‘I almost lost my will to live’: Armstrong, B.C. man speaks out about long-term care

An Armstrong, B.C. man is speaking out about his experience living at a long-term care facility run by Interior Health.

Todd Darbyson feels his rights as a resident of Pleasant Valley Manor were ignored and his care plan put him at risk.

Darbyson said he is sharing his story to make family members of other residents aware.

“My coming out with this is no longer to change Interior Health’s ways, because they will never say, ‘Sorry, and we have corrected the problem,’ it is now to inform the families that have family members or friends. Be a little skeptical of your loved one’s complaints,” Darbyson said.

The 47-year-old lives with ALS and was a resident of the Interior Health-operated long-term care facility for around six months last year.

In June, months into his time at the care facility, he was devastated to be put on a minced diet.

Darbyson said the minced food caused him to have trouble swallowing, made him throw up, and put him at high risk of choking.

“I told management that the diet the dietitian put me on was dangerous, (and) explained what it was physically doing to me,” Darbyson said.

“I still pay my bills, (and) taxes. I can still vote but I can’t choose the texture of my foods that was clearly putting me in danger.”

Darbyson wasn’t happy with the response to his complaints about the minced diet and other concerns and felt his rights to participate in the development of his care plan were trampled on.

“I learned firsthand how it is to go hungry, be ignored, scared, (and) treated where my rights don’t mean much if it interferes with management. I almost lost my will to live,” said Darbyson.

The Armstrong man was also concerned about staff being told to turn his computer stand to face the window while doing his care as he uses a tablet he controls with his eye movements to communicate.

“Management bullies because they get away with it. That is why management took my voice/communication away. How pathetic is that, (to) take away a person’s voice?” he said.

In a written response to Darbyson’s complaints to Interior Health’s patient care quality office, an Interior Health staff member said, at the time, officials were under the impression they were involving Darbyson in decisions.

In her complaint response, Alicia Ponich, a seniors care director for Interior Health North Clinical Operations, details a series of meetings staff had with Darbyson about his care.

“While we aim for a person-centered approach to care, which preserves dignity and respect, I recognize from Todd(‘s) perspective this was not met. I truly apologize we were not able to meet his needs,” Ponich wrote.

“I am committed to reviewing the quality of care we provide and will continue to ensure that we collaboratively work with residents and families to ensure standards of care are met.”

The minced food diet was ordered in early June. By mid-July, Interior Health said Darbyson was told a different unit, with more staff, could feed him a regular diet, and a trial feeding was arranged but Darbyson was offsite that day.

Darbyson has expressed that he was concerned that if he moved to a different unit, staff that didn’t know him would be doing his care.

In a statement to Global News, Interior Health said it makes every effort to avoid moving residents within a facility unnecessarily, but, “there are times when a resident is moved to a unit where there is more staff with the ability to meet that individual’s specific needs.”

Shortly after, at the end of July, Darbyson moved out of the facility altogether to live with a friend who offered to take him in after seeing how he was struggling in the long-term care home.

The health authority’s response is little comfort to Darbyson who says he is much happier now that he has been removed from the facility.

2:02 B.C. government working out details for virtual health care

Interior Health doesn’t explain, in either of its statements, why the staff was being directed to turn Darbyson’s computer screen away from him.

Darbyson believes it was an overreaction to him having a camera in his room in the hopes he “would be treated better if some staff knew there was a camera in the room.”

He said the camera was never actually on and was put away when the policy about videoing staff was explained to him.

Interior Health did not make anyone available for an on-camera interview on Wednesday about Darbyson’s complaints but said it “takes these kinds of concerns seriously.”

“Investigations are conducted to determine whether the care provided and the actions taken to solve complaints were thorough and appropriate,” the health authority’s statement said.