Cummer Lodge (205 Cummer Avenue, North York) is operated by the City of Toronto. The facility has a capacity of approximately 390 beds.
Built in 1970 and renovated in 2000, Cummer Lodge sits on 4.5 acres of landscaped property overlooking a wooded ravine.
In this article, our Good Caring Canada team has reviewed Cummer Lodge from three essential angles: inspection reports, performance indicators, and resident profiles. You are encouraged to thoroughly review all three angles so you can be more informed about the quality and safety of Cummer Lodge.
Table of Contents:
- Inspection Reports for Cummer Lodge
- Performance Indicators for Cummer Lodge
- Resident Profile of Cummer Lodge
Inspection Reports for Cummer Lodge
Cummer Lodge is regulated by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. The Ministry conducts inspections of all long-term care facilities to ensure that operations are in compliance with provincial regulations, and that residents receive proper care.
Our Good Caring Canada team has summarized inspection reports for Cummer Lodge. Original copies of the inspection reports can be read in the Government of Ontario website.
🔍 December 2023: Inspection
A critical incident inspection was conducted on November 30, December 1, and December 4-7, 2023. Inspectors Cindy Ma and Ryan Randhawa led the process.
This inspection at Cummer Lodge highlighted critical areas for improvement, especially in collaboration among care staff, adherence to health and safety protocols, and compliance with directed care plans.
- Plan of Care: The licensee failed to ensure collaboration among staff in assessing and implementing the plan of care. This lack of teamwork was evident in managing a resident’s foot care and implementing fall interventions.
- Directives by Minister: The licensee did not comply with the Minister’s Directive on COVID-19 response measures. Staff were observed not following masking requirements, increasing the risk of infection transmission.
- Infection Prevention and Control Program: A PSW was observed doffing personal protective equipment (PPE) incorrectly, contrary to the home’s policy, posing a risk of spreading infectious diseases.
- Compliance Order: Issued due to failure in providing care as specified in a resident’s plan of care. The order mandates education for PSWs and registered staff on bathing requirements, auditing of bathing assistance, and keeping records of these activities.
The licensee is required to pay an administrative penalty of $1,100 for non-compliance, relating to the care plan. This penalty is in relation to a previous non-compliance issue.
🔍 August 2023: Inspection
A combined Complaint, Critical Incident, and Follow-up inspection was led by Dorothy Afriyie and Henry Chong. It took place from August 8-16, 2023, with an offsite component on August 11, 2023.
The inspection addressed various intakes including follow-ups related to transferring and positioning, unwitnessed falls with injury, a fracture not related to a fall, an acute respiratory illness outbreak, and a complaint about improper transfer. A previously issued Compliance Order from Inspection #2023-1538-0003 was found to be in compliance.
This inspection identified critical areas for improvement at Cummer Lodge, particularly in safe transferring techniques and pain management.
- Unsafe Transferring Techniques: The licensee failed to ensure safe transferring techniques. Specifically, PSW #106 and #109 transferred a resident in an unsafe manner, not following the care plan. This discrepancy was confirmed by a Physiotherapist and a Nurse Manager, highlighting a risk of injury due to non-compliance with the care plan and home policies.
- Pain Management: There was a failure in managing a resident’s pain. After initial interventions by a RPN failed to relieve the resident’s pain, the required Abbey pain scale assessment tool was not used. The Nurse Manager acknowledged that the resident should have been assessed with this tool, indicating a lapse in following the home’s pain assessment and management policy.
🔍 June 2023: Inspection
A follow-up and critical incident system inspection were carried out from June 8-16, 2023, by lead inspector Henry Chong and additional inspectors Arther Chandramohan and Reji Sivamangalam.
The inspection addressed several intakes, including staff to resident physical abuse, issues related to the plan of care, falls with injury, and resident to resident physical abuse. A previously issued Compliance Order was also reviewed for compliance.
This inspection at Cummer Lodge identified significant concerns related to the execution of care plans, resident safety, and staff adherence to transferring protocols.
- Plan of Care: Failure to implement an intervention as per the plan of care for Resident #004, who had a history of altercations. The absence of the required intervention led to an altercation with another resident, highlighting a risk to other residents.
- Duty to Protect: The licensee failed to protect Resident #003 from physical abuse by Resident #004, resulting in injuries. This incident indicated a failure in safeguarding residents from harm.
- Compliance Order: Issued due to unsafe transferring techniques. The order mandates audits of resident transfers to ensure safe transferring techniques are used and maintaining records of these audits.
🔍 April 2023: Inspection
A critical incident system inspection, led by Henry Chong and Kehinde Sangill, occurred from March 24 to March 31, 2023.
The inspection addressed multiple intakes, including resident-to-resident physical abuse, unexpected death, medication incident/adverse drug reaction, and falls with injury.
The inspection at Cummer Lodge revealed critical concerns regarding resident safety, medication security, and adherence to care plans and protocols.
- Non-Compliance Remedied: Issues of non-compliance regarding infection prevention and control, and hand hygiene program implementation were remedied during the inspection. These included incorrect signage for enhanced IPAC control measures and the presence of expired alcohol-based hand rub (ABHR).
- Duty to Protect: The licensee failed to protect a resident from physical abuse by another resident, resulting in an injury. This incident highlights a lapse in safeguarding residents against physical harm.
- Dining and Snack Service: The licensee failed to provide necessary assistance to a resident during meal service, contravening the policy requiring staff to monitor residents and assist as per their care plan.
- Security of Drug Supply: There was a failure to secure narcotics, leading to a resident accessing and returning them without staff knowledge, posing a health risk.
- Compliance Order: The order mandates retraining of staff on reviewing residents’ care plans, conducting audits on residents with specific dietary and fall prevention needs, and maintaining records of these audits.
🔍 December 2022: Inspection
A critical incident system inspection, led by Joy Ieraci with additional inspectors Kehinde Sangill, Ryan Randhawa, and Iana Mologuina, was carried out from November 15 to December 2, 2022.
The inspection focused on various intakes, including improper/incompetent care, unexpected death, injury of unknown cause, a missing resident, falls, and multiple instances related to abuse.
This inspection at Cummer Lodge revealed significant issues in resident safety, abuse prevention, infection control, and adherence to care plans.
- Non-Compliance Remedied: Issues of non-compliance related to care plans, including the minimization of altercations among residents, were remedied during the inspection.
- Duty to Protect: The licensee failed to protect residents from physical abuse, resulting in injury and indicating a lack of effective interventions to prevent altercations.
- Plan of Care: There were failures in ensuring care as per the plan, including inadequate protection from hazardous substances and falls interventions not being in working condition.
- Safe and Secure Home: The licensee failed to provide a safe and secure environment, demonstrated by a resident’s elopement and subsequent injury.
- Falls Prevention and Management: A post-fall assessment was not conducted as required, leading to a delay in treatment for an injured resident.
- Residents’ Bill of Rights: Failures included not respecting a resident’s right to refuse treatment, resulting in injury, and not keeping personal health information confidential.
- Infection Prevention and Control: The IPAC Lead failed to ensure appropriate hand hygiene practices, and expired disinfectant wipes were used, compromising cleaning efficacy.
- Directives by Minister: There was non-compliance with the Minister’s Directive on COVID-19 response measures, particularly regarding environmental cleaning.
- Skin and Wound: Immediate treatment for pain related to altered skin integrity was not provided, leading to unmanaged pain.
Performance Indicators for Cummer Lodge
Our research team at Good Caring Canada has compiled data on seven key performance indicators for long-term care facilities in Ontario.
We invite you to review each of the below indicators — to compare Cummer Lodge with other long-term care facilities in Ontario.
- 💊 Potential misuse of antipsychotics is measured by the percentage of residents taking antipsychotic drugs, without a diagnosis of psychosis
- 🔒 Potential excessive use of physical restraints is measured by the percentage of residents in daily physical restraints
- 🤕 Fall risk is measured by the percentage of residents who fell in the 30 days leading up to the date of their quarterly clinical assessment
- 🦽 Worsened physical functioning is measured by the percentage of residents who worsened or remained dependent in transferring and locomotion (mid-loss ADLs), less residents who improved or remained independent
- 🩹 Worsened pressure ulcers is measured by the percentage of residents whose stage 2 to 4 pressure ulcer worsened since the previous assessment
- 😣 Pain is measured by the percentage of residents who report to have moderate daily pain or horrible/excruciating pain at any frequency
- ☹️ Worsened depressive mood is measured by the percentage of residents whose mood from symptoms of depression worsened
Resident Profile of Cummer Lodge
Understanding the resident profile of a long-term care facility can help you assess the facility’s appropriateness and compatibility for a patient. Our research team at Good Caring Canada compiled data on three main elements to understand resident profiles. We invite you to review each of the three below elements.
- 👵🏻 Gender profile can be helpful for assessing the gender compatibility of a long-term care facility.
- 👴🏻 Age profile can be helpful for assessing whether a long-term care facility has experience in caring for residents of specific age groups. More residents of advanced age may imply potential challenges to adequate and equitable care for all residents in the facility.
- 💭 The percentage of residents with dementia can be helpful for assessing whether a long-term care facility is aware and ready for dementia care. A higher percentage may imply more relevant care services. A higher percentage may also imply potential challenges to adequate and equitable care for all residents in the facility.