Five years ago Sheldon and Pearl Feldman celebrated 50 years of marriage. Today, 76-year-old Sheldon is living in Peace Arch Hospital.
“He’s scared. He’s very, very scared about where he is going to go,” said Pearl Feldman. “He doesn’t do well with change.”
Sheldon Feldman had been living at the Morgan Place Care Facility in South Surrey for more than a year after his Parkinson’s disease made it too difficult for him to stay at home.
His family says they noticed his condition worsened in September so he was taken to hospital where he was diagnosed with pneumonia and blood clots in his lungs.
“At the time that he went into emergency, they told us that had we not brought him in they don’t think he would have survived the night,” said daughter Andrea Feldman.
His family says doctors cleared Sheldon to return to Morgan Place in September. Before that, wife Pearl filed a complaint about the doctor there and requested he no longer treat her husband.
The Fraser Health Authority said such requests aren’t easy to fulfill.
“If you are trying to get into a care home where either you don’t want that particular care home’s doctor to be responsible for your care or you don’t have a GP, then the care home has no option but to say that they can’t take you because there is simply no one who could actually oversee your care needs,” said Tasleem Juma of Fraser Health Authority.
- Trudeau says ‘good luck’ to Saskatchewan premier in carbon price spat
- Canadians more likely to eat food past best-before date. What are the risks?
- Hundreds mourn 16-year-old Halifax homicide victim: ‘The youth are feeling it’
- Vacation death: Cuba apologizes after Canadian family receives wrong remains
But there are also concerns about the way the family was told Sheldon Feldman’s bed had been cancelled.
“No discussion was had with us,” said daughter Andrea.
“What right do they have to make such a life-changing decision on behalf of my father?”
They also say they were only given a few hours to get all of Sheldon’s personal items out of his room.
“We are looking into how the communication happened between the care home and the family,” Juma said. “Certainly we have to recognize that we’ve got to show compassion and give people time to get their belongings.”
The health authority is working to find Feldman another bed, but there is no guarantee it will be close to his wife and daughter, something that is adding stress to the situation.
“I just want the best for my husband,” said Feldman.
-With files from Jill Bennett
Comments