Families outraged after former Winnipeg care home staff only charged with 1 count of assault each

Gail Johnson's mother never wanted to be in a personal care home, but about three years ago the family felt they had no other choice. The 92-year-old suffers from dementia and her loved ones weren't able to provide the care she needed.

CBC has agreed not to name Johnson's mom because she still lives at Extendicare Oakview Place in Winnipeg's Sturgeon Heights neighbourhood. In June, the care home told the family their mother may have been abused by a health-care aide.  

The allegations were first brought to attention of local Extendicare management through a whistleblower in February, but the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority was not informed until it was approached directly by another whistleblower on June 10.

Kumba Mansaray, 49, and Kadiatu Koroma, 36, are each facing one charge of assault in relation to the alleged abuse at the care home.

In September, the Winnipeg Police Service said a 49-year-old health-care aide would be charged with three counts of assault, while a 36-year-old was facing two counts of assault. Now the families are learning the two women have only been charged with one count of assault each involving separate victims. 

According to the charge sheet Johnson's mom is not one of those two victims.

"It went from 15 [victims] to five, which my mom was one of the five, down to two," Johnson said. 

Johnson said she was told Mansaray would be charged with her mom's abuse, and was shocked to hear she was not.

"I have such mixed emotions, I am frustrated, upset … angry," she said.

Winnipeg police say ultimately the Crown decides which charges are laid or not.

"My mom was an alleged victim so I feel like she along with the other alleged victims along with their families are being victimized once again," said Johnson.

She says, adding insult to injury, neither the police nor the Crown told Johnson that the health-care aides would not be charged in her mother's case.

"What are the accused going to get for sentencing if found guilty?" asked Johnson. She doubts either will get any jail time. 

13 victims 'inconsequential' 

This past summer, Dianna Klassen was told her 92-year-old father, David Middleton, was sexually abused by a health-care aide at Oakview Place. She was given details of two incidents, and believes someone must have witnessed it because her father had dementia and wouldn't have been able to tell anyone what had happened. 

She later learned that charges would not be laid in his case because her dad had died in January. 

"If the Crown is saying, OK, only two people are worthy of our attention, what happens to the justice for those other 13 …where is the justice?" asked Klassen.

"These 13 people are now inconsequential," she said.

Klassen says her father lived a good life, and was always good to others. She's haunted by thoughts of what his last few months must have been like.

"It's just mind-boggling to me that somebody would think it's OK to hurt him," said Klassen..

She can't understand why the health-care aides weren't charged in her father's case, or in any of the other 13 cases of alleged abuse.

"I think it's disgusting. I mean, somebody gets murdered they can still lay charges, even though the murdered person is not there to testify," said Klassen.

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority says it continues to work closely with Extendicare to provide support to the home for regular and routine consultations.

A spokesperson said WRHA leaders continue to visit the home regularly "to identify and mitigate any risks, and to ensure that resident care is what is expected of our care homes.

"The alleged actions of these two former staff members are not a reflection of the values or the safe, compassionate and quality care the vast majority of personal care home workers provide every day," wrote WRHA senior communications specialist Bobbi-Jo Stanley in an email to CBC News.

She said Manitoba's Protections for Persons in Care office is still investigating the alleged abuse at Oakview Place.

Changes made at Oakview Place

Extendicare says the two health-care aides involved have been terminated and the care home has made significant changes to make sure nothing like this happens again.

"Our residents and their families place an extraordinary amount of trust in us, and we take our responsibility to them extremely seriously. Earlier this year, that trust was broken, and we unreservedly apologize to our community for the deep distress these events caused," wrote an Extendicare spokesperson in an email to CBC News.

The spokesperson said the following steps have been taken at Oakview Place to ensure patient safety:

• Appointed a new regional director for Manitoba.
• Established new home management, with a new administrator and new on-site clinical leadership.
• Strengthened direct engagement with families, including through ongoing, monthly meetings.
• Re-trained staff on zero tolerance for abuse and neglect policies.
• Reminded staff of whistleblower hotline, and the confidential protections it affords anyone who submits an anonymous concern.
• Maintained an open-door policy and ongoing communication with the WRHA, Manitoba Health and government partners.

Extendicare says rebuilding trust with the community will take time but that it is committed to doing the work so that residents and their families can once again feel good about the care seniors are receiving.

Gail Johnson believes there are a lot of good people who do a good work caring for elders but fears it's just a matter of time something like this happens again if there are no real repercussions for abusers.