A tenant at a full-care group home in the Okanagan said she, along with the other tenants, are being mistreated and neglected by staff.
“Sometimes, I’ve had my buzzer ringing for 20 minutes,” said Beverly Aron, a tenant at McGivney Manor.
“It could potentially mean (saving) someone’s life.”
Aron, who is suffering from cerebral palsy and severe arthritis, said the group home is severely understaffed.
“There’s been quite a lot of nights where there’s nobody there overnight,” said Aron.
“Just recently, there was an eight-night stretch where we had no staff.”
This has allegedly been happening at a group home where all six of the tenants are disabled and have varying degrees of care needed.
Staff are needed, especially overnight, for things such as washroom help and medical emergencies, according to Aron.
“Sometimes I get sick in the night because I have pancreas problems, and that results in vomiting and I’ve ended up in hospital more than once because I’ve aspirated,” said Aron.
“If there’s nobody there overnight and I’m throwing up, I have a really high chance of aspirating.”
One person that has tried to rectify the issues is former employee Shona Gates.
Gates is a retired care-aid who worked at McGivney Manor for 17 years.
She alleges some of the staff who work there abuse the tenants.
Gates said she’s heard from some of the tenants, that staff can be quite rough when cleaning and moving them.
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After retiring, Gates said she could not keep quiet about what she experienced working at McGivney Manor and decided to write a letter to Interior Health outlying her concerns.
“I had no response to my letter, even though I put my phone number and my email on the letter,” said Gates.
Interior Health is the governing body of the group home, which is operated by the Columbian Centennial Housing Society.
After repeated attempts, IHA and the Columbian Centennial Housing Society have not responded to Global News for a statement or interview.
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