Seniors fed up with Barrie retirement home
Some residents of a Barrie retirement residence are speaking out, saying conditions in the home have significantly worsened throughout the pandemic.
Allandale Station Retirement Residence is a retirement home located along Barrie's waterfront. According to Murray Patterson, the president of its residential council, the management of the home is ignoring the problems.
"We've got residents here that have not had the rooms cleaned for three weeks or more," says Patterson. "We're complaining, but they just say they don't have the staff."
The residence is home to more than 100 senior citizens who pay approximately $5,000 monthly.
Multiple residents tell CTV News staff has been reduced, leading to services and care being scaled back.
"We were led astray when we inquired about it. They said it was going to be a good place, it was going to be this and that, and it's gone downhill," says Wilma Irwin.
Some of the raised concerns include intermittent hot water, broken down service elevators and an improperly-staffed kitchen. When cooks have failed to show up for work on weekends, residents have been left with cereal or fast food options for breakfast.
"We pay a fair amount of money for our meals here, and the manager should not have to come in and serve meals to us and go out and buy it," says Patterson.
Some residents tell CTV News that the situation has only worsened over the last week as they have lost some of their freedom. The key fobs that are used to enter the facility have been taken, meaning residents can no longer easily come and go after 8 p.m.
"If we take our dog for a walk, we have to buzz the buzzer and have a nurse off the second floor come down and let us in," says Amelia McFadden, a resident of the home.
In a statement to CTV News, the management company for the residence responded to the concerns saying in part, "We're sorry that we've had some shortcomings in services.
Unfortunately, like all retirement and long-term care homes as well as other industries, our staffing levels have been affected by the labour shortage and other impacts of COVID-19."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.