A couple in Canada has come forward after the caregiver they hired did not have the medical skills she claimed to have, putting at risk their severely disabled daughter while questioning the effectiveness of screening process in hiring these caregivers, a report from CBC.ca said.
Stephanie Hall-Wilkins, 21, has cerebral palsy, suffers severe seizures and has to be fed through a tube in her stomach. She is completely dependent on others for care.
Maureen Hall and husband Steve Wilkins have taken on the majority of Stephanie’s care since she was born. As they were getting older, the couple decided to approach Wee Care Nanny Placement Agency to hire a caregiver with nursing experience.
The agency found Filipina Hershey Romero, and the couple paid more than $10,000 in agency fees and other costs to bring Romero to Canada under the government’s
Live-in Caregiver program which allows Canadians to hire caregivers with skills that range from housekeepers to nurses.
Initially, Halls said Romero seemed to be exactly what they needed.
“I had a Skype interview… my three big questions were, have you had any experience with g-tube (gastric tube) feeding and seizures and medication? All the answers were ‘Yes, I have.'”
But soon as Romero started working for the family, the couple noticed the apparent lack of medical know-how. The couple claimed that she confused Stephanie’s seizure medication with Advil.
“As a mom, it made me sick to my stomach to think that I trusted this woman with Stephanie, thinking that she would have that knowledge that when things went wrong she’d be able to handle it,” Hall said.
Worst of all, Hall said, even though she was responsible for feeding Stephanie, for days Romero failed to notice a problem with the feeding tube. It had become damaged, and dislodged from Stephanie’s stomach. The result was an infection around the area.
Citing risk to safety of their daughter, the couple finally came out and asked her.
“She said she didn’t pass her nursing and didn’t have the qualifications in order to understand the needs of Stephanie. We basically called her a liar and asked her to leave,” Hall said.
A call to Hershey Romero by CBC News’ Go Public were not immediately answered.
It was later found out that Romero did not practice as a nurse in the Philippines after she failed her licensure examinations despite obtaining a nursing degree.
The couple also said the agency failed in its duties.
“I couldn’t have been any clearer, my concerns are it has to be a nurse. And they even said it would be difficult to find one, there are a lot of nannies in the pool but not a lot that have the medical experience. In my opinion, they were the ones doing all the checking,” Hall said.
The couple thought Romero would have to leave Canada. But under temporary worker rules, she could stay if she found another work.
Once in Canada, caregivers are allowed to stay and apply for permanent residency, if they work 24 out of the 48 months after their date of arrival.
“I said she had deceived Maureen and me, put Stephanie at risk and that she wasn’t a nurse, she didn’t pass any of the exams. All [Romero’s] response was: Could she have termination pay,” said Wilkins.
An ad was later found on a nanny hiring website with Romero’s name and photo, along with her qualifications and experience “caring for an adult with special needs.”