The family of a woman staying at a retirement home run by troubled company Retirement Concepts has made formal complaints that their mother is left for long periods in dirty diapers.
Rhamona and Tina Voss say they've filed a complaint with the Fraser Health Authority over the treatment of their mom, Joanne Voss, at the Golden Ears Seniors Village.
"It frightens us rather badly," Harold Voss told CTV News. "Back in August, it was really quite pronounced. People were begging in their wheelchairs to be changed."
In that complaint, they say that Joanne Voss, who is diabetic, has had serious fluctuations in her blood sugar levels, because she hasn't had regular meals.
The Vosses believe that the biggest problem is the shortage of staff -- and they ask in their complaint for Retirement Concepts to increase staffing levels.
Retirement Concepts is the manager of a different home where employees either quit or were fired after an investigation revealed they took naked photographs of seniors and abused them emotionally and physically.
Golden Ears Seniors Village in Maple Ridge was taken over by Retirement Concepts recently. The company issued a statement saying that since taking over the facility, they have increased staffing hours by over 80 hours per week.
Tuesday afternoon, the NDP raised the issue with the health minister in B.C.'s legislature.
"When is he going to get Retirement Concepts to provide the care to these seniors that they should be providing" asked MLA Michael Sather.
George Abbot shot back: "Every allegation that we received we always ensure that the licensing officers follow up, and follow up rigourously."
But Rhamona Voss says he hasn't seen that kind of attention in the case of Joanne.
"The company's materials talk about dignity and quality of life, and we'd like to see some evidence of that," he said. "Where is it?"
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Julia Foy
