No the goverment needs to make these retirement places accountable ,they have no rules or regulations ,they have all the power to do or not do what ever they want ,,rarely do you hear a person in a goverment long term care faclitity walked out the doorMost places are locked between certain hours ,They didnt notice her gone ---the staff
Heres the story
On a windblown cul-de-sac on the coldest day of the year, the question swirled along a desolate walking path -- why would a 91-year-old woman leave her warm seniors' residence in the dark of night and freeze to death within sight of her home?
It's a question many are asking about the final, bleak steps of the elderly woman, whose body was found within a kilometre of a hospital and two seniors' homes in the Smyth Rd. area.
Police were called to Peter Morand Cres. at about 8:45 a.m. yesterday after a security guard found the woman's body in a courtyard at the Ottawa Life Sciences and Technology Park.
Police are trying to figure out what prompted the woman to leave the Alta Vista Manor at 5:20 a.m. through the side door, dressed only in a sweater, pants and slippers.
The elderly woman walked close to a half-kilometre along an isolated path behind a Gamma-Dynacare lab in -30 C temperatures.
The woman left her walker -- which held a newspaper and a used coffee cup -- on the north side of a University of Ottawa lab building. Her body was found on the building's south side, a few metres from a locked door.
An autopsy will be performed today to determine the cause of death, but police say they don't suspect foul play.
Last night, police had still not been able to contact the woman's next of kin.
At a press conference yesterday, the owner of the retirement residence said a security camera outside the building's side door showed the woman leaving in the pre-dawn hours and heading toward the front of the building.
The building's cameras are not monitored and the women's next steps aren't known, said Frank D'Amato.
'Come and go'
"She was living on an independent floor, so the plan on these floors is that you come and go as you please," said D'Amato.
None of the five staff on duty in the building at the time noticed the woman was missing and D'Amato said staff did a headcount of the home's 183 residents after they noticed police tape outside.
"There are staff here 24 hours a day, but the reality is that there are many exits to the facility," said D'Amato.
The residence owner said he wasn't sure if the woman suffered from dementia, but there had been no prior incidents of wandering.
"In the four months that this resident had lived here, she functioned very independently at an independent lifestyle," said D'Amato.
"We had no concerns for safety with this lady," added D'Amato, noting the woman had never left the building on her own before. D'Amato said the home will do an internal review to try to figure out how the woman went missing.
