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In an oral decision Monday, Cindy Donovan, former CEO of Loch Lomond Villa, was found not guilty of violating nursing standards when she decided to discharge resident Pauline Breen, a frail 83-year-old who had dementia, after her family expressed concerns over her care without first deploying alternate options to keep her in the home.<\/p>\n
Donovan was also found not guilty of violating nursing standards for the level and quality of communication she had with the resident\u2019s family before and during Breen\u2019s discharge to the Saint John Regional Hospital in 2021.<\/p>\n
Breen died in hospice on June 6, 2021, a little more than two weeks after she was evicted from Loch Lomond Villa and first taken to the hospital.<\/p>\n
On the third allegation, Donovan was found guilty of breaching standards for failing to safeguard personal and family information by sending a letter out to Loch Lomond Villa families regarding Breen\u2019s eviction \u2013 without naming the resident \u2013 after her story was publicized in the media.<\/p>\n
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The ruling was handed down orally, with written reasons to follow, by a four-member panel of the discipline committee of the College of Nursing of New Brunswick, which regulates the province\u2019s registered nurses and nurse practitioners.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s yet to be determined by the panel if Donovan, who was the longtime CEO of Loch Lomond Villa until 2023, will be penalized for the privacy breach, but her lawyer Kelly VanBuskirk argued that the registered nurse has endured enough through the public disciplinary process.<\/p>\n
Donovan, who sat beside her lawyer and took notes during parts of Monday\u2019s virtual disciplinary hearing, is no longer working in any nursing home, according to VanBuskirk.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe process, in some ways, is the penalty,\u201d the lawyer said. \u201cThis has not been a private process.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is well known and Ms. Donovan\u2019s already lived that experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Breen\u2019s daughter Susan Steels says she was pleased to see Donovan held accountable for the privacy breach, but she had been hopeful that the former CEO would also be held accountable for how her late mother was treated throughout the ordeal.<\/p>\n
\u201c(This decision) should be sending shock waves through any family, any resident, that no one\u2019s safe to speak up,\u201d Steels said in an interview after Monday\u2019s hearing.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one is safe to bring their concerns forward, and if they can blame the family and say that they\u2019re entitled to evict people if families bring up concerns, then these horrible situations are going to keep repeating themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
A message left at VanBuskirk\u2019s office seeking comment from Donovan wasn\u2019t returned as of deadline.<\/p>\n
Allegations of \u2018aggressive and disrespectful\u2019 behaviour disputed<\/p>\n
An agreed statement of facts was read into the record at Monday\u2019s hearing outlining the series of events before, during and after Breen\u2019s eviction from Loch Lomond Villa.<\/p>\n
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According to that statement, Breen\u2019s children emailed Loch Lomond Villa on April 20, 2021, to express concern about their mother\u2019s care.<\/p>\n
By that point, the relationship had been deteriorating for months between the resident\u2019s care team and her children.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe relationship ultimately became uncomfortable, and facility staff interpreted some of the actions of the resident\u2019s children as aggressive and disrespectful, including recording facility staff without their consent,\u201d said Melissa Everett Withers, counsel for the College of Nursing of New Brunswick, who read the statement into the record.<\/p>\n
On April 22 \u2013 after hearing about another incident involving the resident\u2019s children \u2013 Donovan responded to the family\u2019s email, asking if they wished to take Breen home for 30 or more days to care for her, and if that wasn\u2019t a feasible option, the Villa would facilitate a transfer of Breen to another nursing home.<\/p>\n
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The family immediately responded that they were seeking clarification on these options, but after hearing from staff that the family was engaging a lawyer, Donovan decided to discharge the resident after consulting with the Villa\u2019s board of directors and the Department of Social Development, according to the statement.<\/p>\n
In an April 27 letter sent to the family, Donovan formally advised that Breen would be discharged in 15 days \u201cdue to the lack of trust you have expressed in our care.\u201d<\/p>\n
Under New Brunswick\u2019s Nursing Home Act at the time, a nursing home operator was able for any reason to discharge a resident by simply providing 15 days\u2019 notice of its intention to do so to the resident\u2019s next of kin or legal representative.<\/p>\n
That legislation changed months after Breen\u2019s eviction story became public.<\/p>\n
A nursing home operator can now only discharge a resident in four specific circumstances and is required to give 30 days\u2019 notice.<\/p>\n
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On May 22 \u2013 after the discharge date had been pushed back \u2013 Breen was transported to the Saint John Regional Hospital instead of another nursing home because the day prior, a staff member learned from the family that no other nursing home placement had been arranged despite previous information to the contrary, according to the statement of facts.<\/p>\n
The statement of facts was agreed upon by New Brunswick\u2019s nursing regulator \u2013 who prosecuted the case against Donovan \u2013 and by the former CEO herself, not by the family, the latter of whom wasn\u2019t able to represent themselves under disciplinary hearing rules.<\/p>\n
![\"Susan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0209-lb-disciplinary-hearing-2.jpg\")
Susan Steels and her mother Pauline Breen visit at Loch Lomond Villa during the COVID-19 pandemic. Breen died less than a month after being evicted from the nursing home in 2021. SUBMITTED<\/p>\n
In an interview, Steels denied that her family was aggressive and recording staff members. She said her family followed the rules laid out to them by the Villa in terms of communication.<\/p>\n
Steels is frustrated that her family wasn\u2019t able to have a voice at the hearing and defend itself, but she has no regrets about filing the complaint<\/a> on behalf of her late mother.<\/p>\nAdvertisement 8<\/p>\n
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\u201cI was brought up to stand up to bullies,\u201d Steels said. \u201cI was brought up to do the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hospital appropriate place to send resident: lawyer<\/p>\n
While there was an agreed statement of facts, New Brunswick\u2019s nursing regulator and lawyers for the former CEO disagreed on whether or not Donovan\u2019s actions constituted professional misconduct.<\/p>\n
Lawyers for Donovan argued that the province\u2019s nursing regulator didn\u2019t have legal oversight of the matter as the discharge process fell under a different law and that it was Loch Lomond Villa Inc. \u2013 not its CEO \u2013 who was responsible for discharging Breen.<\/p>\n
But in the event the panel disagreed on those two preliminary points, lawyers for Donovan laid out a multi-pronged defence, including that the communication breakdown with the home was due to the family, that it wasn\u2019t a practical option to keep Breen at the Villa, and that it was appropriate to move her to a hospital given the family\u2019s concerns over her care.<\/p>\n
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\u201cCertainly, if I were a person with dementia and in poor health, and certainly if the care team at the Loch Lomond Villa wasn\u2019t able to meet my family\u2019s needs and expectations, I would hope that I would be sent to the Saint John Regional Hospital,\u201d VanBuskirk said.<\/p>\n
Co-counsel Daniel Wilband argued that there was no evidence presented that Breen\u2019s move to the hospital had \u201cany negative impact\u201d on her, and that her family \u201cdeliberately created a public controversy about the discharge,\u201d waiving any rights to privacy in the case.<\/p>\n
Everett Withers, counsel for the College of Nursing of New Brunswick, argued that while the law at the time allowed for the discharge, it doesn\u2019t mean that a nurse in exercising her duties doesn\u2019t have to comply with the standards of practice and that the discipline committee had the jurisdiction to hear the case.<\/p>\n
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Everett Withers pushed back on the notion that it was up to the family to communicate when it\u2019s up to the nurse, under the standards, to communicate effectively and support the family to make informed decisions.<\/p>\n
Under the standards, Everett Withers said it\u2019s the resident\u2019s best interest \u2013 not the family\u2019s expectations \u2013 that must be respected in terms of care.<\/p>\n
She argued that Donovan was \u201cfrustrated with the resident\u2019s children\u201d and \u201cultimately took it on the resident by discharging an 83-year-old woman with dementia.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that one very basic fact answers the majority of the issues in this complaint, and that is that Ms. Donovan did not seek to restrict or prohibit certain family members from visiting the nursing home to avoid the difficulties or friction between them and staff, and instead, she moved to discharge the resident.\u201d<\/p>\n
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As for sending a letter to fellow residents\u2019 families, Everett Withers said that\u2019s \u201cnot reasonable to assume that if a resident or the resident\u2019s family has discussed something publicly, then that gives carte blanche to a nurse to send an unsolicited public letter with respect to that resident\u2019s personal circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everett Withers argued that Donovan should be ordered to appear before the committee to receive a reprimand for the privacy breach, as well have a condition placed on her certificate of registration to obtain and pass two remedial privacy courses, and that she be responsible for one-third of costs associated with the case.<\/p>\n
Lawyers for Donovan argued that she shouldn\u2019t receive a penalty, but if she does, it should be a letter of guidance, which isn\u2019t a public mark on her record.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat would be the appropriate remedy, and that\u2019s what we would ask you to consider, because if we could say this: We don\u2019t see frankly the point in pummeling someone who\u2019s already been pummeled for four years,\u201d VanBuskirk said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t see what good comes out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
A decision on punishment is expected to be released at a later date by the committee.<\/p>\n
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![\"Former](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0209-lb-disciplinary-hearing-1.jpg\")
Former Loch Lomond Villa CEO Cindy Donovan is pictured here in this file photo. BRUNSWICK NEWS ARCHIVESArticle content<\/p>\n