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A class action lawsuit accusing Retirement Concepts and others of neglecting, mistreating and abusing seniors will expand to include residents and family members of Summerland Seniors Village, a privately owned long-term care facility in British Columbia.
The Retirement Concepts class action lawsuit was filed in 2018 by plaintiffs Erin Huebner and Krista Kilvery of Victoria, B.C., whose mother reportedly suffered a series of strokes that led her to develop vascular dementia. In 2017, she was subsequently moved to Waverly Seniors Village, a facility owned by Retirement Concepts.
She reportedly experienced neglect and abuse at the facility. According to the Retirement Concepts class action lawsuit, staff failed to intervene when she was being bullied by another resident and staff failed to follow a doctor’s order for administering medication. The Retirement Concepts class action lawsuit claims staff also physically restrained her and failed to properly care for her, leaving her to spend the night in soiled sheets.
“This class action concerns systemic neglect, mistreatment and abuse of senior citizens who live in retirement facilities operated by the defendants,” the notice of the Retirement Concepts class action lawsuit says.
The Interior Health Authority announced last week that it would appoint an administrator to take over the day-to-day operations of Summerland Seniors Village on a temporary basis because the facility was not currently meeting the legally mandated standard of care.
Summerland Seniors Village is the fourth B.C. Retirement Concepts facility to be placed under government management in the last 6 months. Retirement Concepts operates the largest chain of for-profit care homes in British Columbia.
Temporary administrators have already been appointed to take over three other Retirement Concepts facilities in Comox, Nanaimo and Victoria. Health authorities are currently running 31 percent of Retirement Concepts’ publicly funded beds in British Columbia, Health Minister Adrian Dix says.
A lawyer representing the plaintiffs said the law firm has received 20 sworn affidavits from family members who claim their loved ones suffered abuse or neglect because of inadequate care provided at Retirement Concepts reports. The firm has also reportedly received affidavits from five employees.
The Retirement Concepts class action lawsuit now includes all of the company’s facilities in British Columbia.
The Ministry of the Attorney General has claimed that the province has no role in the day-to-day operations of the facilities and therefore is not liable for any negligence by facility defendants.
The Hospital Employees Union has said that the Summerland facility’s issues are related to low wages at the facility that lead to chronic staffing shortages.
The Retirement Concepts class action lawsuit also names Cedar Tree Investment Canada Inc., a subsidiary of the former Beijing-based Anbang Insurance Group, as a defendant. Anbang reportedly purchased Retirement Concepts in 2017.
Also listed as defendants in the Retirement Concepts class action lawsuit are PR Seniors Housing Management, which is currently known as West Coast Seniors Housing Management, and the British Columbia government.
West Coast Seniors Housing Management operates the Retirement Concepts care facilities.
Retirement Concepts and Cedar Tree have not yet responded to the class action lawsuit.
What do you think about this Class Action Lawsuit expanding to include all the Retirement Concepts care Facilities in B.C.? Tell us your thoughts in the comment section below!
The plaintiffs are represented by Acheson Sweeney Foley Sahota LLP.
The Retirement Concepts Class Action Lawsuit is Erwin Huebner, et al. v. PR Seniors Housing Management LTD., et al., Case No. VIC-S-S-182236, in the Supreme Court of British Columbia, Canada.
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3 thoughts onRetirement Concepts Accused of Senior Abuse in Expanding Proposed Class Action Lawsuit
I am currently and unfortuneately living in a retirement concepts facillity in the Comox Valley. To say there are shortfalls in care is a dramatic understatement. Chronically short staffed and overworked staff is just the beginning. The facility itself may look good but it has been built as cheaply as possible with just about everything falling apart around you from drains that are too small and not vented properly, to the very minimum of electrical outlets, no fan in the bathroom, no air conditioning, refrigerators that do not work well, toilets that do not deliver enough water to flush, taps that leak, windows that leak, the list goes on and on.
I figure this building is most likely over insured and the end game will be a massive fire. I just hope I am not here for that and that the tenants are able to vacate with bo harm. but if the wiring has been done as cheaply aseverything else, a fire is inevitable.
Please add me
Add me to the class action