Care centre executive says should have acted quick with violent patient

Photo from activeliferehab.com

WINNIPEG—The director of a personal care home says a week before an 87-year-old man died after being pushed to the ground by a 70-year-old Alzheimer’s patient, the same man had pushed a different resident to the floor.

Parkview Place executive director Don Solar testified at an inquest Thursday that in retrospect, they should have “taken quicker action” in dealing with Joe McLeod.

The inquest was told McLeod’s aggressive behaviour had been escalating since he was moved into the care home after spending a month at the remand centre for attacking his wife in a moment of confusion.

At one point, police had to be called when the retired welder went after a flooring installer who had to protect himself with a chair.

The next day he went after a nurse and tried to attack her with a table, then a week later he shoved a nurse into an elevator, choked her and pushed her face into the elevator buttons.

On March 17, 2011, McLeod shoved a resident to the floor and a week later, he shoved Frank Alexander, who fell backwards and died of a head injury.

Solar had previously testified that although his facility does not have a dedicated floor for problem residents, there was some pressure to take McLeod in quickly after his incarceration made headlines and spurred an outcry from former Liberal leader Jon Gerrard, who was critical of having an Alzheimer’s patient in custody instead of a care facility.

After Alexander’s death, McLeod was charged with manslaughter but he was declared unfit to stand trial and transferred to the Selkirk Mental Health Centre.