NEWS PENTICTON WESTERN
www.pentictonwesternnews.com
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Penticton mayor looks to retain chairmanship of regional district
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VOL. 46 ISSUE 97
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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2012
entertainment Art gallery explores
elements of hip hop
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NEWS PENTICTON WESTERN
Kids make strides in skating program
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President of B.C. Fruit Growers’ Association steps down
HISTORY COMES ALIVE — Michaela Belanger adjusts some of the food items that were the staples of the diet of those living in biblical times. The table was one of the displays at the Walk to Bethlehem at St. Andrew’s Church last weekend which drew large crowds.
Mark Brett/Western News
CARE HOME UNDER INVESTIGATION Joe Fries Western News Staff
Multiple investigations are now underway to find out why staff at a Summerland care home failed to check on the well-being of a resident who nearly died alone in his room but has since begun to recover. Alfredo Bonaldi, 91, was taken to hospital in Penticton on Nov. 25 and treated for kidney failure, salmonella poisoning and a staph infection, according to son-in-law Gil Inglis. It was Inglis who discovered Bonaldi unconscious and near death in his room at the Summerland Seniors Village after the family was unable to reach Bonaldi by phone for several days. Despite a grim prognosis early on, Bonaldi is beginning to show signs of improvement, Inglis said Tuesday. “It’s day-to-day. You go in one day and he’s kind of out of it and sleeping, and the next time he’s a little bit more alert,” Inglis
said. “So that’s a good thing.” The son-in-law said Bonaldi has also begun to recognize his daughters and told relatives he was having difficulty talking due to the oxygen tubes to which he’s Alfredo Bonaldi attached. Inglis said Bonaldi had been in good health while living in an assisted-living suite at the Summerland Seniors Village, but was incapacitated by a suspected case of food poisoning and didn’t show up in the facility’s dining room for lunch or dinner in the three days preceding his trip to hospital. Bonaldi’s absence at meal times should have been noted by facility staff and prompted a well-being check, Inglis said. But that didn’t happen, and Interior Health, the B.C. Ministry of Health and facility operator Retirement Concepts have all since launched investiga-
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Cindy Regier, who looks after residential care licensing in the region for Interior Health, said Friday that a separate quality investigative review was underway as a result of complaints from Bonaldi’s family. Those complaints were in addition to others that prompted two unannounced inspections at the facility in recent months. Regier said only that those probes were launched “in response to concerns,” but added that due to the ongoing investigation she was unable to disclose the nature of those concerns nor by whom they were brought forward. The first review, conducted Oct. 31, detailed seven areas of concern, according to records posted online. Issues identified ranged from a lack of documentation and policy around the use of restraints to unsafe food storage. However, investigators also noted the absence of a facility policy around the ongoing education of staff and managers, and that the home had no educator on staff.
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tions to find out why. “We’ve been happy with the place. The food’s edible, it’s a nice, bright airy place and everything’s been good. They just can’t ignore people for days,” Inglis said. “That has to be addressed somehow or another. They’ve got to put in some kind of safety (policy) if people don’t show up for meals day after day.” Retirement Concepts didn’t return calls for comment, but a spokesman has told other news outlets that the company is investigating why staff didn’t follow the facility’s check-up policy when Bonaldi failed to show for meals. Inglis said the company apologized to the family on Sunday and a meeting with Interior Health was set for Tuesday. Interior Health issued a press release Saturday to announce it had placed a clinical consultant at Summerland Seniors Village “to ensure appropriate care is being delivered to residents,” and work with staff and management “to address concerns and improve care.”
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