Toronto hospital 'regrets' filming, posting video of long-term care residents in haunted house without consent

TORONTO -

A Toronto hospital and long-term care home is facing criticism following a Halloween haunted house event in which a staff member recorded residents and posted the video to social media without their consent.

The event was held by North York General Hospital’s (NYGH) Senior Health Centre on Thursday and was meant to be a Halloween celebration for residents and staff.

The video depicts long-term care residents whose faces are shown as the staff member moves through the decorated facility. The video was then posted to the employee’s personal YouTube account before being removed at the request of NYGH.

“Unfortunately, a staff member took a personal video of the event which showed images of residents and family members without consent,” NYGH said in a statement on Tuesday. “The staff member did not understand the organization’s policies related to confidentiality, consent and approvals regarding communications related to the organization and residents.”

NYGH went on to say the Senior’s Health Centre (SHC) “plans events and celebrations with residents and families for various occasions,” adding that such “events are important to our SHC community and provide an opportunity for residents to enjoy social interactions.”

A screengrab of the video, now deleted, featuring decorations from the Senior's Health Centre Halloween event last Thursday.

A long-term care advocate expressed concern on social media over the event.

“The thought is nice but I’m hearing from families that this scared the heck out some residents,” Dr. Vivian Stamatopoulas wrote on Twitter on Monday. “Some (arguably many) of which are heavily medicated and already dealing with medication-induced hallucinations.”

In response to the concern raised on social media about the use of strobe lights, loud noises and fear-inducing decorations, Anne-Marie Flanagan, manager of corporate communications at North York General Hospital, told CTV News Toronto that the video differed from the actual resident experience.

A screengrab of the video, now deleted, featuring decorations from the Senior's Health Centre Halloween event last Thursday.

“The video significantly misrepresents what residents and families experience,” Flanagan said. “In the video, staff were performing for the camera and it was edited to enhance the scariness of the event, including altering the lighting.”

Flanagan said that 28 residents and their families attended the event and enjoyed the event.

“We did not receive any negative feedback from those who were present,” she said.

The hospital said it “sincerely regrets any concerns that this situation may have caused to residents, families and staff."