Health authorities seize Vancouver care home for Chinese elders where 41 died in Covid-19 tragedy
- All assets and operations of the society that ran Little Mountain Place will be taken over by the Vancouver Coastal Health authority
- Relatives of residents at the facility, where 87 per cent of elders became infected, have demanded accountability for British Columbia’s deadliest outbreak
Health authorities in Vancouver are seizing control of the assets and operations of a troubled care home catering mostly to Chinese elders, where 41 residents died in a catastrophic Covid-19 outbreak that began almost a year ago.
The pandemic had exposed “issues” at the charitable Little Mountain Residential Care and Housing Society, which has owned and operated Little Mountain Place in East Vancouver since 1987, said the president of the society’s board, Bob Breen, in a statement released by the Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) authority late Tuesday.
In coming months, VCH would take over all society assets, including Little Mountain Place and its Adanac Park Lodge and Little Mountain Court sister facilities, the statement said.
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192 died in Vancouver care homes under policy that delayed Covid-19 outbreak declarations
Eighty-seven per cent of residents became infected and 36 per cent died as the disease tore through the facility during a 10-week outbreak that began in mid-November 2020.
“The pandemic has shone a light on issues that exist at Little Mountain Residential Care and Housing Society, which include a limited ability to attract and provide growth opportunities for staff and insufficient access to support services like finance, human resources and general administrative support,” said Breen.
