November 2, 2015
Divorced and Homeless by Healthcare in #YYC
This is an open letter in regards to the struggle my octogenarian parents are facing on a daily basis with the health care system in Alberta. I would like to preface this letter by acknowledging that countless seniors across Canada are facing similar situations. While my parents’ story is not unique, it is time sensitive as my Father has been diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer.
My Father is 84 years old and is living in a Long Term Care facility in Calgary. He has moderate dementia which means he does not remember what he had for breakfast but still knows who his family and friends are including telephone numbers. He walks with the aid of a walker, goes to Calgary Flames games with his son-in-law and continually asks “where is your Mother?” My 83 year old Mother is living 35km away, across the city in the South Calgary Campus Hospital and has been there with no medical reason to be hospitalized since August 30, 2015. She has a bed in a shared room with 3 other people, 2 of whom are men. She is required to pay $55.00/day to be there. My Mother has all of her faculties but due to arthritis is unable to walk and uses a motorized scooter to get around. She has been classified as needing Long Term Care but there is nowhere for her to go.
Today I was told that it may take up to 3 years for my Mother to get a room in the same facility as my Father. Seniors are placed in Long Term Care facilities in Alberta based on a multitude of priority categories. One of the categories is the “compassionate” priority which is used to reunite couples. I also found out today my Mother does not qualify for the compassionate priority list due to a convoluted Alberta Health Services policy that requires a move to at least one facility that is not of her choice before the ‘compassionate’ status can be invoked.
I would argue that my Mother has already been living in a facility (the hospital) not by her choice for over two months now. I would also argue that the reunification of a couple that have been married for over 60 years, knowing that one of them has a terminal illness and diminishing mental capacities, by any humane interpretation of the word should qualify as a compassionate priority.
My parents have lived in Medicine Hat and Calgary their entire lives. My father had a successful business. They paid their taxes, contributed to their community and never drew a penny from any social benefit system prior to qualifying for Old Age Security when they turned 65.
Anyone reading this who has a loved one living in or needing some form of assisted living will find much of the history of how my parents ended up where they are today a familiar journey. I am not writing this open letter seeking pity – no sympathies required. I am simply terribly frustrated and want to change the health care system for seniors and get my Mother out of the hospital and living in the same building with her husband!
How my parents ended up ‘divorced and homeless by healthcare’ is a long and complicated story. If you are interested in the abridged version – read on. It is not a page turner, but it is real life in Canada.
In April 2014 my parents made the decision to leave their home of 40 years and move into a private senior’s facility that offered 3 levels of care: Independent Living, Assisted Living Level 4 and Memory Care. The intake staff of the private facility interviewed and evaluated my parents and accepted them as residents, along with the sales pitch about their continuing levels of care and how future moving disruptions would be minimized if and when my Father’s early stage dementia progressed and my Mother’s mobility became worse. It was a huge move, not without a lot of tears, but eventually they settled in to a very nice 2 bedroom suite and started the next chapter at $7000.00/month rent, I might add!
Six months later my Father’s dementia had advanced. The private facility informed my sisters and I that my Dad could no longer live there and he would need to move to a government supported Long Term Care building. They also threatened us by saying if we did not cooperate with having my Father moved they could send him to the hospital and not take him back. They then contacted Alberta Health Services who moved my Father into a Long Term Care facility in September 2014 – only 6 months after he had moved out of his home and into the private assisted living residence.
This was massively upsetting for our entire family and not at all how ‘the plan’ was supposed to work. At that point we started to question the wisdom of selling the house and putting our parent’s future in the hands of the “the second-largest network of accommodation, care and services for seniors in North America, serving older adults at more than 500 locations in Canada and the United States”.
Fast forward to the last week of August 2015. My Mother was hospitalized for a medication interaction. The Doctor’s adjusted her pills and all returned to normal. The hospital started to discharge her but were unable to do so because the private senior’s facility my Mother was living in refused to take her back. Alberta Health Services informed us that because the service provider is a private company they are allowed to refuse readmission to their facility. As previously mentioned my Mother is 83yrs and has mobility issues (i.e. cannot walk) but she is still has her wits about her. She drives a scooter, controls her own finances, gets her hair done once a week, visits her husband on the opposite side of the city, and knows who Rhianna is and what Uber does. She is switched on to the contemporary world around her and is deeply affected by all the indignities she has had to bravely face since choosing to leave her own home just 18 months ago.
My Mother has now been homeless and in the hospital for 2 months. Today I found out that the wait list to move into the same facility as my Father dates back to 2011. It could take 3 years for her to get a room there. Furthermore, she does not currently qualify for ‘compassionate’ move status.
So how does one end up Divorced and Homeless by Healthcare?
1) Due to decades of a lack of public funded capital investment in our seniors’ health care system, the private sector has filled the gap. The private sector has built the vast majority of new seniors care facilities over the past 10 years…but the catch is that their business model only works for seniors who are basically independent and do not need an elevated level of care.
2) When those seniors start to impact the bottom line of the private sector health care profit model the care management companies have full agency to get rid of them. Our loved ones are dumped back in the public health care realm…except the government has not invested in senior’s health for decades (see point 1).
3) Many Alberta government funded long term care facilities are old and crowded buildings with two beds per tiny room, doorways that are too narrow for scooters, common bathrooms down the hallway and limited to no capacity to differentiate across levels of care. People with advanced dementia or those who have become completely debilitated by strokes etc. and require 24 hour care are living side by side with people who have no cognitive impairment but are there because they have arthritis and need assistance with mobility transfers. A word of warning: when you get old forget about Peer to Peer contexts – it is not an option!
4) Long Term Care facilities in the City of Calgary have wait lists that are years long. The advice our family has being given by Alberta Health Services is to accept whatever ‘bed’ becomes available for my Mother…have her move there and then her priority status will be increased because she will be somewhere she does not want to be and this will increase her chances of getting into one of the ‘good places’.
How can we possibly rationalize that being on a list for a ‘bed’ is an acceptable situation for a person who is in good health and could easily have another 10 years of good quality life ahead of her – or for anyone for that matter!
Can you imagine being in this situation? Being homeless and stuck sharing a room with 3 other strangers in a hospital. Your only option is to wait for a bed to become available somewhere in the city so you can be ‘DECANTED’ by Alberta Health Services to a random facility in the hope that you might eventually get moved again to live with your terminally ill husband. Inexcusably, this is the norm for countless seniors across Canada!
In the end, why did I write this letter? I want to find a way to reunite my parents and hope that by bringing public attention to their situation my Mother can qualify for a compassionate move and be transferred from the hospital to my Fathers facility. I also want to demand that a National Seniors Strategy be prioritized by the Federal Government. The Canadian Medical Association is advocating for this through their website http://www.demandaplan.ca/ “The CMA and its campaign partners believe Canada urgently needs to get our health system in shape to meet the growing and evolving needs of our aging population.” My parents experience is proof positive that the current system is broken. PLEASE SHARE THIS STORY.
Sincerely,
Susan
sdkennard@gmail.com
UPDATE
On December 24, 2015 my Mother was moved from the South Calgary Hospital to CareWest Colonel Belcher Long Term Care facility and was reunited with her husband. In May 2016 my Father passed away. While we will miss our Father forever the ONLY thing that made those last few months bearable was the fact that my parents were together. They lived in different wings of the building but my Mom was able to zoom to my Fathers room in her scooter anytime she wanted day or night. I can say without a doubt in my mind, in the end for my Father, quality of life was holding his wife’s hand and having her by his side.
I have been remiss in updating this blog. There is so much more to write about in regards to seniors care. Since going through these various ‘episodes’ with my parents I have found it difficult to find the time and concentration to put ‘pen to paper’ so to speak. Sadly the crisis with seniors care and housing continues to tear families apart and impact the most vulnerable among us. This week an almost identical situation hit the news about a couple in British Columbia. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/seniors-care-home-surrey-1.3735013 Truly, a crying shame.
Advocating for Seniors Health Care and Housing in Alberta 
Concerns expressed regarding LTC r unfortunately very warranted. I m a former LTC provider and witnessed many disturbing things. I can assure u that there have been incidents of abuse, reported and unreported. Many things are ‘covered up’ and ‘smoothed over’ and many residents do not feel adequately supported, taken care of, nor treated w/ the dignity and respect that they deserve. Staff are not adequately supervised nor disciplined for ‘infractions’. They also seem to be woefully undertrained or suitable for this kind of employment. In fact, I often wonder if they hire the first living, breathing being whom applies. Laziness, apathy and complacency abound. Are they understaffed, yes! Can they do a better job, most definitely. No doubt that this is a systemic problem. There must be regular, random audits and independent surveys. An independent overseer should be assigned to the task of overseeing the operations of various facilities and publically report their findings. Those whom have nothing to hide hide nothing. Secrets thrive in the dark and we must call the failure to provide for the aged and most vulnerable of our society what it is. Abuse and neglect are rampant and alive and well. There have been substantiated reports amongst certain staff of the rationing of adult diapers as well as proper hydration in order to prevent the need to change residents while some have sat or lied in their urine or feces well beyond an appropriate amount of time. Unconscionable in this country! Caregivers must be fairly compensated, adequately trained and provided benefits that allow them to work and be committed to only one facility. This profession needs to be revered and respected and treated as such. The health and lives of loved ones depends on it. The system must have a complaint process that allows complainants to Remain anonymous or Not fear for the loss of their livelihood which they depend upon. The system is undoubtedly broken and there should be some sort of reward based merit system for good performers and to attract and retain employees. Imo, the system has collapsed from the weight of burdensome ongoing frailties, weaknesses and vulnerabilities that were glaringly exposed during the current pandemic. This is nothing new. Many have made recommendations and filed complaints for long overdue changes, all to no avail, w/ complaints continually falling upon deaf ears. If we truly value our seniors and their caregivers, then we must treat them accordingly and deal with the elephant stuck in the room at long last!
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Thank you for your insight Kathy. I fully agree that the system was broken long before Covid and based on the experience and recommendations of hundreds of thousands of families of loved ones who have experienced LTC and the employees….the path to fixing this system is clear. More oversight, reporting and transparency, train staff properly and pay them a decent wage, increase staff to resident ratios, put a halt to the privatization of LTC and bring it under the umbrella of the Canada Health Act. Ty for speaking up. This change will only happen if people continue to do so.
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Susan, the committee started the petition but what good will it do? The official policy of the Government is MAiD so there is no care for seniors. With that policy, the Federal Government would rather eliminate long term care homes by terminating the lives of all the residents – and it will come to that in the not-too-far distant future, mark my word!
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As my husband and I are in our seventies now and are in reasonably good health – I do not
think that we should live in the world of complacency. I strongly believe it is up to the individual
or a couple to take care of your own advancing years and have a place already picked out for
your own reclining years, and not leave it up to your own family to make those choices. I was
always brought up with the adage that – life is what you make it!. Maybe these are harsh words
for some, but so be it. My personal feeling are- that if a person does chose their own retiring
place — at least they are the ones that have made the choice and they should be satisfied with
the results.
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Keep up the good fight sister.
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I understand your frustration. I recently had to place my Mom in a long term care facility – even the process for doing this certainly needs to be revised. Now that she is settling in, I have been very disappointed with many of the policies. I am there every day to advocate for her, but I see so many that have no one to do that for them. I filed a complaint when she was struck by a care worker – after they did their “investigation” the final result was …. nothing. Under the Protection for Persons in Care Act, there has to be obvious physical damage to the patient, so unless they leave marks, nothing is done. I am still trying to decide the next step – will moving her to another facility be any better?? It is so disruptive to move these elderly people… just remember this will be us one day.
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Hello Penny. Thank you for your letter and sorry to hear your Mother was struck by a caregiver! I do think that is the exception. With all of the challenges we have faced since my parents voluntarily left their family home 18 months ago we have for the most part found the caregivers to be very good. Some are more helpful than others, some are grumpy, but none have been violent. It does sound like a red flag that the investigation resulted in ‘nothing’. I would assume the care facility would understand the importance of providing the family with some sort of concluding outcomes and recommendations.
Indeed this will be us one day – hipsters and all.
Take care,
Susan
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Check out CARP (Canadian Association of Retired People ages 45+). They are the leading organization in Canada advocating for seniors and regularly lobby the federal and provincial governments on behalf of seniors issues. They have done a lot of work on LTC and addressing the medical needs of seniors. Susan Eng is the person in charge.
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Please check with meadowlark care center in strathmore ab. It is a private care center that works to keep your family together. Owner is Debbie Wake lam please contact her. She will do her best to help you out. I hope things work out for you.
Regards
W . Wahlund
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Surely this must be rectified before your parents pass. Shame on family for standing around waiting on a broken system while your parents suffer. Take them into your home. I did for my mother in law father in law and disabled sister simply so they would not be separated by a degraded system. I had to close my business and give up my income and freedom. It was and still is worth it. They are your parents they gave you life they would never have left you if you were disabled or likewise as a child. I beg you to take responsibility Now and solve this problem for their sake then fight health care battle while they live peacefully and safy together protected by their family. Do what is right not what is easy. You are not a victim in this they are.
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Hi Laura, My parents moved out of their 2 story home because most of it was no longer accessible for them. Bedrooms upstairs, narrow bathroom doors and an inaccessible shower, steps in and out the front and back door. As a family we thought long and hard about the options of renovating the house, turning the basement into a private suite for 24 hour live in care, turning the dining room into a bedroom, putting in a wheel chair lift at the front door and replacing the interior stair lift chair with an elevator inside. In the end it was my Mother who decided she wanted to move. She was feeling increasingly isolated in her own home. Over and above the challenges of the house, she had Home Care workers coming in twice a day morning and night and felt the privacy and normal routines they had enjoyed for so many years were greatly diminished. My Father agreed with my Mother and they sold their home. In terms of moving my parents into my house- the same challenges exist. Our sidewalks have 8 stairs front and back, our front and back door have 5 stairs and once inside the house it is no where near accessible in terms of door widths and bathrooms. My Mother derives a lot of freedom and enjoyment from driving her scooter. The scooter would not fit inside our long and narrow home. This would relegate my Mother to a wheelchair which she cannot use that well due to arthritis of the hands, therefore she would be primarily immobile. Thank you for sharing your perspective. It takes a village.
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Sunrise Village is a lovely new facility in High River…check out their website at http://www.sunrisevillages.com. They offer both independent and assisted living. At least your parents could be in the same facility and it is a short drive from Calgary city limits in the south. We recently moved my widowed father and my Uncle, his brother, into a very spacious 2 bedroom suite…the hallways and rooms are well equiped to handle motorized scooters. They pay about $5,200 / month. It might be worth checking into? I hope your parents will soon find a facility where they can live out the rest of their lives together.
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Hello Debbie, ty for your note. Sunrise Village sounds great. My parents have been classified as LTC which means they cannot go to assisted living facilities. Nice you could get your Dad and Uncle together.
Susan
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I just wanted to mention that you never replied to Laura’s comment regarding the possibility of taking them into your own home, or for that matter, back to their own home. Surely, if they have the means to pay $7000 a month for a facility, there is the means to hire full time in home care?? I have made a promise to my parents to NEVER put them into a facility, they have enough children and grandchildren who love them beyond measure to ensure proper care is given when the time comes. I am so offended by some of your remarks to comments ie. having to do your mothers laundry while in hospital and that adds another layer of work and compensation on the family! Are you kidding me! I am about ready to scream and cry at your blatant heartlessness. When you go to see your mother, do you moan and groan about having to take her laundry home and then bring it back?!! Does she witness your exasperation??!! How must that make her feel?? I will tell you…she most likely feels like she is a burden!! Shame, shame on you and your family for standing by and waiting for the “system” to take your parents off your obviously so busy and uncaring hands!
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Hello Wanda. Thank you for encouraging me to respond to Laura.
Take care,
Susan
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Unfortunately, this has been the norm in Alberta for at least ten years. My husband and I have experienced this very same situation with three of our four parents. My frail, 92 year-old mother has lived in three settings in the last seven years. And to add insult to injury, both my sisters provide all of my mom’s food at her own cost, because neither of two public facilities have been able to provide her with healthy food which meet her severe special dietary needs. I hope that there is enough noise made that provincially and nationally this broken system is changed very soon.
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Hello Cate
I am so sorry to hear that your Mother has had to move 3 times at this stage of life. It is just unacceptable. Our loved ones need a way to ‘age in place’. Currently we are lightyears away from having that. The hidden aspects of having people in residential care are not well known about either. I am not surprised you have to prepare food for your Mother. I have seen other people doing that as well. Much to our surprise we have to do my Mother’s laundry at the moment. Even though she was put into the hospital through no fault of her own and she has to pay $55.00 rent to be there – they will not do her laundry.
This adds another layer of work and compensation on the family.
We do need to make a noise!
Susan
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This is so horrifying and shameful I am shocked. Is there a movement or group that is doing something to push this issue with government? I would happily sign a petition and do what I can to help. My heart goes out to your family and to all families going through this.
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Hi Cheyenne,
Check out the Canadian Medical Associations Demand a Plan website – they are doing what they can. http://www.demandaplan.ca You can add your name to the list. The CMA is pushing this as a national campaign because scenarios like my parents are happening time and time again throughout the country. It is shameful and shocking. Thank you for your note.
Susan
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Thank you for sharing your story. I have not had to deal with this in my family as of yet, but it is on my mind to look for a solution before one is needed. Is there a possibility for seniors like your mom, for example, to live in a home with other seniors in the same situation and hire a nurse to come and attend to those living in the home? I don’t imagine it would cost $7000/ month to do so (compared to what your parents were paying at the facility they rented) and if they do not require a higher level of care perhaps a home care nurse is adequate. Are there further medical assistants and equipment required for your father? Could he live in such a situation? I’m asking only because I wonder if ‘we’ can take control of the crisis seniors are facing and not have to rely on the government facilities. I have imagined a 4 or 5 bedroom house each having a room rented to a senior single or couple and a nurse being conjointly hired to provide care. While it may not be the most ideal set up, at least people who have worked and contributed their entire lives, will not be forced to live in an institution like so many are now. Thoughts?
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Hi Callie,
Yes there are homes as you described. Private care homes. Typically quite expensive. And not set up for anyone that requires very much care.
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I am the owner/operator of a care home in Strathmore and I would like to say that our fees are not more costly than large facilities in fact with a staff ratio of 1 : 4 residents I would say our fees are very reasonable and there is funding for qualified individuals. It is possible for all levels of care to be provided in a care home. We have some limitations in regards to motorized scooters in the home, and when rooms are available we have taken couples with different care levels, including palliative care. Anything is possible for the provision of accommodation & care for our elderly. Meadowlark Senior Care home came about because of my own families struggle with care for my Grandmother and that was 15 years ago.
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Hi Callie,
There is a very good Homecare program in Alberta, funded by the province. Once my Mother became reliant on an electric scooter their 1970’s home became a major barrier for her. By the time people need to move into a residential care environment there are so many intersecting problems and choices to deal with. In Europe there are better and more progressive methods for housing high care need seniors. Thank you for your message.
Susan
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Hi Susan, just wanted to send you a hug! Your parents’ situation is appalling, heartbreaking and downright inhumane. I do hope you and your family (especially your mom!) speak to the media about this– your parents’ story, and the many others that will likely come forward, will put help put pressure on the powers that be to change our broken system!
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Thank you Traci.
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W.Brett Wilson. Amazing Calgarian, kind and I’m sure not without connection in the medical field thanks to his generosity. I bet he is someone who could get the ball rolling for change. Baby boomers are fast coming up to old age….Canada needs to be prepared,
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Hi Linney
For now I am focusing on http://www.demandaplan.ca and this blog. I agree, Canada needs to be prepared.
Thank you for your note.
Susan
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Hi I just read your letter and am truly saddened by it I wonder if you’ve tried something like change .org they let you do a petition and circulat it on face book and other social media I know it sounds odd but this is very important to all of us and I for one would sign it and move it forward thank you and I hope this all works out for them
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Hi Penny. I am holding off on going further than this blog, individual letters and encouraging people to add their name to the http://www.demandaplan.ca website, which is the Canadian Medical Associations campaign to get a National Seniors Strategy in Canada. I figure the CMA has the focus, some clout and hopefully popular support to open some ears and eyes. #seniorsplan
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Hi Susan,
Too often I have heard similar stories having worked over twenty five years in long term care.
It is a frustrating situation. Our elderly need advocates, unfortunately, when the general public realizes this, their time and energy is spent navigating the system with their loved one.
My only advice is continue on your path. Write letters to MLA, also member of the opposition, tv, radio.
Rules can be bent. If you have access to a social worker where your dad is, and where your mom is, contact them and ask that they advocate for your parents. Also, call once or twice a day to the care home that you have chosen, speaking to the director of care and administrator. The director of care can request to see your moms assessment, and potentially offer her a bed at that facility. I know this sounds crazy, unfortunately the system is broken. Hope this helps.
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Dear Mary,
Wow! Thank you for this excellent advice!! It is very motivating to be steered in the right direction.
I completely agree with you about how people expend all of their energy on visiting an helping their loved ones in situ. It is hard to find the additional energy to advocate for change.
I have mentioned this before, but it bears repeating. The care givers in my Father’s LTC facility are wonderful. They are amazing, kind and empatheic people. Thank you for being one of those people too.
Susan
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Hello Susan….I was heartbroken to read your story. It is inconceivable that our society should treat seniors in this manner! We have recently placed my widowed mother-in-law, aged 93, in LTC in Rimbey. She had to spend over 2 months in Lacombe to “get into the system” before there was a bed for her in the town of her choice, where she farmed and raised her family. I work at a facility in Red Deer, where seniors are treated with the utmost respect, and where a husband and wife had rooms across the hall from each other. Perhaps your parents would consider a smaller town, if they could be together? For the first time ever, there are more seniors than those under 15 and the numbers will only grow as the last of us baby boomers reach senior status. Where will we all go? I can only hope your parents can find a way to spend their remaining time together.
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Dear Sandy,
Thank you for your suggestions and kind words. It is heartening to hear that there are more options in rural Alberta. The wait time ‘to get into the system’ is so unpredictable. If a person has any extenuating circumstances such as driving a mobility scooter the wait time list goes thru the roof. We do need to find a way for our seniors to ‘age in place’, be able to live within the same facility and hopefully be within proximity of their family support system. I do wonder where we will all go when the time comes. There is suppose to be a good radio documentary on CBC tomorrow morning called ‘Our last big adventure’. It is the story of some senior Canadians who are establishing so sort of alternative communal living facility with a network of like minded people so they can stay out of LTC. I will be listening with open ears!
I am glad to hear your Mother in Law was able to get a place in her home town. Our experience with care givers throughout all of this has been excellent.
Take care
Susan
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Hi Sandy
I see you mention move to a smaller community. I live in a small town(Sedgewick, Ab) and we did have a lodge facility but the local board made a decision to knock it down and replace with a 10 room self assisted apartment complex. The rooms will be little over 500 sq.ft, they will need to cook, clean etc. So really the seniors that can do that will stay in their homes. What is needed in our area also is MORE lodges and assisted living facilities where our seniors can live in the communities in which they have contributed to for their whole lives and to be near family. If you read all of the Government studies they say seniors should be living in their communities to age( AGE IN PLACE) not leave all they have known, but that is not happening in our area.We have been left with finding places for the seniors that has not been easy, not to mention many of them having to move out of their communities and away from families, doctors and other services. I don’t think there is a senior lodge, assisted living or extendacare bed within 100 km. Actually we also have waiting lists. I think people that think they will find a bed in rural Alberta will be very disappointed. There are many that are not happy with the Government’s approval to close our lodge and to maybe replace with apartments because that is not what is needed! But they will build those apartments and I don’t think the seniors will use them, and why would they since they would get the same care at home(which is fend for yourself). There are already seniors apartments in area towns that are not used by seniors but rather rented to oilfield workers, what a waste of money! The soon to be seniors who will need a facility in the future are very worried, and are wondering how far away from family will they have to move to find an assisted place to live.
Susan I really hope you find a place for your parents to AGE IN PLACE together.
Jeannette
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Go to the television …it is the only way to have a voice and this 8s a good time politically to do it.
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Your recent post is heartbreaking. If I can help in any way please let me know. I have tweeted and posted on Facebook. I noticed Marie Renaud NDP MLA responded and indicated she would bring it to the Ministers attention.
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Thank you Heather. Your tweets seem to have sky rocketed the number of views on my blog, that alone has been tremendously helpful. There is no doubt about it, this is an issue – across the country.
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Hello again Heather,
I have received a lot of response to this open letter. On Monday morning I have a list of folks I will be contacting directly. I truly hope the story will reach the Minister, and from there I hope that some form of action can be taken.
I guess I should not be surprised, but this issue is resonating with so many people. Over 10,000 people have read the letter on my blog. I was hoping maybe 200 would. 10,000 is indicative of just how much people care about this issue and how deep the concern goes with countless people across the country.
Thank you again. I am positive your sharing of the story kicked the networking into overdrive.
Susan
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One of the private facilities I viewed (for my mom) had a three thousand dollar nonrefundable deposit), something which should certainly not be allowed. Lets hope that our new peovincial government does a better job and that our new federal government begins to monotor the Canada Health Care Act in a way that benefits Canadians,
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Agreed Bev! Best wishes for finding a place your Mom and you like.
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Susan : Having buried my Mother and then Mother in Law just a year ago, we know exactly what you are going through and can sympathize. I hope you find some success in your charge against AHS. The new ministers will not help much if any because the big money goes to the glamorous diseases . Sad but true. Best of luck.
Ted and Bonnie Parks.
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Hi Ted. My condolences on your loss. Hopefully Alberta Health Services will kick into gear under the new government. I am going to write a separate post about this, but a few of the emails I am receiving from people facing similar circumstances are pointing out that the privitisation of large areas of seniors health is a major part of the problem. AHS has liscensed these operators but I seriously question the efficacy of how they are being held accountable.
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Try looking at evanstone, they have rooms to share. Fairly new to Calgary. I forwarded this to David swan as he has the council doing review of mental health….yes you fall under that for the dementia and long term care needs. They do have locked units. Medicine Hat has lots of rooms if that’s where you are from, there’s ore in Lethbridge too. Strath more opened up a place but it might be full.nope not enough LTc and it’s getting worse.
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Hi Christina,
Thank you very much for forwarding this on to David Swann. Evanston Grand is quite nice but it is an Assisted Living facility not LTC. The challenge of keeping partners together gets quite a lot worse at the LTC. Take care
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Im so very sorry for what your parents are dealing with. Please also contact all of our major news stations. This is a human interest story I think they might accept. If nothing else it will bring to light an issue that our new government should be addressing and pressure for our seniors facilities / homes to step up and become accountable for the trauma they have the power, to avoid inflicting on our seniors. Best of luck ..dont give up.
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Ty Roz. Agreed that somewhere along the way accountability to the seniors themselves fell off the map.
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I read this and felt for the family. I think they are directing their anger in the wrong direction. The title alone says divorced and homeless by healthcare. Implying it is healthcare system fault. I think they planned appropriately for their retirement by moving into a seniors facility that is supposed have multicare levels. The problem arises because this private for profit facility failed to staff this facility to accommodate them. Their anger should be directed at the facility. All too often these Nursing homes are glad to take your money but as soon as it costs them they slough off the responsibility to “Healthcare”. This problem is only going to get worse and it’s not health cares fault. The lack of insight showed by the previous government aka “Klein cuts” will soon be felt and it will be the “NDP’s fault because everything else is.
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Hi Ken. Absolutely a fair comment. You are right – the only reason why my Mother is now living in a hospital for no medical reason is because the private service provider facility (licensed by Alberta Healthcare) she was living in used a well worn technique of refusing a resident back into the building following a hospital stay. Your message has given me food for thought. I am going to edit the sub title of this Blog to include the privitisation of seniors health care in the problem. It is not just the provincial system. Thank you for that.
I have A LOT to of feedback to give re the risks and results of privatising seniors care. You would think for $7000.00 per month rent the facility my parents were living in could have provided a substantial level of care. It was all about the lure of getting people in the door.
Ironically they used the same pitch to lure us in as they did to kick us out…their primary focus is on improving the quality of life and ensuring the safety of our parents.
Susan
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Hello Merle,
Thank you for your note and recommendation. I will do as you suggest and send a letter to Alberta Minister of Health Sarah Hoffman @shoffman . Should I get a response I will share it on this site. I am cautiously optimistic that our new government(s) can improve the situation for our seniors. What I really wish they would do is hold some sort of open forum to solicit feedback directly from the families who are most familiar with how the system works. It seems as if for the most part any analysis that has been done to date is based on statistics, wait time numbers, financials etc. That distances the policy makers and people of influence from the lived experiences of the people in care.
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Susan, I left a long reply earlier, but I see it has disappeared to somewhere. So in case it turns up at some point, I won’t repeat the whole thing. I did suggest, that if you haven’t done so already, to contact the new Minister of Health for Alberta and the new Minister of Health for Canada. They both seem like they want to move onto change for our province and our country, so lets see it happen. My heart hurts for all concerned.
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Hi, such a well written letter that puts a name behind a tragic situation. We read stories like this so often, and it is very hurtful. If I substitute my name for your mom’s name, it all becomes so real. I would suggest, if you haven’t done so already, to contact and send your story to the new Minister of Health for Alberta as well as the new Minister of health for Canada. They have promised that there is going to be changes, and we must hold them to their promises. Ask for a reply and also ask when you should expect a solution, because time for you is running out. Our parents built this province, we are the reason these people have the job that they do and I want with all my heart to believe that they will see it through.
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Your family’s story is heartbreaking, and oh so true. My father just passed away of dementia 3 months ago. Mom needs assisted living now. It was a nightmare. You are doing the right thing by writing and advocating. We did our best too and it felt like bashing our heads up against the wall. You have to do it for their sakes and for the next group of seniors who will need the system. I have shared your story and have urged others to as well. Keep fighting the fight. New government may help?
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Hello Pamela. Thank you for your note and for sharing your story. Sorry about the loss of your Father. It is so unacceptable and down right offensive that the health care system fails our seniors and stresses out their families at their time of greatest need. I would hope that the new government would help – nothing substantial has improved as of yet. Bashing our heads up against the wall …. very much so. Take good care and feel free to share more of your story on this blog if you would like too. I welcome anyone who wants to shine a light on this unacceptable situation to share their voice here.
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A family tragedy and a shameful indictment of our public health care system for seniors. Susan, you are brave to have shared your personal story in the hopes of making change for your parents and for so many other seniors who fall between the cracks. We must keep in mind that their problem is OUR problem too, not only on compassionate grounds but also because this could happen to any one of us in the not-so-distant future.
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