The federal government has ordered a thorough audit of the country's largest veterans facility following complaints from family members about substandard care, the Canadian Press has learned.
A senior official, who requested anonymity, said Veterans Affairs Minister Steven Blaney gave the order on Thursday after hearing the "disturbing" allegations of neglect of frail vets at the Sunnybrook Veterans Centre.
The audit would focus both on how taxpayers' money is being spent and on the quality of the care provided, the official said.
"We're just trying to make sure that what veterans are getting there is of top-notch quality," he said from Ottawa.
"We want to make sure we're basing our action on credible evidence. The audit is the only tool to allow us to really determine what's going on the ground there."
The official said the aim is to have the audit completed by early next year. It will be as thorough and as detailed as possible, include conversations with relatives of patients, and the results would be made public, he said.
In articles last week, the Canadian Press outlined several concerns raised by relatives, who said they had been stonewalled by Sunnybrook in trying to have them addressed.
Several other families have come forward since. One family reported their loved one died after a fall. Another said they discovered their elderly relative with a tooth knocked out, apparently after the essentially immobile patient had wriggled out of his bed.
Among the issues were claims of vets forced to endure unsanitary conditions, delays in bathing and feeding, soiled sheets, dead mice in rooms, and constant room and caregiver changes.
Relatives also decried what they called a lack of accountability by officials.
For its part, Sunnybrook said its care meets or exceeds standards, patient and family surveys show exceptional levels of satisfaction, and it is always willing to address any concerns.
Still, Blaney sent two senior officials last Friday to look into the complaints. They met briefly with Sunnybrook managers, who assured them the concerns were being addressed, although the families were skeptical.
The senior official said Thursday the visit was simply to get an initial sense of the situation and to send a signal Ottawa was watching.
Blaney's spokesman later confirmed the audit directive and said the minister was keeping a close eye on the situation.
"Minister Blaney takes the concerns of veterans and their families very seriously and that's why he is taking clear action to investigate and address these concerns," Niklaus Schwenker said in an email.
The 500-bed Sunnybrook Veterans Centre - something of a regulatory orphan - reports exclusively to the federal government, even though it takes in tens of millions of dollars from both the province and Ottawa.
In an interview two weeks ago, Sunnybrook management said the facility acts as if it were under Ontario law, and cited provincial Ministry of Health audits in support of its contention the care allegations were coming from a handful of malcontents.
