Family of Dying N.S. Woman Say Transitional Care Unit She’s in is Â’Deplorable’

By John Lewandowski, THE CANADIAN PRESS

HALIFAX – Two Nova Scotia women say their dying mother went from heaven to hell when she was moved from acute care to a transitional care unit at Halifax’s Victoria General hospital three weeks ago.

Sharon Dykeman and Wendy Russell were joined by Liberal legislature member Keith Colwell on Friday in describing 76-year-old Ruth Russell’s current living conditions as deplorable.

The women – who have been visiting the unit since their mother was placed there in early January – complained it was infested with tiny flies, had inadequate facilities and smelled of urine.

“My mother has never lived like this and I don’t want her to die like this. I don’t want her to die with flies all over her,” said Dykeman at a news conference.

“They moved her from an acute care floor to this unit and it was like moving her from heaven to hell, because that’s where she is right now.”

Ruth Russell, who is dying of brain cancer and may only have months to live, was told it could take up to eight months to find her a nursing home bed.

Her children said they want what time she has left to be dignified.

Colwell said he wasn’t calling on government to do something it can’t afford, but he asked that the unit be made clean and respectable.

“This is something you would read about in a Third World country. I don’t think there’s enough staff in place to do the job properly here.”

Hospital officials acknowledge there are challenges given that current quarters on the fourth floor of the 40-year-old building were never designed to serve the purpose they do now.

Patients in transitional care are typically waiting for placement in long-term care facilities or for home-care arrangements to be made.

Judy Hayes, who oversees nursing for the 59 people living in the unit, acknowledges there are flies that seem to breed in the plumbing, and the pervasive smell.

“The physical plant is not purpose built for this patient population. . . . We need bathrooms that are bigger, more space to personalize their area, which is hard to do when you’ve got four patients in a ward,” said Hayes.

“I would say the conditions are less than ideal, but given the conditions that we have I think we do very well.”

Hayes said she works with a caring, empathetic team that tries to meet the needs of patients as best they can and they understand the emotions that trigger the criticism.

“It’s a very difficult time, to accept that they have to go to a long-term care facility. Patients are struggling with that, families are struggling with that,” she said.

A tour of the unit, originally built for acute care patients, reveals some damaged walls where rain water has been driven in, the presence of tiny fruit flies and the odour of incontinence.

Hospital officials said the rainwater problems are being addressed with brickwork and waterproofing that should be completed this spring.

Hayes said the matter of the flies, not unique to the transitional care unit, is also being addressed.

“We had a gentleman in from pest control just two days ago to talk about strategies that were used on another floor,” she said.

“Chemical pesticides are out of the question in a health-care setting but there is an enzyme that’s been safely tested and they’re considering using that.”

The province’s new health-care strategy addresses some of the recognized shortcomings in dealing with transitional and long term care needs.

Health Minister Chris d’Entremont said the goal is to add 1,500 additional long-term car beds to the system by 2010.

He said it was his impression that Colwell was simply trying to “play politics with people’s lives” when he talked about Third World conditions.

“Look, I know there are challenges with that unit. We have committed to making it better but there’s not a lot we can do,” he said.

“That unit was not built to be a nursing home.”