Staff at West Vancouver’s Inglewood Care Centre are tightening security after a senior living in a secure unit disappeared for two days.
West Vancouver police issued a public plea for help on social media Sunday afternoon when the 71-year-old man walked off from the care home.
“He was in a secure unit. We have keypads on the internal doors and external doors and he was able to leave the facility,”said Nick Whittle, Inglewood’s administrator. “He somehow became aware of some of the codes to the doors.”
Police were about to renew their call for help on Tuesday morning when they received word he’d been spotted.
“Score one for social media,” said Const. Jeff Palmer, West Vancouver police spokesman. “A lady in New Westminster . . . recognized the missing gentleman as he entered the
Canada Games pool in New West to go for a swim.”
Neither Palmer nor Whittle could say where the senior spent the last two nights.
“We have spoken to him and we have gotten a version of the story from him. All I can say is he was in New Westminster,” Whittle said.
It appeared as though the senior wasn’t in any danger, Whittle added.
“When he returned to the facility, he was clean shaven, very clean. He obviously was not living rough,” he said. “If they don’t have a diagnosis of dementia and they know how to come back to the facility, they’re not really considered to be at grave risk but obviously, we do not like to see our residents out of the facility overnight”
Now, Whittle said, Inglewood staff are working to ensure the man doesn’t go for a two-day wander again.
“We take the safety and security of our residents very seriously. Obviously, taking a look at the cameras, we know exactly how he got out. We’d like to learn as much as we can and try to bring in different care plans to make sure that it doesn’t happen again,” he said. “We will be introducing some new protocols to check more frequently on him.”
In response to the Inglewood case, Vancouver Coastal Health, which licenses and contracts Inglewood, released the following statement:
“This is a reportable incident, and we require licensed facilities to inform us when they happen. Our licensing officer investigates to ensure all regulations are being followed. If there are any gaps, we would require the facility to take corrective steps,” it read.
In December 2013, a Lynn Valley senior died of hypothermia after wandering away from the Lynn Valley Sunrise care home.
