Sharon Rauhala is 75 years old and is the primary caregiver for her husband of 56 years.
However, the Kelowna resident said it’s starting to take a toll.
“I’ve had to double my blood pressure medications, I’ve had to double my anti-depressants,” Rauhala told Global News. “Just so I can cope enough to take care of him.”
Chester Rauhala, 81, needs to be in long-term care (LTC), but waiting times to be placed are lengthy.
Chester Rauhala suffers from giant cell arteritis, an inflammatory disease. He also has other complex health issues, including poor mobility
According to his wife, he’s fallen eight times in the last four months, forcing her to call ambulance paramedics each time to get him back up.
“I can’t lift him up and then the neighbours can’t lift him up anymore, either. So I just have to wait for the ambulance,” she said.
“They usually come in about 20 minutes, but the last time it was two and a half hours, so he just has to lay on the floor and wait until they come.”
The Kelowna man has been in and out of the hospital several times since last fall, even staying for six weeks at a time when his wife refused to take him home, knowing she’d have to bring him back again.
Sharon says she placed her husband in a private, assisted-living facility, but said he only lasted there five days because he wasn’t independent enough for assisted living.
“I was told to put him in private, extended care and I priced out places and they’re anywhere from $8,000 to $9,000 a month,” she said.
“I can’t afford it. I’ve been told. ‘Well, just sell your house. Well, if I sell my house, where am I going to live?”
Sharon doesn’t know how exactly how long the wait for a publicly funded long-term care bed will be, but she expects it to be months, possibly more than a year,
“From the research I’ve done, they’re a little vague, they say months,” she said.
Sharon also said she knows people in worse shape than her husband who’ve already waited months and still can’t get a long-term care bed.
“It’s a nightmare,” she said. “The whole thing, the whole system has been a nightmare.”
Chester Rauhala said the whole experience has been difficult — physically and emotionally.
“It makes you feel you haven’t got the right to live, really,” he said. “Can’t live here, can’t live there, it’s hard all around on you.”
The couple said what’s even more frustrating is they’ve heard there are beds available, but can’t be filled.
“Several homes have told me they have empty beds, but they can’t fill them because they don’t have staff,” said Sharon.
In an email to Global News, Interior Health (IH) said it is committed to working with families to support frail seniors at home.
Interior Health also said it recognizes that this can be a difficult time for seniors and their families.
While IH won’t comment on specific patient information, it said it’s important to know that when an individual is assessed for long-term care, their case manager will provide site-specific information.
It went on to say at that time, people can also choose to be placed on a waitlist for the first available care home until a bed at their preferred home is available.
According to IH, in many situations, the first available care-home process allows people to move into LTC sooner than if they wait for a bed at their preferred home.
IH did not confirm whether LTC beds in the region are sitting empty due to staff shortages.
Sharon, who is a retired nurse, believes a big part of the solution lies in eliminating some of the barriers for licensed healthcare workers.
“If somebody would do something about speeding the process for licensed healthcare workers. They write their exam and they can be waiting months before they’re allowed to work,” she said.
“And foreign workers, especially now with Ukraine. There are a lot of very experienced healthcare workers coming over here, and it can take years and cost a lot of money before they can get accredited.
“I mean, we want people that are capable and safe, but the system is terrible.”