A Kingston, Ont., woman is telling her story months after her sister died while staying at Kingston General Hospital as she waited for a bed in long-term care.
“She was crying all the time. She felt like we deserted her,” said Jackie Boudreau.
On Wednesday, the South East Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) released its recent long-term care waitlist information.
It found that 1,943 patients are on the long-term care waiting list in Kingston and Frontenac County with only 1,055 beds available.
Boudreau says her sister worked as a private personal support worker before she was diagnosed with dementia, and as her health began to deteriorate, the family hoped to move her into an Ontario-run long-term care facility. After they were turned away at each home, Boudreau says her sister wound up at KGH.
“The emotional stress of having to drop off your loved one in an environment that they’re terrified of, it’s emotionally devastating.”
Boudreau and others with family members on the waiting list point the finger at Fairfield Manor east and west closing in 2018 after the owner filed for bankruptcy. LHIN told Global News, however, that Fairfield Manor was not a part of the study because it is a retirement home and wouldn’t contribute to the long-term care data.
Since the manors closed in 2018, the data shows a jump of over 350 people on the waitlist since the closure.