Families file class-action Lawsuit against Altamont Nursing Home

Another Ontario nursing home has been hit with a class-action lawsuit alleging negligence over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic that has ravaged long-term care facilities.

The families of elderly residents who died after contacting COVID-19 at the Altamont Care Community filed a $20-million case against the facility on Monday.

The suit alleges the Scarborough, Ont., home failed to “implement a proper infection prevention and control program” in response to COVID-19 and did not train staff properly.

“They failed to hire sufficient or adequate staff to ensure the proper supervision of the residents of Altamont and to prevent and/or control situations of danger, including the outbreak of COVID-19,” it alleges.

The case was filed in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on behalf of all residents of the Altamont home, which is owned by Sienna Senior Living Inc. Vigour LP is also named as a defendant.

Neither Sienna nor Vigour could be reached for comment.

Altamont was one of five Ontario care homes where Canadian Armed Forces medical staff were deployed in April to help control COVID-19 outbreaks. More than 50 have died at the facility.

A military report released last week said residents were not being properly fed and a “significant number” had pressure ulcers as a result of having been bedridden for a prolonged period.