City hands investigation into alleged abuse of care home resident over to police

The City of Ottawa has handed the investigation into an alleged incident of physical abuse at the Peter D. Clark Centre long-term care home over to police.

According to a memo from Donna Gray, the city's general manager of community and social services, a family member of the alleged victim first contacted a member of the management team at the city-run facility on March 28 to complain about the alleged incident.

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The home has reported the alleged incident to boththe Ministry of Long-Term Care and Ottawa police, according to Gray.

The employee was removed from the facility while management conducted an initial investigation. That individual is no longer employed by the city, Gray said.

'We are deeply troubled'

According to the memo, staff at the homecontinue to monitor and assess the resident who was involved in the alleged incident, and management remain in contact with that resident'sfamily.

"We are deeply troubled by this and understand how upsetting this situation is for residents, families and staff," Gray wrote in the memo, which was distributed to members of city council Monday afternoon.

"The homes have a zero-tolerance policy for any form of resident abuse. We are committed to ensuring that there is a thorough review undertaken into allegations of resident abuse."

The city didn't provide details about the alleged abuse.

Ottawa police would not confirm that they're investigating the alleged incident, and would not say whether charges had been laid.