Abuse of the Eldery and the political connection

The COVID-19 pandemic invading nursing homes has made difficult conditions more trying. It has caused pandemonium in health and governmental departments. Deaths in Long Term care facilities; the dead left in their beds, others covered in dry feces, and residents not fed. It defies logic that this should happen. We have trained staff looking after these aged people. Rent is paid so these ageing people can be well looked after in their twilight years. There can be no excuse fo...r the horror stories we have been subjected to. There can be no excuse for the despicable treatment afforded our most vulnerable. What went wrong? Why did army medical staff be required to care for the elderly? What happened to the care aides that worked in those Long Term care facilities? Could it be possible they walked off the job because of fear of COVID-19? Would it be they deliberately abandoned their residents, those for which they were responsible? One thing is certain; health departments missed the acute warning signs of impending difficulties. The fragile and vulnerable members of our society have, by and large, been abused by the very system put in place to protect them. Whatever the wage paid to Care Aides, they took on a significant role in caring for and protecting their residents. Walking off the job was not envisaged in their respective roles. Staff deliberately and consciously abandoned their residents in fear of their own lives. Abandonment is ethically wrong and perhaps illegal. I believe a Royal Commission should be struck to determine why this critical shortage of workers occurred, and why health departments missed the apparent abuse of the Elderly. See more

I blew the whistle on abuse in a saskatoon nursing home. Woefully understaffed, it was a significant part of the harm the elderly suffered. Nursing homes remain not only understaffed but do not have the necessary Protective Equipment to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. I vividly recall an in-service for the N95 mask. Each member of the nursing team received a mask. Informed of its protective properties, and its use, we were told to have it on hand in case of a viral breakout.... Due to costs, it would be the only N95 mask we would receive. With just a single mask for the protection of staff and residents, I’m not surprised that people who work in nursing homes are falling prey to the pandemic. To maintain physical distancing for residents is straight forward. PPE equipment, on the other hand, is more complicated. The expense curtails the number of masks available, the proximity to residents by staff is problematic. Residents need help; dressing, washing, feeding, bathing etc. Once in a nursing home, the COVID-19 virus finds an excellent breeding ground. Its thirst for infecting people Is insatiable. Staff, working in multiple facilities exasperate the danger for residents. Budgetary restraints ultimately control the safety of staff and residents. Shortcuts are inevitable. And viruses just love shortcuts. See more

I appreciate your support during getting at the truth at what is really going on in the Health care District and to correct the health care system. Peter has gotten a lot of media coverage and has had a very difficult time with the investigation, 18 hours + of intensive questioning by an employee of the health district only led him to believe it was a witch hunt and he was doomed to be terminated. He often told me he was being questioned so intensively, he often felt like a... like a criminal. Peter was charged with 21 false accusations by staff he had been working with for over 4 years. It was to be proven that each accusation held untruths written by co-workers Peter had been working with. Had the investigator did his job properly, he would have found the truth. Instead, the investigator was employed by the health district and was paid to ensure nothing untoward would happen to those managers and workers who were directly involved. The investigator should have been a non-partisan from outse=ide the province. The last allegation peter was charged said that he was a monster. all the staff were conspiring to get him terminated. At the last meeting (of 4) a security officer held station outside the investigator's door. It was the last low blow. Peter filed a grievance against his employer. and litigation against the government for their somewhat illegal release of his private and confidential employment records. Whilst litigation never took hold, neither did the grievance go to arbitration, Peter, in the end, was able to work once again. He had been told by upper management, from human resources, that he would never work in the district again. The action of the provincial Sask party (the government) and its leader ensured he would never work in the province again. Peter received a verbal apology from the rt Hon Brad Wall Premier of the province at the time of the incursion. He received a written apology from the Saskatchewan Minister of Health and the CEO of the health district. He never received an apology from his pompous and somewhat ignorant employer. I'm happy peter was cleared of everything and that he came out of it smiling. I am worried about his health, especially his mental health. It was a nasty campaign against him that should never have happened. To me, he was a hero dedicating the loss of employment and our financial burden to bring to the surface the abuse of the Elderly. your best friend and confident See more

THE FALL GUY He was found sitting on the floor of his room. His head was caught between the head rail and the bed frame. It took a mechanical lift, three Care Aides and a nurse to extricate him. The resident was in extreme danger. It was a case of abuse. SRHA (Saskatoon Health Regional Authority) advises that all beds should be lowered to their lowest point when being occupied. This, we were told, is a measure of safety for the resident. Falls are common as residents attem...Continue reading

ABUSE OF THE ELDERLY Book Synopsis IN APRIL OF 2015, PETER BOWDEN BLEW THE WHISTLE ON ELDER ABUSE. WHAT FOLLOWED WAS A TWO-YEAR NIGHTMARE OF PERSONAL ATTACKS, CAREER RUIN, AND THE ILLEGAL DISCLOSURE BY HIS EMPLOYER, THE SASKATOON HEALTH REGION AUTHORITY AND SASK. HEALTH OF HIS PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION. THE GOVERNMENT SAW FIT TO BECOME INVOLVED IN WHAT WAS A PRIVATE MATTER BETWEEN EMPLOYEE AND EMPLOYER. WHAT FOLLOWED WAS A GOVERNMENT MIRED IN CONTROVERSY. THEIR ...SOLE PURPOSE WAS TO RUIN THE REPUTATION OF A COMPASSIONATE CARE AIDE. INVITED BY SASKATCHEWAN’S OFFICIAL OPPOSITION PARTY, HE MADE HIS WAY TO THE LEGISLATURE TO SHARE HIS EXPERIENCES OF ELDER CARE WITH THE GOVERNMENT. HE WAS CONCERNED BY THE CAREGIVER TO PATIENT RATIOS, STATING THAT, SOME NIGHTS, HE WAS ALONE WITH THIRTY-FOUR RESIDENTS. NUMEROUS TIMES IN HIS CAREER, HE WITNESSED THE ABUSE OF MANY RESIDENTS, MOST OF WHOM WERE COMPLETELY DEPENDENT ON THE CARE THEY RECEIVED. WITH NO UNIVERSAL STANDARD OF CARE, PRIVATE LONG-TERM CARE FACILITIES DEMONSTRATED AN APPALLING LACK OF CONSIDERATION FOR THEIR RESIDENTS. AS PART OF A FAILING SYSTEM THAT COULD NOT ATTEND TO THE NEEDS OF THEIR CLIENTELE, PETER STATED THAT ALL EMPLOYEES WERE, BY DEFINITION, PART OF THE ABUSE. WHAT FOLLOWED WAS A SUDDEN AND UNEXPECTED ATTACK ON HIS CHARACTER. WITHIN DAYS OF HIS VISIT TO THE LEGISLATURE, A DOZEN FORMAL COMPLAINTS ABOUT HIS WORK SURFACED, INCLUDING SOME CRIMINAL ALLEGATIONS. HIS EMPLOYER PLACED HIM UNDER INVESTIGATION AS COWORKERS, INITIALLY SUPPORTIVE, TURNED THEIR BACKS ON HIM. VICTIMISED, PETER BEGAN THE DIFFICULT ROAD TO JUSTICE. THIS BOOK CHRONICLES BOTH THE CASES OF ABUSE PETER WITNESSED AS WELL AS THE INVESTIGATION ITSELF. IT PROVIDES A RARE LOOK INTO THE REALITY OF CARE HOMES, PLACES PEOPLED MOSTLY BY THOSE UNABLE TO EXPRESS FOR THEMSELVES THE LIVES THEY LEAD. WE ARE ALL AGING; MANY OF US WILL COME TO DEPEND ON THE CARE OF OTHERS. THE SYSTEMS PUT IN PLACE NOW ARE ALREADY FAILING, AND THE GOVERNMENT IS DOING VERY LITTLE TO PREPARE FOR THE FUTURE OF LONG-TERM HEALTH CARE. THIS BOOK AIMS TO EDUCATE, TO WARN, AND TO ENCOURAGE ACTION FOR THE DEFENCE OF OUR ELDERS. THEY ARE WORTHY OF RESPECT. Now available as an Ebook on Amazon Kindle and Kobo and also in paperback on Amazon kindle