A former retirement home in Dresden that had its licence revoked a year ago has settled out of court.
The Deputy Registrar of the Retirement Homes Regulatory Authority (RHRA) issued an order to revoke the licence of Park Street Place in Dresden in January 2024 because the owners had accumulated significant debt and couldn't properly manage the home or take proper care of its residents.
Details of the settlement are confidential, but CK News Today has learned through a source that the matter has been resolved to the satisfaction of the RHRA, all of the outstanding debt has either been paid or cleared, and no fines were levied against the owner. The owner could have been fined up to $50,000 for a first conviction and up to $200,000 on each subsequent conviction.
Superior Court files stated the RHRA abandoned the civil suit in October 2024. However, Neighbourly Care, a Chatham health service provider that was owed $35,000 for services rendered at the home, took the owner to Small Claims court and won the full amount.
Owner Tina Hodgson said the uncertainty at the home was a tough pill to swallow.
"This unfortunate situation affected real people and their families. Our organization did everything we could to help residents, their loved ones, and the staff at the facility during the difficult time as it was closing," said Hodgson.
The one time 49 room retirement home had accumulated hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt for failure to pay employees, suppliers, and service providers, such as food vendors and external staffing agencies. The December 2023 ledger indicated outstanding debts of approximately $218,000, according to court documents.
Documents also showed that during the month of December 2023, one of the home's food vendors rejected an order for food because of outstanding payments from the owner and an external staffing agency declined to send staff to the home due to non-payment of approximately $39,000.
"The Licensee's late and insufficient staff payments, including failing to make remittances to the unionized staff pension fund, has resulted in staff resignations or leaves of absence, which has left the Home insufficiently staffed and residents not receiving adequate care," court documents showed.
The owner also owed the home's embattled temporary manager over $13,000 in compensation, but she decided not to take him to Small Claims court.
The documents also showed the company failed to contribute to the unionized staff pension fund between $30,000 and $50,000 dating back to 2022.
The building was sold prior to May 2024.
It's not clear what plans the new owner has for the building, but the municipality previously said there are no plans to convert the former retirement residence into a shelter.