad behaviour seems to be continuing at the Joseph Creek Care Village long term care home in Cranbrook even after a resident was charged with sexual assault.

Interior Health posted an online report on June 30 after five separate complaints were made to Interior Health between April 27 and June 3. At least one of those complaints was substantiated as being related to high risk behaviour.

Interior Health could not comment on the specifics or the general nature of the five complaints. It could not say if they were connected to each other, or the sexual assault criminal charges that were filed earlier in the year.

READ MORE: Issues boiling over at Cranbrook seniors home after resident sexually assaulted despite staff warnings

Sue Pollock, Interior Health’s interim chief medical health officer, did tell iNFOnews.ca that each complaint was investigated as soon as it was filed. It just took time for the summary report to be filed online well after the incidents happened.

“Initially what occurs in a high-risk situation, which one of these was, is the operator is required to provide a health and safety plan back to our licencing officer,” Sue Pollock, Interior Health’s interim chief medical health officer, told iNFOnews.ca “That’s an interim step to ensure any immanent risks are mitigated while that investigation is ongoing.”

A resident of the home was charged with sexual assault earlier this year. Complaints were apparently made to Interior Health about his deviant sexual behaviour but no action was taken until the police were called and charges filed.

Of the five complaints filed since April, Pollock said the one determined to be high risk was substantiated and actions taken. The other four complaints, which were not high-risk behaviours, were not substantiated, although one may have been partially substantiated, she said.

That differs a bit by what is stated in the online report.

“A person in care who was involved in a high-risk incident on more than one occasion did not have a record of the unexpected events in their progress notes or care plan,” the inspection report states in one section. “In house and/or reportable incidents were not completed as required. There was no evidence of sufficient follow-up regarding notification to family or how the ongoing needs of the person in care was met.”

In the sexual assault situation, the family of the victim were only informed by the police, not the care home. The perpetrator is scheduled to go to court in September.

“A person in care with demonstrated responsive behaviours did not have evidence in their care plan that their care plan was being monitored to ensure proper implementation,” the June 30 report went on to state. “Examples of this issue include not following a behavioural care plan that was created in July 2019 and a bed alarm for the person in care was inconsistently monitored by staff.”

Under “Actions Taken” the report says the corrective action plan needs to be reviewed and monitored and a follow-up inspection is needed.

While each complaint was looked into immediately, Pollock said, a combined routine and complaint inspection was conducted at the facility from June 9 to 12 as well.

Interior Health is now meeting with Golden Life, which operates Joseph Hill and a number of other facilities in B.C. and Alberta, twice a week, Pollock said.

While she seemed satisfied with the actions taken at Joseph Creek, sources iNFOnews.ca has who are associated with the home say there were incidents as recently as last week where a resident punched a care aid in the stomach, pulled fire alarms twice and threw bottled water around.

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