Long, anguished rant against Manitoba Home Care

Frank Touby —

The long anguished rant below came to The Bulletin’s website as a complaint against the Manitoba Home Care Worker program. We are publishing it without prejudice online in its unedited entirety, solely for those who might be interested. Concerned or affected parties who wish to contact The Bulletin can reach us by email: production@thebulletin.ca

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TO: Cecilia Urias, Written Communications Coordinator

Madam

In response to your reply to my previous letter:

From the different responses that I have been able to get I feel that my complaints against the level of services that my wife and I have received from Home Care has backfired.

On Friday we were informed that we were going to get a Home Care Worker in the afternoon….the afternoon came and went but once again …well no one showed up.

I started to try and find out what was transpiring and the results of this quest came as no surprise:

1:/   Two Home Care workers were sitting in the lobby of our building. They, not knowing who I was, when I questioned them about the different clients that they had to work for, when I inquired as to the clients demeanor, they opened up stating different defamatory comments concerning the clients.

When I questioned them about one of the Home Care Workers who I had seen in the building their comments floored me. To quote one of them, and I wish that I had a recording device to capture their comments, they stated that she was a BITCH WHO WAS TRYING TO SHOW UP THE FULL TIME WORKERS….BUT THEY HAD GOTTEN RID OF HER!!!!!

When I asked how they had gotten rid of her they stated that their supervisor would do anything that the Union wanted and that she also would bend over to please her full time staff members.

When I asked them if there was any major complaints the stated that some Ass Hole on the fifth floor had written different people complaining about the level of work performed by the full time workers compared to the BITCH who was working part time for Home Care…..it was then that one of them stated that THE BITCH MUST BE FUCKING THE BASTARD on the fifth floor who had written such filth about the employees working for Home Care!!!!!!

As I stated I wish that I had a recording device to have proof of what was stated!!!!!!

2:/   When I had asked for Eva to be sent to our apartment to do the cleaning and compared her level of professionalism to that of the different Home Care Workers who had done the extreme minimal level of work and being totally unsupervised…well from what I was able to find out….this went across like a lead balloon.

It got back to me that the person, supposedly supervising those going to the homes as HOME CARE WORKERS, had blown her top. How dare I question her decisions and question the professional qualities of her beloved staff!!!!!!! (Coming from a home care employee who I encountered at the local McDonald’s where he was enjoying an afternoon coffee..I had seen him in the building previously and when I ran into him at McDonald’s I struck up a conversation leading him to discuss his work and bringing up the fact that I had heard that his boss was pissed off concerning the letters that I had heard about…I didn’t spend seven years in the intelligence branch for nothing!!!!! You would be surprised just what you can find out with a small amount of ingenuity)

It seems that I totally upset her apple cart with my detailed complaints and that her supervisory abilities had been questioned by higher ups and this was totally unfounded. From the feedback that I was able to receive was that she was in charge of who went where and when they went not some lowly senior….how dare I lodge a complaint and ask for Eva……

From another source I was informed that my letters to the different government officials had drawn attention to her abilities and level of the work that was being given to those who relied on Home Care to keep their living quarters in a civilized mannerism….

“””That she made the decisions concerning just who was being sent to the different locations and that no one had ever complained in the past about the level of work being done””””…..an outright lie in/as I personally know of seven different seniors who had complained about the level of service that they were being given….but they were labeled as chronic complainers and trouble makers and the level of service that they received, after  they had the nerve to complained, went down drastically….that they are paying the price for having the nerve to lodge a complaint especially against the !!!!QUEEN BEE!!!  Who runs the Home Care Office!!!!!!!!

My wife and I, at the insistence of or Doctors, contacted Home Care in/as we are both physically handicapped (my wife is waiting to go into the hospital for a serious operation) and to have to perform the necessary duties to keep our home livable was causing us extreme stress and physical harm. With Eva we had no concerns in/as she came into our home and without instructions or supervision preformed an excellent job. Totally unlike those who had proceeded her (one who stated that he was there to give me a bath and another who stated that she was there to do our laundry) who’s work ethics and abilities completely left one wondering just how they got and kept their jobs.

Seeing just what we are faced with, if we have to endure the total lack of professionalism that has reared its ugly head with those who showed up at our home to clean….well since my wife and I have to spend hours going over their extremely disgusting degree of workmanship. …something that our health care providers insisted that due to our health that it was impartible for us to do….then not knowing if or when these employees are going to show up….well to say the least just what advantage does having Home Care come to our residence in the first place.

In closing I wish to express that if the example of the work and performance by those who showed up at our door is the normal found within the Highly Trained, Hard Working, Ethical People working in the ranks of the Manitoba Government….well GOD help us!!!!!!!

For a few months we had a top rate worker show up at our door….but she was replaced by a full time government employees ….people who came to our door completely unsupervised and did as little as they could get away with….in the future if we have to endure such a complete lack of professionalism then we are better off attempting to, even if it goes against the orders of our family doctor, do what is desperately needed to keep our home livable ourselves!!!!

Michael Saunders/ Myrtle McMillen

—–Original Message—–_From: Premier [mailto:PREMIER@leg.gov.mb.ca] _Sent: Thursday, March 10, 2016 11:59 AM_To: ‘Michael Saunders’_Subject: RE: An Open Letter To The Director Of Manitob Home Care

March 10, 2016

Michael Saunders & Myrtle McMillen

HYPERLINK “mailto:thewindwalker62115@gmail.com” thewindwalker62115@gmail.com

Dear Mr. Saunders & Ms. McMillen:

On behalf of The Honourable Greg Selinger, Premier of Manitoba, I would like to thank you for your recent correspondence.

We are sorry to hear about your dissatisfaction with the home care services you received. We have taken the liberty of forwarding a copy of your correspondence to the Honourable Sharon Blady, Minister of Health, for her review and response.

Once again, thank you for writing to Premier Selinger.

Sincerely,

Cecilia Urias

Written Communications Coordinator

 

The following is an open letter being sent to the director of services for the Manitoba Home Care Program:

Both my wife and I are physically disabled seniors who have limited mobility. My wife is waiting to go to the hospital for a very serious operation and her doctor told her not to do any strenuous work and to drastically restrict her activities. I have severe back and leg problems which prevent me from normal activities. I can still walk but any strenuous activity such as bending or getting down on my knees leaves me in extreme pain and I have been told by my Doctor to restrict such activities as much as possible.

Directly due to these medical restrictions our Doctor and other Health Care Professionals advised us to get home care to do our housework thus alleviating us of these duties. We can still do the day to day cleaning and maintenance of our apartment but the heavy workload has proven to be too detrimental to our collective health.

Thus we contacted Home Care thinking that our problems would be taken care of..boy were we greatly mistaken!!!!!! From having one person who was under the impression that he was at our apartment to give me a bath..who had absolutely no training and experience in cleaning to having another who stated that she was there to do our laundry and again having little or no training in cleaning.from having people show up whenever they feel like it with no notification that they were going to be late then doing a slap happy job  leaving our apartment in a deplorable state..well to say the least our experiences with Home Care was way below what we expected and needed.

Then a few months ago we got Eve as a homecare worker. Her work was second to none going way beyond what was expected leaving our apartment in an extremely clean and professional mannerism. At times we had to tell her to slow down but this fell on deaf ears as she stated that she was there to do her work not to sit and have coffee..

Then two weeks ago we were informed that Eve had been let go and that we would be getting a full time worker as a replacement.  The following letter goes to show just how her level of work totally disgusted us leaving our apartment in a deplorable state. FIRST SHE SHOWED UP CLOSE TO TWO HOURS LATE STATING THAT SHE HAD TO TAKE A BUSS TO GET TO OUR ADDRESS THEN SHE STATED THAT SHE WAS THERE TO DO OUR LAUNDRY NOT TO ?????CLEAN????

With this she started to preform her duties???????? And her total lack of training and professionalism reared its ugly head!!!!!!! After half an hour she left leaving our apartment in a totally deplorable state with what duties that she had performed done with a total lack of care or devotion!!!!!

After she left I tried to make our place livable which left me in a state of total pain with my back and leg becoming totally useless..something that our doctor had warned me not to do. I, utilizing information coming from other discouraged seniors who have complained about the level of service coming from those who worked for Home Care with no results (they were labeled as complainers just looking for someone to vent their anger at), started to look into just why Eve had been let go and replaced with so called full time unionized workers. What I was able to discover totally disgusted me in/as it became extremely apparent that those full time workers, protected under their union bosses, only did the extreme minimum work that they could get away with and that those who had to endure such delinquency had no recourse but to put up with their sloppy inadequate work ethics. But worse than that anyone who had the nerve to complain was put on a so-called shit list and received even less support.

I worked in the hospitality industry for over fifty years and know the difference of those who are doing a professional job with pride in their workmanship compared with those who are protected by their collective agreement and preform whatever they can get away with little or no recourse of any format of discipline for their disgusting work ethic!!!!!…And this is a prime example of such..workers who come and go at will doing the very minimum that they can get away with replacing a person who takes pride in her work and does the required duties that are needed in her endeavors.

Not having the financial resources nor the physical ability to do the work myself has left my wife and I at the mercy of those who show up at our door then to have a person who does the job and takes pride in her work released of her position due to some unionized person demanding her position..well to say the least this goes to show the displeasure of those who hide under the protection of the NDP Party and their unionized flunkies.

Michael Saunders/ Myrtle McMillen

The letter to the director of Manitoba Home Care Is As Follows:

This morning we expected to have our home care worker to show up at the time frame (re:11:30 AM) that we were told that we should be expecting her. Eleven thirty came and went then twelve noon..still no home care worker. We attempted to call the contact number but we were only able to get the voice mail where we left a message of concern about the failure of the home care worker to show up. My wife, having an important appointment at one thirty, was extremely upset about this delay especially when at one o’clock when we hadn’t heard and/or received any indication of when the home care would arrive.

Finely at one fifteen, an hour and forty five minutes later, the worker arrived at our door. She stated that due to her having to rely on the transit system she couldn’t get to our place at the directed time frame. It was then that it was stated that her job was to do laundry not housekeeping and that she was told that she was there to do our laundry. At this time we informed the home care worker of what the previous worker had done re: jobs that my wife and I, both being physically handicapped and extremely restricted in our movements, had extreme difficulty doing.vacuuming; moping the floor; cleaning the tub and toilet and other jobs that required us to bend or lift.

With vacuuming the living room; dining room and bed room floor.. she only did the center of each room not moving the chairs to get under the dining room table or to get into the corners and crevices..when questioned she informed us that she was not allowed to move furniture’s ..also even though I showed her how to utilize the different attachments on the vacuum cleaner she made no attempt at doing so.in all not even 10% of the area was cleaned properly. Under the kitchen table, completely accessible when the chairs were moved, table scraps littered the floor. Along the edges of the walls dirt and dust was left completely untouched (Our vacuum cleaner has attachments that have to be utilized to get such which she either didn’t know how to utilize or didn’t want to take the time and effort to do so). The floors in our bedroom was only cleaned in the visible areas with no effort to get under the bed or around the night tables ect. ..left totally disgusting. In the living room she only did the center of the room making no effort to get into the corners and crevices..again totally disgusting!!!!

The toilet and tub…cleaned only in the open areas without any effort in making sure that the area was cleaned. The bath walls were not touched and the tub was only given a lick and a promise…and that promise was extremely vague!!!! Even though we had, and showed the worker, different cleaning equipment and solutions the home care worker made no effort to utilize such only using Windex and a paper towel to clean the area..a procedure that showed her complete lack of training and care that she had in her duties.

The exterior of the toilet was only wiped down with no attention given to the exterior and bottom. The bottom outside was left in a disastrous state and showed that no effort was made to clean it and the floor around the tub and toilet was left in the same condition that it was in when she came..completely dirty!!!! Again we had the proper cleaning utensils and solutions to do the job but even though we had informed her of such they were not utilized. Again the area was left in a disgusting mannerism!

She did some dusting which was a joke.she didn’t remove one item to dust around or behind it nor did she attempt to dust off the TV and stand and other shelves.

Then as quickly as she had come she was putting on her coat and heading for the door..it was one forty five..one half hour of a complete waste of time as far as I am concerned.

Our previous worker, Eva, was always reliable showing up on time prepared to do her required duties. When Eva proceeded to do her duties we didn’t have to direct her in what had to be done. An extremely professional minded professional who took pride in her work she did her required duties without supervision and when she finished her duties we were assured that everything was beyond our expectations. Numerous times we tried to get her to slow down but she always stated that she wanted to preform her duties to the best of her ability..which as I stated before was way beyond what was expected.

Two weeks ago we received a letter stating that Eva was being replaced and that we were getting a new worker in her place. When I questioned this I was informed that due to the fact that Eva was considered only a part time employee that full time employees had preference over the placement of clients.

I made some inquiries concerning this matter and what I was able to discover totally disgusted me. I was informed that due to the fact that Eve and her fellow part time workers were not in the union and were not covered under the collective agreement of the union that she and those who were considered part time were being dismissed in favor of those who were union members. That the ability to perform their respective duties came way down the list with union membership being the controlling factor in their employment and placement.

Prior to getting Eve we had other workers who through their display of ????PROFESSIONALISM AND TRAINING???? Showed the same level of work…one; a young gentleman, who informed us that his training was in giving baths to those who needed such, had absolutely no knowledge of how to properly clean an apartment. My wife had to teach him how to preform each and every item that was required..but he was a union member and top professional!!!!!!!!!!

Another workers, when she decided to show up with vague excuses for being late, was no better..completely useless in their duties and haven to be shown how to utilize simple equipment which any housewife would have knowledge of.

I realize that this to question the quality workmanship of those who are sent to one’s door goes totally against the collective agreement of the union membership who are under the impression that they can come and go as they please without any concern, god forgive me, for the needs of the client placing their wants and desires foremost in their agenda.

This professionalism was completely lost when the different full time employees showed up. They seemed to come and go whenever they felt like it and when they finely showed up they did a slap happy job only brushing over their duties with little or no concern as to what was needed.

For a few month we were blessed when Eve showed up at our door..a true professional who was not afraid to get her hands dirty…a person who took pride in both her work and the job that she was assigned to do..now we are told that we have to endure the ????SERVICES OF THE HIGHLY TRAINED PROFESSIONAL HOME CARE WORKERS WHO ARE ALWAYS PROMPT IN THEIR ARRIVAL AND PREFORM EXCELENT WORK COMPLETELY SATISFYING THE NEEDS OF THEIR CLIENTS.?????

As one of my friends stated when she saw how our place was left when the home care professional had departed..””””YOU ONLY GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR AND SINCE YOU ARE NOT PAYING FOR THEIR SERVICES…WELL YOU SHOULD DEMAND YOUR MONEY BACK!!!!!…THAT THE PERSON WHO HAD LEFT OUR RESIDENCE IN THE SHAPE THAT IT WAS IN SHOWED HER TOTAL LACK OF CONCERN FOR HER JOB ONLY PUTTING IN TIME TO GET A PAYCHECK!!!!””””

This afternoon my wife and I had to go over each and every area that this person had ????CLEANED??? and attempted to make it livable..and we are both paying the price for our efforts..something that getting home care was supposed to alleviate!!!!

Both my wife and I are physically handicapped living on a extremely small pension. We are unable to do the lifting and bending that is necessary to keep our apartment in a sanitary manner thus we, at the insistence of our doctor, contacted Home Care..

With Eve.well you couldn’t ask for a more devoted worker..her work was second to none and I would recommend her to anyone but directly due to union interference she has lost her positions and has been replaced by ?????HIGHLY TRAINED; ETHICALLY MOTIVATED; DEVOTED PROFESSIONALS WHO’S WORK ETHICS ARE BEYOND APPROCH???

I realize that with the NDP being in power that unionization of employees is their top priority. I also realize that these employees are governed by their union membership with little or no emphases being placed either on these employees level of training or the level of professionalism that is prevalent when they do their assigned duties. A prime example is having a home care worker thinking that he is there to give me a bath and having no training and/or experience in cleaning duties and with this last example of HIGHLY TRAINED ETHICAL PROFFESIONAL EMPLOYEE..supposable to be at our apartment at 11:30 AM but showing up at 1:15 PM ..we had an appointment that we were supposed to be at 1:30 PM and had to cancel due to the fact that we had no way of knowing when the home care worker would show up.(She gave the excuse that she had to utilize public transit and had missed her connections)  who was under the impression that she was there to do our laundry).well our seven year old grandchild does a far superior job than she did.

In the future when we are exposed to such delinquent levels of professionalism coming from your staff members and have to endure having their duties to either be skipped over or not done at all I suggest that the different employees are accompanied by a supervisor who will scrutinize their work and not allow them to leave until the job is performed in a professional mannerism. To have someone come and go whenever they feel like it and just brush over their duties leaving the disabled client to either pay to have a professional cleaner come in and properly do the work that wasn’t done (or skimped over with no concern for how it was done) or, as in our case, have to do the work ourselves which completely goes against the reasons that our health care providers wanted us to have ????HOME CARE???? In the first place.

Please..please..please..please…if you cannot have someone who can and will do the job on their own and if you either cannot or will not have a supervisor scrutinize their extremely devastating example of work then give us Eve back…..at least then we will be assured that our apartment will be cleaned properly..something that she was able to do especially when compared to what we have had to endure with those ?????FULL TIME UNIONIZED PROFESSIONALS????  That have left our apartment in a condition that the local zoo wouldn’t tolerate!!!!

Michael Saunders