The Ontario Long-Term Care Ministry has suspended new admissions to St. Joseph’s at Fleming long-term care in Peterborough due to concerns about the facility’s ability to provide adequate care. The ministry’s inspections branch conducted an inspection on May 2 and issued a letter ordering the facility to cease authorizing admissions to the 200-bed home. The order was issued under Sec. 56 of the Fixing Long-term Care Act (FLTCA) and will remain in effect until further notice from the ministry.
The ministry’s statement cited multiple issues of non-compliance within the home, including concerns about resident care, staffing, and infection prevention and control. Follow-up inspections will be conducted, and the ministry will remain in contact with the home.
A previous inspection summary issued in late November 2023 outlined the results of inspections conducted in August 2023 and highlighted several alleged incidents of staff-to-resident abuse and neglect. The ministry issued fines for some infractions and ordered compliance on some issues by February 2024.
The suspension of admissions comes amid increasing scrutiny of long-term care homes in Ontario. A recent poll found that most Ontarians do not agree that long-term care beds are homes, and a report released by the Canadian Armed Forces in 2022 revealed that many long-term care homes are not prepared for another crisis.
