Senior, 93, forced to sleep in hospital hallway leaves her Edmonton family outraged

It’s been a distressing few days for Carmen Renderos and her family in Edmonton.

Last week, her 93-year-old mother, Virginia Chacon, was admitted to the University of Alberta Hospital after a bad fall.

“We called the ambulance and we thought she had a fracture or something,” Renderos said.

At first, her mom was in a shared room, according to Renderos, then briefly moved to a private room at the Edmonton hospital.

On Tuesday, however, Virginia was moved again — without consent or the family’s knowledge — to the hallway of the unit she was on.

Renderos found out while she was talking to her mom on the phone.

“When I start talking to her, she starts crying and I say: Why are you crying? What’s going on? And she said to me ‘I don’t know what’s happening. I am outside. I’m not in the room. I am in front where the nurses are,'” Renderos explained.

“She was very scared, she was afraid, she was worried.”

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Renderos said her mom doesn’t know English — only Spanish — and didn’t understand what was going on.

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The family alleges that while Virginia was in the hallway, no one tended to her for hours and staff forgot to bring her a meal.

“My daughter went to visit her later on and she found out her supper was missed because she wasn’t in the room,” Renderos said.

She also noted her mom couldn’t sleep because of the constant noise in the hallway.

“This is not right — this is unacceptable. Nobody deserves to be treated like that. Nobody.”

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Renderos said she was told her mother was moved because the room was needed for a patient who had to be in isolation.

“I asked her doctor ‘How many days she will be in the hallway?’ She said it might be two or three days,” Renderos explained.

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In a statement to Global News, Alberta Health Services said it has acknowledged the family’s concerns and adds when hospitals experience a surge of patients, some must be moved and hallways are an option.

“When this happens, we enact measures that support patient flow, which ensures patients get the care they need as quickly as possible,” AHS said.

“One of these measures requires units to temporarily accept the care of one patient above their usual capacity. This may mean that a patient is moved to a hallway until another arrangement can be made.”

AHS noted patients moved into the hallway are chosen based on clinical stability and who don’t have airborne isolation requirements.

“This is not the preferred method to provide care, but is sometimes necessary to ensure that all patients receive the care they need. We know this can be difficult for the patient and their families,” AHS said.

Renderos said she appreciates all the nurses have done for her mother and recognizes the situation was out of their hands, but she doesn’t want other families to go through this.

“Today it’s my mom, tomorrow it can be your family or anybody else’s family,” she said.

On Thursday, the family said Virginia was transferred to the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital.