EDMONTON—A woman was evicted from the care centre she has been living in for five years and transferred to hospital without the family’s prior knowledge or consent because a family member was publicly questioning the quality of care her sister was getting at the facility.
On February 19th the Good Samaritan Millwoods Care Centre left a voice mail for Sue Ali that her sister Rebecca had been sent via ambulance to the Grey Nuns Hospital and that her other sister Julie was banned from the facility.
The family has asked Alberta Health Services and the Minister to intervene as Rebecca wants to go back to the facility she has lived in for five years, and it is only one of two facilities in Edmonton that have the specialization to deal with her respiratory issues.
“We are so shocked and angry about how our sister has been treated and have been waiting weeks without any word on why AHS allowed this transfer or why she can’t go back to the care facility,” said Sue Ali. “A call from the Health Minister could quickly and fairly resolve the matter and free up a much-needed acute care bed that costs $1200 a day. Inaction has cost the public something in the order of $40,000 to date.”
Public Interest Alberta has raised similar concerns with the Ministry of Health, the Health Advocate’s Office, and AHS about the lack of due process for many families who have been banned or threatened to be banned for raising concerns about the quality of care for their loved ones. To date, there has been no commitment by the Alberta government to create an independent process to allow families to address this abuse of power from facilities.
“The government needs to step in and make sure that there is a proper independent process that allows patients and their families to stand up to this abuse of power,” says Bill Moore-Kilgannon, Executive Director of Public Interest Alberta. “As long as the Alberta government allows institutions to evict patients and ban family members, many people will be afraid to advocate for quality care for their loved ones.”
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