People deserve a lot better': Hundreds wait in hospital for a nursing home space
Laurina Beers was hoping her 91-year-old mother Alice would be home with her family this Christmas, but she is one of more than 400 New Brunswickers in hospital waiting for space in a nursing home.
"We're frustrated and angry," Beers said Thursday. "She should be home with us, or in a nursing home and not have to spend her last days and months like this. People who worked so hard all their lives deserve better than to be stuck in a hospital. They should have a golden crown on their heads."
Beers said her mother, Alice Arsenault, was living at her home in St-Paul and showing early signs of dementia. She was having medical issues on Nov. 7, so they called for an ambulance. Upon arrival at the Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre, Beers was told she couldn't accompany her mother into the hospital because of COVID-19 restriction. Beers was concerned that her mother wouldn't be able to respond to questions from the doctors because of her condition.
On that first night in hospital, Beers said, her mother fell and broke her hip. Her daughter wasn't able to take her home because they don't have the proper equipment or facilities to care for her. The family was told it could be six months before her mother could be considered for a space in a nursing home.
Since then, Beers and her sister Huberte have become dedicated caregivers, visiting her in the hospital on alternating days as per pandemic restriction. But they are concerned the changing pandemic rules may soon exclude them. Beers said her mother doesn't understand where she is and asks about family members who passed away long ago. She does jigsaw puzzles and has a Cabbage Patch doll for comfort. Beers said her mother was born in Adamsville in 1930 and worked for many years in restaurants and raising her family. She has six children, 17 grandchildren, 30 great-grandchildren and nine great-great-grandchildren.
"I feel bad for the others who are alone in their rooms or in the hallways," Beers said. "It's so sad."
Cecile Cassista, executive director of the New Brunswick Coalition for Seniors and Nursing Home Residents Rights, said this story is all too familiar and getting worse through the pandemic.
The coalition says that as of Nov 21, there were approximately 789 people in the province waiting to get into a nursing home, 439 of them in hospitals. The Moncton region has the most with 242 on the waiting list, 138 in hospital. The total number was 701 in January and peaked at 819 in October.
Cassista says nursing homes in New Brunswick don't have enough space or staff to keep up with the demand and the costs are prohibitive for many families. The coalition is pushing the government to look at ways to make nursing homes more affordable.
Cassista says the situation has gotten worse during the pandemic, with restrictions on visitors at hospitals and nursing homes.
"Bringing someone home for Christmas poses dangers to the patients, the families, and to the nursing homes when they go back," she said.
Last month, Health Minister Dorothy Shephard released a discussion paper on the future of health care in the province. Among the topics is how to better support New Brunswickers as they age.
"If the time comes that a senior is not able to live in their home, they should have timely access to the most appropriate level of care to meet their needs, including adult residential facilities and nursing homes," the report states.
The Times & Transcript has requested comment from the health department.
More to come....
