Emotions will be running high as relatives and friends of nursing home residents killed by disgraced nurse Elizabeth Wettlaufer testify today at Ontario’s public inquiry into long-term care when it resumes in St. Thomas.
Closing submissions will be heard this week, capping off the four-month public portion of the inquiry into the safety and security of residents in long-term care. The inquiry was called after Wettlaufer confessed to killing eight people and harming six others while working in nursing homes in southwestern Ontario from 2007 to 2016.
Wettlaufer pleaded guilty last year and was sentenced to life in prison.
Counsel for relatives of the victims will be the first to present their closing submissions when the inquiry resumes at 9:30 a.m. ET at the Elgin County Courthouse.
Justice Eileen Gillese will have two years to make recommendations related to the circumstances and systemic issues that allowed nurse Elizabeth Wettlaufer to kill eight nursing home residents in her care over many months in Ontario. (Wadham College/Twitter)
Among those expected to testify before Justice Eileen Gillese, who is overseeing the inquiry, are:
- Andrea Silcox, daughter of James Silcox.
- Laura Jackson, friend of Maurice Granat.
- Arpad Horvath, son of Arpad Horvath Sr.
- Susan Horvath, daughter of Arpad Horvath Sr.
Beverly Bertram, the only known survivor of Wettlaufer’s attacks, is also expected to speak.
Written statements from Jon Matheson and Patricia Houde, the son and daughter-in-law of Helen Matheson, along with a joint submission from David Silcox, Daniel Silcox, Dianne Crawford and Joanne Birtch, the children of James Silcox, will be read by counsel on behalf of the victims.
Hearing pain of loved ones important
The public inquiry has heard from dozens of witnesses and has put the spotlight on facilities that are understaffed, with nurses who are overworked and dealing with residents with complex care needs.
Wettlaufer worked in such facilities. The inquiry has heard she was, by many accounts, a lazy nurse who made frequent errors, but was allowed to continue working, at least in part, because it’s difficult to recruit and retain registered nurses.
Court processes such as the inquiry can be devoid of feelings, but it’s important to hear from those directly impacted by Wettlaufer’s crimes, said lawyer Alex Van Kralingen, who represents a group of individuals related to Wettlaufer’s victims.
« There is somebody at the end of every data point that the Ministry of Health gets. It’s a person, lying in a bed, with a family that loves them. And if that person is taken away in a violent manner, as Ms. Wettlaufer did, it is going to have a profound impact on the people who loved that person in that long-term care home. And we can’t properly address the issues unless we properly understand their pain.
« Capturing the amount of pain these people have gone through is not going to be easy, » he said. « But I actually think it’s very important to have those emotions … be shown to all Ontarians if they’re going to understand the stakes and the significance of the issue. »
Closing submissions from stakeholders
Following victim statements, the commission will hear closing submissions from 14 additional groups and organizations.
One of the key demands of the stakeholders includes a mandatory inspection of human resources files of any employee who has been disciplined in a long-term care facility. That will be important because a Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care witness testifiedshe regrets not looking at Wettlaufer’s file, because it contained red flags that potentially could have prevented her from working again after Meadow Park.
Ontario PC Premier Doug Ford has promised 30,000 new long-term care beds in the province, but there is concern about quality over quantity of care.
The inquiry is also expected to hear about facilities’ budget constraints that prevent them from spending public funds where they feel it is necessary.
Any recommendations coming from the inquiry are non-binding, which means it can’t force care facilities to adopt or change practices and policies.