Daughter claims 92-year-old mother taken off crisis long-term care waitlist after hospital stay
Posted September 6, 2022 5:48 pm.
Last Updated September 7, 2022 12:13 pm.
The Ford government’s controversial bill that allows hospitals to push people into long-term care homes was passed last week, it’s not the law yet, but families are struggling as hospitals try to free up beds.
One woman is working on getting her 92-year-old mother into a long-term care home but says a hospital stay kicked her off the waitlist she was on.
Yvonne Crossman tells CityNews her mother, Genita, always planned to get into a long-term care home. One year ago, Genita was assessed and deemed acceptable for long-term care.
“They came to her house, interviewed her and signed her up,” said Crossman. “They said she’s on the crisis list for long-term care.”
Crossman said her mother knew she was ready for long-term care. While Genita is legally blind, she lived alone for many years and cared for herself. However, they started to notice she needed more care.
“During COVID, she started deteriorating. We got nervous and thought we better call for more help. She was getting nurses. Community Care sent some nurses during the day to ensure she took her medication. And to check up on her, to bathe her,” said Crossman.
In June, after telling her daughter she was in pain, Genita was admitted to the hospital for a significant, life-saving operation at Mississauga Trillium Hospital. She was later moved to a rehab facility on the same site, where she began to learn how to walk and to see how she is functioning.
A few days ago, Crossman says the hospital informed her mother that she would have to leave by Saturday of the long weekend.
At this point, Crossman decided to call Community Care Support Services to check her status on the long-term care waitlist and see if it could be expanded to more locations.
“I asked her if I could add more long-term care homes to make the list bigger, just in case there’s a problem with putting into her certain ones. And they said they closed her file,” shared Crossman. “They just said they closed her file, and I’d have to speak to the hospital.”
Crossman said the hospital told Genita she would have to be out in the community to sign up for long-term care again.
She’s now being told her mother must vacate the hospital, leaving Crossman scrambling to find a place for her to stay. The only options they’ve been given are Genita moving home into one of her children’s homes or an expensive retirement facility.
Crossman tells CityNews there is no one qualified to care for her mother in their family.
“It’s hard because she needs too much care and even to lift her,” explained Crossman.
“She would need somebody at nighttime too because she likes to get up at night and wander. She needs 24-hour care.”
Crossman said they would have to hire a nurse to care for her at night and pay out of pocket if she went back to living independently.
A retirement home, she’s been told, would also be pricey – between $5,000 and $9,000. Crossman also said the retirement home told her if her mother ended up at one, it would be harder for her to get into long-term care.
“It’ll be harder because she’s safe. If you’re safe, and you’re being taken care of, other people that need it more will be put at the top of the list.”
In a statement issued to CityNews, a spokesperson with Trillium Health Partners (THP) says when a patient is ready for care beyond the hospital setting, THP follows what it calls a “standard process to ensure their care needs are met, and continuous care is provided as they transition out of the hospital.”
“This involves working with the patient, their family and/or a Substitute Decision Maker or their Power of Attorney,” the spokesperson said in an email.
“We know that remaining at home, or close to home, is beneficial for all patients. In keeping with this, our first course of action is often to determine if returning home, with or without additional support, is beneficial for the patient. Should this not be an option, THP explores all opportunities available to determine the most appropriate place for a patient to transition to, depending on their specific care needs.”
THP says this often includes various community settings, such as retirement homes, group homes, long-term care or transitional care.
“Under no circumstances will THP discharge a patient who requires additional care in a specialized setting without a proper care plan and supports in place,” the spokesperson said.
“For privacy reasons, as outlined by the Personal Health Information Protection Act, THP does not share a patient’s health information with anyone outside a patient and their family.”
Not uncommon for hospitals to free up beds near long-weekend: lawyer
A long-term care home would charge the amount in her mother’s disability check while the government subsidizes the rest.
With Ontario’s Bill 7 soon coming into effect and extremely long waitlists for long-term care, Crossman worries her mother will fall through the cracks.
“It’s been hard. I want to fight for her. That’s why I’m doing this,” explained Crossman. “I’m trying to explain it to her. She’s not remembering much now that she’s been in the hospital. She thinks they had no right to do that. Because I told her that she’s now off the list and we have to figure out what we will do.”
Jane Meadus, a lawyer at the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly, said it’s not uncommon to see hospitals attempt to free up beds before the long weekend.
“We find that our numbers go up ahead of long weekends to try and free up beds in a hospital. That’s common but can happen at any time,” explained Meadus.
“These threats, and [being] told you to have to get out and go to a retirement home which is not part of health care system or home when it’s not safe; those are everyday occurrences in our offices.”
She said they also see retirement homes pushed on seniors in hospital settings.
“It is very common for hospitals to try to push people to pay for private care. And this is another burden that they’re putting on seniors.”
Meadus said they encourage people first to call the hospital and ask for Community Care Support Services.
“If you can’t get someone there, contact your local office CCSS and say that you need that application started, and you need it started immediately because you’re being pressured to leave the hospital unsafely.”
However, she said it’s up to the doctor to decide whether someone gets discharged.
“Frankly, it’s up to the doctor to discharge, and they have a duty of care to that patient to discharge them to a safe location. And you can’t force someone who requires long-term care to go to a retirement home or the community because those are unsafe by definition,” explained Meadus.
With Bill 7, however, staying in the hospital could also be expensive.
“We’re going to see homes chosen for people, and those people may have no choice in which homes are being chosen and if they refuse those beds and the hospitals may indicate that that person is no longer an insured patient because they’ve turned down a bed and charge these very high rates for an uninsured patient which I’ve seen up to around $1,800 per day.”