OLDS — Local residents who met virtually with Alberta Health Services (AHS) chair Lyle Oberg and other AHS officials are skeptical that changes they advocated for the treatment of seniors in the health-care system will actually occur.
But they’re willing to wait and see.
Community Lifestyles Committee (CLC) co-chairs Rita Thompson and Bernice Lynn as well as Olds & District Hospice Society executive director Mary Marshall and a couple of local residents who experienced disappointing service from people in the health-care system met Thursday with Oberg and four AHS reps for about 90 minutes.
Thompson said apologies were received for various situations in which elderly people were poorly treated in the health-care system.
For example, Thompson said in least one case, instead of being admitted to emergency and acute care, an elderly person with dementia was placed in a cell meant to house criminals or drug addicts.
In another case, Lynn fell and broke her hip. When Thompson went to see her in hospital after surgery, she was crying, saying she hadn’t been bathed for days. Thompson said Lynn was only given wipes and paper towels to cleanse herself.
“They were given an apology and I think they felt heard, so we'll see what happens; if things change as a result,” Thompson said during an interview with the Albertan. “They got an apology. A heartfelt apology. So that was good.
"Certainly there was, I think, an understanding and an agreement that people with dementia do not belong in acute care.
“I think that will change although, and they will be reviewing their restraint policy.”
“I'm supposed to write a letter now and kind of summarize, and then I think there'll be another follow-up,” Thompson added. “I'm not going to say it was great until I see some outcomes.”
Also raised was the status of a dialysis building for Olds and what happened to the $21 million that had been set aside for it.
Thompson and Lynn said provincial officials attending the meeting promised to look into that question.
Thompson said she was impressed with the amount of time the officials made available for the meeting.
“They were going to give us 45 minutes and they gave us an extra 45. So we were in an hour-and-a-half,” she said.
“I think we could have used more time,” Thompson added but noted the meeting was lengthy and “we were all pretty tired near the end.”
Unfortunately, she said, the connection on the web was “poor” which made the meeting a bit difficult.
Lynn’s impression of the meeting was similar to Thompson’s.
“They all listened attentively. They asked good questions,” Lynn said.
“They listened, asked good questions and their promises were ones that they could be accountable for because they were going to speak to individuals.
“They asked some of us if one of the relevant politicians could call them back personally, and so I was very impressed.
“And of course, it would take time to get the research done to answer some of the questions that they had.”
As a result, Lynn said she thought the meeting was “really well worthwhile.”
Lynn said initially, she was concerned that Oberg and the AHS reps may have attended the meeting because they felt they had to, but she came away feeling differently.
“They were actually actively engaged, I would say. They did apologize when it was important and there was a genuine, tone to the whole meeting,” she said.
Like Thompson, Lynn will wait and see what happens regarding the dialysis unit money.
“What I am confident in is that they will find out where the money is because it's a lot of money,” Lynn said.
“I am not so confident that that money hasn't been used elsewhere. I'm not confident it's sitting there in a bank account somewhere waiting for us to get (it).
“I know we'll get an answer (of) some sort, but I'm not sure it's going to be enough. It (had) better be enough for our hospital.”
Marshall liked the fact that apologies were given for the experiences that local residents and their loved ones went through.
She too was impressed with the fact that the meeting went longer than initially scheduled.
However, Marshall was not impressed with Oberg’s reaction to changes to hospice placement recommended on behalf of the Olds & District Hospice Society.
One was that standardized assessments of patients for hospice admissions be instituted; that there be a maximum three days’ admission from the time the client has been qualified regardless of weekend/weekday.
A second one was that a committee determine hospice placement, not an individual and that the placement wishes of the patient, their families and the doctor be respected.
Marshall said when she called for the maximum of three-day admission rule, Oberg “shrugged it off” and said sometimes that admission time might be two days and sometimes four.
"I didn't really feel that he personally understood the gravity of a client that's been qualified, with all their paperwork in order, and not being able to access the support,” she said.
In regard to the call for a committee to determine hospice admissions, Marshall said Oberg liked the current system where that determination is made by an individual.
However, she said he did say that that individual should follow the proper process for making that admission decision.
“I disagreed with him in the meeting and I said that if it's left down to an individual, there's always a chance that it won't be handled appropriately and it really should be a committee,” Marshall said.
"What if that individual’s on holidays? What does that look like for hospice admissions?”
As for the idea of respecting the family and doctor’s recommendations regarding hospice admissions, Marshall said, “they agreed that it should be patient centred, but didn't provide us with any information that that was going to be the case moving forward. But they also didn't say it wouldn't be the case.”
Marshall was asked if now that the meeting is over, she feels hopeful the society’s concerns will be addressed as the society wishes.
“I'm not sure if our things are going to be addressed,” she said. “I think there's a possibility that they might.
“I won't really know until the weeks to come if these concerns are going to be taken seriously and there's something that is going to be done about them, or if they're just looking to move past it without making changes that will be best for the patient.”
Thompson indicated the group have a chance to meet personally with Oberg in the future.
She said Oberg told the group he has family in Olds and will be coming for a visit.
