Posted on 01/27/2007 10:30:59 AM PST by starzed_
OPP probes nursing home death; Resident, 65, was left outside Gore Bay facility when he went for a smoke -ON Sudbury Star- January 25, 2007 by Laura Stradiotto Local News - Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of a nursing home resident who was found outdoors in a courtyard Jan.16. Detectives from the Ontario Provincial Police's crime unit in Orillia were at the Manitoulin Lodge in Gore Bay on Wednesday. Nursing home resident Murray Myles Patterson, 65, was transported to the Mindemoya Hospital on Jan. 16 and died a day later. In a statement released Wednesday by the Manitoulin Lodge, officials said the resident was discovered in the courtyard "sometime after the established smoking period." The nursing home said first aid and medical care were provided on site, and extended condolences to the family. Manitoulin residents The Sudbury Star spoke to said Murray went out for a smoke with two other residents. While the two residents returned indoors, Murray did not accompany them. By the time someone realized Patterson was missing, he was found outdoors suffering from the cold temperature. Weather forecasts reported the temperature dropped to -16 C on the evening of Jan. 16. A post-mortem examination was conducted on Wednesday in Sudbury, but results were not final. "It's a little more than just a resident of a long-term-care facility passing on," said Const. Al Boyd of the Manitoulin Island OPP. "There are some suspicious circumstances." Boyd said there should be no concern for the safety of other residents or the community of Gore Bay. He explained "it's not your normal person dying of (natural) causes in a long-term-care facility." Police were also interviewing witnesses at the nursing home. Patterson was a single resident at the nursing home. He suffered from physical disabilities that prohibited him from living independently, said Boyd. According to his obituary, Patterson was born in Burpee Township. He leaves behind his wife, Gail, three children and eight grandchildren and five living siblings. Boyd called the investigation a "high-profile" case. "It's an investigation that is very intensive because it's a high-profile situation where there is a suspicious death of a resident of a long-term care facility," said Boyd. News of the suspicious death comes as public hearings are being held across the province surrounding proposed new legislation at long term care facilities. The proposed Long-Term Care Homes Act would require, among other things,Ontario's 613 nursing homes to have a registered nurse on duty around the clock and mandates annual surprise inspections. Nickel Belt NDP Shelley Martel said she's hearing the same concerns across Ontario. She said significant understaffing at Ontario nursing homes is having a negative effect on the quality of care staff can provide residents. Unions representing nurses and other long-term care workers have criticized the bill for not setting minimum staffing levels. They are demanding the government require 3.5 hours of care a day for each resident and pay for the staffing. http://www.thesudburystar.com/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?contentID=375035&catname=Local+News
I'm sorry to disappoint you but, I posted in my first post, many of these places had smoking rooms just 3 months ago (grandfathered til then). It was the provincial legislation, enacted just 7 months ago that changed everything. These (7 months ago current and fine) now require $60,000 - $100,000 dollars for regulations that now say they have to have hurricane force winds, vestibules, special furniture, etc. (link provided to full requirements of act)
In other words the gov't hasn't taken away the peoples right to smoke, but they have made it inconcievable that the requirements be met. Prohibition through the back door, is what I call it.
-what business would spend that much money, when they could "encourage" (force) these 70 yr olds to quit through forcing them outside to smoke.
-a further ability to "denormalize smoking" in a generation of smokers that started when we were seeing smoking in almost every TV show, and many know how hard it is to fight for freedoms.
- spacing requirements due to size restrictions on how many people are allowed in the area at one time (for ventilation).
Elderly? At 65?? Senator Byrd at almost 90 is elderly. The rest of us are just starting to live at that age.
Death puts spotlight on anti-smoking law
Nursing homes not building special rooms, forcing smokers outside
Feb 02, 2007 04:30 AM
Phinjo Gombu staff reporter
A worker at a Manitoulin Island long-term care home has been charged with criminal negligence causing death in the case of a resident who died after he went out into the cold to smoke.
The charges that include failing to provide the necessaries of life were laid in the death of Murray Miles Patterson, 65, a resident of the Manitoulin Lodge in Gore Bay who died Jan. 17 at an area hospital.
If Patterson's death is linked to the fact he went out for a smoke, it would bring under scrutiny the Smoke-Free Ontario Act, which became law last year.
The stringent guidelines allowing smoking in long-term care facilities and psychiatric hospitals include creation of ventilated smoking rooms.
But with most facilities deciding not to build them, a situation has arisen where many elderly, frail and often sick long-term smokers who can't kick their habit have been forced outside – sometimes into the bitter cold – to smoke their cigarettes.
Patterson, a stroke victim, was taken to hospital on Jan. 16 with hypothermia after he was found in the courtyard of the home. It occurred "sometime after the established smoking period" outside, Manitoulin Lodge said in a release yesterday.
It said the health ministry had conducted a review and "unmet standards" were found.
Residents told the Sudbury Star that Patterson had gone outside with two other residents for a smoke and hadn't returned with them. The forecast for that day was minus 16C.
The health ministry says only 1.5 per cent or 10 of the province's more than 620 long-term care facilities have been given permission to construct the smoking rooms after they met the new standards. Another 16 applications are in the pipeline.
"We fought the (new law) as valiantly as we could," said Pat Prentice of the Ontario Association of Resident Councils, a group that tried to have less restrictive rules in place for construction of smoking rooms.
Among the group's fears was that residents would furtively smoke inside buildings – in closets and stairwells – rather than go outside, increasing the possibility of fires.
A significant number of the homes had no smoking policies before the act came into effect. Many with older smoking rooms decided against building new ones because of the associated costs and complications.
Margaret Toni, director of care for Regency Care with 15 long-term care homes in the GTA, said as much as they'd like to build the rooms for residents, they can't for lack of funds.
Under the law, money for smoking rooms must come from the home's "accommodation budget" which funds food, general housekeeping, utilities and administration.
The province, which funds all long-term care homes has made no provisions for extra construction money.
One administrator of a downtown long-term care home, where many residents smoke, said a 22-foot-by-16-foot room that meets provincial standards would cost about $180,000.
Another administrator said they had only recently opened and built smoking rooms under the old guidelines, and were wary of investing in the new ones because the rules could just as easily change again.
Reg Paul, a senior official with the City of Toronto's Homes for the Aged division, said only three of the city's 10 homes have been retrofitted with smoking rooms at a cost of $300,000.
Paul said the homes were chosen after a survey showed 69 per cent of all smokers were concentrated in the three facilities.
Health Minister George Smitherman said nursing homes that let residents out to smoke in the cold have an obligation to ensure they are safe.
He suggested it's a "copout" to blame the government's anti-smoking law for the death.
Charged with failing to provide the necessaries of life and criminal negligence causing death is Ted Mandigo, who no longer works at the home. He appears at Gore Bay court on Feb. 26.
http://www.thestar.com/News/article/177526
Now you won't see that the Nurses, and staff (any volunteers) are not allowed to help these people to go outside. They have to do it on their own. Imagine if you have one bad day, you could be told you can no longer smoke!
Another thing they don't mention is the fact that these smoking areas must be 9m (27 feet) from any entrance.
PS CedarDave: In Ontario they just changed the law that you no longer have to retire at 65. Your point being? Everyone should have the same genes? Yes its got to do with genetics, and what work you did in your life time, etc. Who knows maybe this guy actually lifted more then a piece of paper in his lifetime, and that's what caused his early retirement? Easy to put down people you don't know isn't it? I thought you showed, how easy it was.
When you reach the end of a paragraph, left click the cursor after the last word in the paragraph, then just click the "Enter" key,thereby moving the next line down a notch.
The guy figures he's going to die anyway. There's a reason why nursing homes allow smoking.
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