New Brunswick’s temporary approval to fast track sending some hospitalized seniors to a nursing home is having a ripple effect on families.
Terri Pettit, a Saint John woman who was on the verge of getting a nursing home placement, says she’s now stuck waiting in her home even longer.
“It was like a slap in the face for one thing, it was very disheartening,” she said. “Because you’re set to do something to help yourself, and then all of the sudden it’s taken away.”
Pettit has lived in a senior’s apartment building for the past five years and receives seven hours of homecare each day, but she needs more support since having a stroke in 2022.
“She’s lost mobility in her right leg altogether, so you know, walking around, getting to bed, out of bed to go to the washroom, it’s difficult,” said her daughter, Shelley Pettit. “She can’t really cook anymore, taking a shower, self care, all those she needs help with.”
Shelley says she received a call earlier this month, telling her that her mother would soon be placed in a nursing home. When she called back two days later, Shelley says she was told there was no longer any immediate plans for her mother to move in. She says she was told that priority is being given to patients needing long-term care at certain hospitals, and that her mother’s bed was taken.
Both of Horizon Health’s hospitals in Saint John are currently being given priority for placing their alternate level of care patients in long-term care homes.
This is due to a Critical State protocol that can be enacted when hospitals are overwhelmed. A spokesperson for the Department of Social Development, Rebecca Howland, told Global News this means “other placements,” such as Pettit’s are being put on hold of a maximum of 30 days.
In an email, Howland said the reprioritization is temporary, and people will not lose their spot on the waitlist.
“It is necessary to balance the needs in the community as well as hospitals, and we do not take the critical state decision lightly,” wrote Howland. “In the meantime, the department is working with the regional health authorities, hospitals, and other community stakeholders to find the best solution for all.”
The Critical State protocol will remain active in the Saint John hospitals until early February.
Terri says all she wants is the safety of having someone around 24/7.
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“At nighttime here, I don’t have anyone. And I have to get up and go to the bathroom on my own. It’s kind of scary sometimes,” she said.
Her daughter says the whole family is concerned.
“We just want her to be safe and enjoy her last years, right?”
Horizon has also requested that four Fredericton-area hospitals get the same prioritization. The Department of Social Development confirmed the Dr. Everett Chalmers Hospital was approved as of Tuesday, and will be reassessed in 30 days.
A spokesperson from Vitalité Health Network said they made a similar request for the Chaleur Regional Hospital and the Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre, but was denied by the Department of Social Development.
— with a file from Global News’ Rebecca Lau
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