Government commits to independent review at Parkside Extendicare

The Saskatchewan government announced Thursday it will ask the provincial ombudsman to review the COVID-19 outbreak at the Parkside Extendicare care home in Regina.

The government’s announcement came shortly after the opposition NDP accused the government of blocking the review, which the NDP demanded be done by the provincial auditor.

In a statement, the minister responsible for seniors, Everett Hindley, confirmed the NDP had tabled a motion at the Standing Committee on Public Accounts to have the independent investigation done by the auditor.

“Our government agrees that the outbreak should be investigated by an independent office of the Legislative Assembly, but that such a review fits within the mandate of the Provincial Ombudsman,” Hindley said in the statement.

“In the coming days, the Government of Saskatchewan will be formally asking the Provincial Ombudsman to undertake an investigation into the outbreak and subsequent events that occurred at Extendicare Parkside.”

Hindley added the government expects Extendicare, the Saskatchewan Health Authority and the Ministry of Health to co-operate fully with the ombudsman during the investigation.

In an earlier media release, the NDP said it was “shameful” that the Saskatchewan Party committee members had voted against the motion to have the provincial auditor examine the situation.

“People have died,” Regina University MLA Aleana Young said in the release. “The families who have lost loved ones deserve answers. They can’t get those answers if no one is asking the questions.

“If there is no investigation, the same tragedies are going to happen again. Why does the government refuse to get to the bottom of this?”

More than 200 residents and staff members at the home have tested positive for COVID since the fall and more than 40 residents have died.

The NDP motion asked the auditor to examine:

• Whether Extendicare, the Ministry of Health and the SHA had put the necessary measures in place to ensure the residents of the home were receiving the proper level of care and were protected from COVID;
• If there were adequate levels of staffing in place at the home to address the risk of COVID;
• If staff had access to personal protective equipment to safeguard against the virus;
• Whether policies were in place to address the heating, ventilation and air conditioning and other infrastructure at the facility as it related to the possible spread of COVID; and,
• Whether the Ministry of Health and/or the SHA had “adequate procedures and processes in place to ensure that Extendicare was fulfilling all its obligations under the affiliate agreement between Extendicare and the Saskatchewan Health Authority.”

Five of the six voting members of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts on Thursday morning are Sask. Party members and all of them voted against the motion. Two spoke to it, saying they believe it’s too soon for this kind of investigation.