My 89-year-old father passed away in the early morning hours on Monday, Oct. 8 while in the extended care ward at the Olds Hospital and Care Centre — alone.
Dad fell and broke his hip at his home in Sundre on May 13, 2018 and never recovered his mobility. After his surgery at Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre to repair the fracture, he was returned to the Sundre Hospital and Care Centre and placed in restorative care for rehabilitation. But he did not improve and was therefore not allowed to stay.
As there were no beds available for him in Sundre, he was sent to a long-term care facility in Rocky Mountain House for two and a half weeks and then transferred to Olds. These locations were much better than Ponoka, where there was a bed available for him that I refused.
Dad's health declined and it was inevitable he would not be coming home. I took my 88-year-old mother to see dad every day while he was in Sundre, but had to limit our visits to twice a week when he was in Rocky and Olds.
In his final week, I attempted to have him returned to Sundre so he could pass away surrounded by the family who loved him. Didn’t happen. He died alone.
Apparently there are a couple of palliative care beds in the new Sundre Seniors' Supportive Living Lodge that have never been used. What is the problem?
I have also seen several empty beds in the Sundre hospital. Could he not have been placed in one of those? Nope, not in the budget. We were willing to pay the same fee we were charged in the extended care facilities (once Dad was removed from restorative care and moved to a hospital bed in Sundre, we were charged). We were also told he would be better off not being in a hospital setting. At this point, did it really matter? He didn’t want to partake in anything but staying in bed.
Room has to be made available in Sundre for our ailing residents.
This health-care system is broken and I will now join the fight to find out why. I know I’m only one of many who have the same issues and concerns.
Lori Lunde
Sundre
