Murray Wood: Who's hot... and who's not
Every Friday, Murray Wood takes a look at the week's news and decides who's hot... and who's not. This week's list inclu...
EDMONTON — Alberta’s Opposition is calling for action and more transparency in the wake of a prolonged mouse infestation at one of Edmonton’s biggest long-term care homes.
Covenant Health, along with Assisted Living Minister Jason Nixon, declined requests from The Canadian Press to provide the most recent health inspection report for the Edmonton General Continuing Care Centre, with the ministry citing the need for complainants’ privacy.
The centre, run by publicly funded Covenant Health, advertises that it accommodates almost 500 people in the city’s downtown, providing long-term, subacute and hospice care.
Covenant Health has confirmed it is currently at full capacity.
Opposition NDP health critic Sarah Hoffman said Friday there’s no excuse for withholding the details of the inspection.
“I don’t believe that there’s any reason why you shouldn’t know what’s happening in a building that your loved one lives in.”
NDP seniors’ critic Lori Sigurdson said the system needs sunlight.
“I hear repeatedly that nothing changes year after year, not only, actually, from families of loved ones living in continuing care, but also from professionals who share things with me confidentially,” she said.
Documents obtained by The Canadian Press suggest authorities knew about the mice infestation at the facility for almost two years.
The operator has said it’s working to address concerns. Scott Baerg, senior officer of continuing care operations for Covenant Health, said in a statement Friday that residents are regularly monitored.
Baerg said the organization is keeping an eye on the situation, including for the risk of viruses known to spread from mouse droppings.
“Our residents are regularly monitored for any changes to their health and wellbeing, including viruses. If any were to show symptoms, they would be tested,” he said.
Amber Edgerton, press secretary to Nixon, said in a statement that continuing care operators need to meet standards.
She said the ministry’s monitoring team is obligated to follow up on complaints and reports. If a site is non-compliant, that’s posted publicly. Edgerton said repeated failures to meet standards can result in fines, loss of a licence and closure.
The government’s licensing website lists that an inspection took place in July and it found the building to be in compliance with accommodation standards.
Hoffman has said detailed public reporting in the sector should be just as transparent and detailed as inspection notices for places like restaurants, which are publicly posted.
Hoffman said it’s not a new issue, and she raised the alarm about mice at the facility last summer, including with health inspectors.
She said on a recent visit with a man living in the facility, she saw continued evidence, including mice droppings, in his room.
“Just knowing that if his blanket falls on the floor in the middle of the night, there’s probably going to be mice crawling all over his blanket — it just makes my skin crawl,” Hoffman said in an interview Thursday.
Hoffman said the mice are living where people sleep.
“Whatever is happening on the pest control side is not enough because, it’s clear that there are mice living in the same rooms as patients,” she said. “The government really should be prioritizing this and putting the resources in to make sure that everyone … is safe.”
Ron Guetter, a spiritual care volunteer for more than two years, said he’s seen mice and mouse traps in the unit rooms he visits. He said residents have shared their own sightings with him, but some have trouble advocating for themselves.
He said one described tucking in her bed sheets and blankets in an attempt to keep them out.
“She was terrified to get out of her bed, because there were mice on the floor,” Guetter said. “It was a disturbing experience for her.”
In the centre, some residents are mostly confined to their beds, Guetter noted.
“It just seems quite tragic in many ways that people who are, as they say, often in the last stages of their life, need to live in those kinds of conditions – conditions that the rest of us here in Edmonton certainly wouldn’t tolerate.”
“We all know about it, and nothing seems to have changed.”
He stressed that the building’s employees are very diligent, caring and attentive to the residents, and said he’s impressed with the cleanliness of common spaces.
“My hope is not really to embarrass anybody, but it is to say this really is not acceptable for anybody,” he said.
Hoffman said the government also needs to beef up its whistleblower protections so staff across publicly funded organizations can better flag situations like the one at Edmonton General.
She urged the government to pass a private member’s bill the NDP plans to introduce in the legislature so people who work in health care feel empowered to raise the alarm and ask for help on behalf of their patients and colleagues.
Edgerton said existing legislation ensures protection for residents, family and staff who need to register complaints.
She said the ministry has recently launched a project “aimed at strengthening awareness and understanding of complaint rights, protections, and processes across the public and the continuing care sector.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 23, 2026.
Lisa Johnson, The Canadian Press
