Elizabeth Wettlaufer faced discipline at care home, inquiry hears

ST. THOMAS, Ont. – A woman who supervised a nurse who preyed on elderly patients in her care says she disciplined Elizabeth Wettlaufer over poor job performance several times but there was no belief people were seriously being harmed at the long-term care home where they worked.

Helen Crombez, the former director of nursing at the Caressant Care home in Woodstock, Ont., is testifying today at the public inquiry examining Wettlaufer’s actions.

READ MORE: Caressant Care gave Elizabeth Wettlaufer multiple warnings before termination, inquiry hears

Wettlaufer pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of eight elderly patients between 2007 and 2014, including seven at Caressant Care. Her crimes had gone undetected until she confessed them to mental health workers and police in 2016.

Lawyers for the victims’ families presented handwritten notes from several disciplinary meetings Crombez had with Wettlaufer for issues such as failing to document a new patient admission or creating more work for colleagues by neglecting some of her duties.

READ MORE: Wettlaufer was subject of complaints, allowed to go on working, inquiry hears

Notes from August 2012 indicate Caressant supervisors had “some concern” for patient safety as a result of Wettlaufer’s performance but that there was no belief she had caused “sustained harm.”

Wettlaufer, who killed patients by injecting them with overdoses of insulin, was ultimately fired from Caressant Care in 2014 for making multiple errors when giving medication to patients.