Manager at Selkirk assisted-living facility 'heartbroken' after care worker allegedly stole from residents

A manager at a retirement home and assisted-living facility in Selkirk, Man., is feeling angry and scared for the buildings' residents after she says a rash of thefts were allegedly carried out by a home-care worker from the health region. 

Christina Stark, residence manager of the Woodland Courts assisted-living facility and Cambridge House retirement residence, said at least eight residents between the two connected buildings reported missing money or valuables — including wedding rings — in recent months. She estimates about $1,000 went missing in total.

"I'm angry. I'm scared for my residents," Stark said. 

The first report of missing money came from a resident's family in late July or early August, Stark said. She said staff looked back on security cameras and noticed an unfamiliar man going in and out of the building. An access code is required to enter the facility. 

But she said the facility's regular home-care workers, who are hired externally by the Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority, confirmed he worked with them. 

Stark said it was unclear if this was an internal family issue at this point. 

About a month ago, loved ones of another resident came to Stark on two separate occasions last month, claiming that money was missing. Stark said she started her own investigation by planting money. 

Then on Nov. 10, she received an email from a family member with images showing the same home-care worker entering a resident's suite multiple times a day between Nov. 6 to Nov. 10, including at 2:30 a.m. and 3:30 a.m., while the resident would have been asleep. 

The family had installed a motion detector that snapped pictures on the resident's doorway because he's a wandering risk, Stark said. 

The family member "wanted to know why he would be in the room so often, and through all hours of the day and night," Stark said. 

"He was consistently going into at least that one particular suite on camera regularly while the man was sleeping, with the flashlight on his phone going through his room and his coat pockets that were hanging on the door," she said. 

She said security cameras showed the man entering and exiting the building, and going in and out of suites while residents were out at lunch or bingo. 

Stark said several residents reported a man in their room with a flashlight, but facility staff "didn't put it together" because the worker alleged to be responsible was with the home-care team. 

But he was not scheduled to work over the five-day period he was pictured entering and exiting a resident's suite earlier this month, Stark said. And the home-care team doesn't usually work past 10 p.m., she said.