General manager of Ontario retirement home charged after door handles removed from rooms during pandemic
The general manager of an Ontario retirement home is facing confinement charges after police say the door handles were removed from some residents’ rooms during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Durham Regional Police Service (DRPS) announced the charges on Wednesday.
On February 12, DRPS investigators said they began an investigation in response to a complaint that came forward against staff members at White Cliffe Terrace Retirement Home in Courtice, which is located just east of Oshawa.
It was alleged that staff members had removed door handles to some units in the residence during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Durham police have arrested and charged 40-year-old Tawab Karimi, the former general manager of White Cliffe Terrace, with two counts of unlawful confinement.
He has been released on an undertaking.
In March, the Retirement Homes Regulatory Authority (RHRA), who said they became aware of the situation by means of a whistleblower, published the findings of a Feb. 4 inspection of the residence.
The RHRA said the inspection found the home "failed to comply with certain sections of the Retirement Homes Act related to protection against abuse and neglect of residents, as well as confinement."
In April, CP24 and CTV News Toronto obtained a copy of a letter from Verve Senior Living, the company that runs the home, informing families that "a small" number of door handles were removed.
"It was a violation of our protocols and practices. As soon as we became aware of the incident, all resident's door handles were immediately reinstalled," David Bird, president and CEO of Verve Senior Living, wrote in the letter dated Feb. 10.
DRPS are asking anyone with new information to the East Division Criminal Investigations Bureau at 1-888-579-1520 ext. 1657.
Correction
A previous version of this article identified White Cliffe as a long-term-care home, rather than a retirement home.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Video shows suspect setting Toronto-area barbershop on fire
Video of a suspect lighting a Richmond Hill barbershop on fire earlier this week has been released by police.
'I have the will to live': N.B. woman needs double lung transplant
A New Brunswick woman suffering from sarcoidosis, a disease that limits your lung capacity, is in need of a double lung transplant.
The kids from 'Mrs. Doubtfire are all SUPER grown up now, and we're not OK
The adorable trio of child actors from the 1993 classic comedy 'Mrs. Doubtfire,' which starred the late and great Robin Williams, are all grown up and looking back on their seminal time together.
Police officer hit by driver of fleeing vehicle in Toronto
York Regional Police say they are continuing to search for a suspect in an auto theft investigation who was captured on video running over a police officer in Toronto last month.
Boeing is on the verge of launching astronauts aboard new capsule, the newest entry to space travel
It’s the first flight of Boeing’s Starliner capsule with a crew on board, a pair of NASA pilots who will check out the spacecraft during the test drive and a weeklong stay at the space station.
Britney Spears 'home and safe' after paramedics responded to an incident at the Chateau Marmont, source tells CNN
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
Suter scores late goal, clinches series for Canucks
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
TD worst-case scenario more likely after drug money laundering allegations: analyst
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.