Alberta's health minister has ordered an investigation into a complaint that a dementia patient was at a long-term care home was found with mice nibbling on her face.

The health advocacy group Friends of Medicare says staff at St. Therese Villa in Lethbridge, Alta. have raised a number of concerns about mice and bed bugs in the last year.

On Monday, the group revealed that, on Sept. 1, a staff member found an elderly dementia patient with mice nibbling on her face.

Friends of Medicare has called for a full investigation.

Alberta’s Health Minister Fred Horne called the reports “disturbing” and said Monday that provincial inspectors have been dispatched to the facility. The investigation will be conducted under the Protection for Persons in Care Act,

“They will find out how this happened and more importantly how to prevent this from happening again,” Horne said. “It's completely unacceptable in this province and I will not tolerate it.”

The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees also sent a letter to officials with Covenant Health, which operates the facility, asking them to resolve the reported infestation issue.

“We have formally complained about the issue of a mouse infestation at St. Therese Villa in the past, and understood the situation to be resolved,” AUPE health and safety representative Dennis Malayko said in a statement released Monday. “I am very concerned that the issue has either re-emerged, or has been allowed to persist.”

Malayko said the reports of a bed bug infestation are new and are being taken very seriously.

Covenant Health said Monday that officials are reviewing the allegations.

“The allegations have not been verified; however they are concerning, and we are taking immediate action. Our first thoughts are with the resident and family,” the organization said in a statement.

Covenant House said it’s been audited three times since last November, and no major issues were identified.

The organization noted that mice, “do sometimes get into buildings, especially during this season.”

With files from CTV Calgary