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A company that provides residential care to people with complex behavioural health issues is being sued after a man with a mental disability was allegedly left unsupervised and walked away from the home unaccompanied.
The man, now 38, was diagnosed with dementia and was living at a residential apartment complex in Winnipeg, operated by Cambridge Health Inc., with 24-hour behavioural care services and supervision.
He was not to leave the home unless accompanied by a staff member or a designated family member. The man was in a common area at about 4:30 p.m. on April 3, 2025, when “he was left unsupervised and walked out of the Cambridge home,” the lawsuit says.
The statement of claim was filed in Manitoba Court of King’s Bench in Winnipeg on Sept. 2.
The court document says he “was found in a nonresponsive condition, face down in a puddle of water,” with his core body temperature down to about 24 C, in a different neighbourhood at around 7 a.m. the next day.
The man was taken to St. Boniface Hospital, where resuscitative measures were taken. He was admitted to the intensive care unit.
The man had a number of injuries, such as “acute kidney injury” and ongoing left leg weakness, the court document says. He remained at St. Boniface hospital for 49 days and was then transferred to Health Sciences Centre for 15 days, followed by another 11 days in the Misericordia Health Centre, the court document says.
The man was in the care of the Public Guardian and Trustee of Manitoba since 2018. The public guardian is bringing the lawsuit against Cambridge Health and a numbered company, which own and operate the residence.
The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount of damages, including funds for the mother of the man in care at the home.
The home “provided residency to individuals with complex behavioural health conditions … delivering evidence-based support in a safe and structured environment,” the court document says.
It says the man had a tendency to try to leave the home unaccompanied and “would be vulnerable and endangered should he leave the Cambridge home unaccompanied.”
The lawsuit alleges the man’s injuries were caused or contributed to by the negligence of staff or agents of the home, who failed to be adequately informed about the man’s dementia and that he required supervision.
The court document alleges employees allowed the man to be unsupervised outside of his room, creating circumstances where he could leave the home unattended.
The companies named as defendants were negligent by “holding themselves out as having the resources to care for persons with dementia when they knew or ought to have known they did not,” the statement of claim says.
It says the companies failed to “adequately inform, train and assess their employees in supervising residents with dementia.”
Cambridge Health failed “to institute entry and exit measures or adequate gatekeeping” so that the man could not leave the residence unattended, the lawsuit says.
CBC News is not naming the man because of his personal health information, which is detailed in the lawsuit.
Lawyer Martin Pollock told CBC on behalf of the public guardian that “the case is about duties and responsibilities to protect vulnerable people.” He declined to comment further.
The allegations have not been tested in court, and the defendants — Cambridge Health and 10006957 Manitoba Ltd. — have not filed defence statements.
“Out of respect for patient privacy, our client does not have any comment to provide to the media at this time,” a lawyer for Cambridge Health, Leiba Feldman, said in a statement to CBC.