Villa Marconi, board refute union allegations about hygiene care

Villa Marconi defends against allegations A local nursing home is denying allegations that resident hygiene is being neglected due to supply shortages. CTV's Katie Griffin reports.

The chair of the board of directors at Villa Marconi, a long-term care facility on Baseline Road, says allegations around supply shortages leading to neglect of resident hygiene are "all false."

The board held a news conference Tuesday and invited media to tour part of the 128-bed facility they say is a place of pride for the Italian community in Ottawa.

"We have never heard from our management company that we don't have the supplies that we need," said board chair Antonio Mariani. "They have lots of supplies adequate for the job that they need to do."

The home is managed by Responsive Health Management.

"We did not ask anyone to clean any residents with paper towels or pillowcases," said interim executive director Michael Shane.

But the union representing several workers says that's exactly what has happened several times because of supply shortages, including a lack of facecloths.

"It's the members coming to the union saying, 'I can't do my job, I can't bathe a resident, I can't find their clothes, I can't find a face cloth.' So, it's daily… I don't agree that the employer doesn't know about this. It has been ongoing," said CUPE national servicing rep Sherry Wallace.

During the tour, reporters were shown a supply closet for linens with shelves that were relatively empty.

Shane said it would be re-stocked as items are laundered.

Mariani says Villa Marconi will pay employees the hundreds of thousands of dollars owed in vacation pay but wants a year to do it.

"It's a huge amount of money. We have to raise it. We don't have it, but we will get it," he said.

Of the care provided to residents, Mariani said "we want to give the utmost honesty, quality and integrity to our 128 residents we'll do whatever it takes to make them happy here."

The Ministry of Health says all long-term care homes in Ontario must meet care standards set out in the Fixing Long-Term Care Act.

"To ensure these standards are met, complaints and concerns are followed up on by inspectors in the ministry's inspection and enforcement branch," the ministry said in a statement. "If non-compliance is found the operator will be subject to corrective measures to ensure compliance with the act."

Villa Marconi was inspected in November 2024 and issued two compliance orders relating to wound care and pagers used by staff to respond to calls from residents, according to a public report on the inspection. The ministry said a follow-up with the facility has been scheduled.

"On and off we do hear concerns," said Shane. "We do have a concerns and complaints process in place, and we do treat all concerns and complaints seriously."