Middlechurch care home under investigation

A personal care home near Winnipeg is under investigation for possible financial irregularities, with authorities auditing the home's financial statements, the CBC's I-Team has learned.

A staff member at the Middlechurch Home of Winnipeg, located in the West St. Paul area, filed a complaint about the facility in November.

The complaint triggered an audit by the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and an investigation by Manitoba's ombudsman.

Manitoba Health Minister Theresa Oswald says the results of the audit are now with the ombudsman.

"We're very interested in finding out what the ombudsman has to say about the findings of the investigation," Oswald told CBC News.

"You can bet that we'll be acting on those recommendations when they come forward."

Middlechurch has about 200 residents. It receives nearly $10 million a year from the provincial government.

Despite the complaint and the audit, the Middlechurch facility fared well in a recent review of the quality of care it provided to its residents, Oswald said.

Conflict-of-interest policies questioned

The identity of the staff member who filed the complaint is protected under Manitoba's whistleblower legislation.

In a series of emails obtained by CBC News under access to information laws, the auditor raised questions about conflict-of-interest policies at the Middlechurch home.

The auditor had questions about work being done to the facility by a particular company that was not named in documents.

At one point, the auditor noted that someone was "not totally upfront."

"If the ombudsman should come forward and recommend that more of these audits take place with a broader net, we'll certainly take that advice very seriously," Oswald said.

But Progressive Conservative health critic Myrna Driedger said no matter what the audit finds, more scrutiny is needed over public spending on health services.

"We need to see a government that is really zeroed in on spending in health care, to be sure that there isn't financial abuse," Driedger said.

"Any financial abuse of money and spending and health care takes away from good patient care."

A lawyer for the Middlechurch home told CBC News there is a dispute over the facts in the matter.