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
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.