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What I have to say is not about the hospital but about the lack of manpower available to rehabilitate our elderly once hospitalized, in order for them to return home.

Having spent 55 days, with my mother in the hospital, it is clear to me that our health-care system is completely failing the elderly. My mother went from living independently in a retirement home to being unable to walk again which resulted in her staying in a hospital bed for the remainder of her life.

The number of rehabilitation support staff is completely inadequate. On one of my mother’s floors, I was told there was one physiotherapist available for 35 rooms. This resulted in my mother being completely fearful of getting out of bed. There was not even enough support to have her sit in a chair. My mother would cry out, “Help me, help me, I want to sit in that chair.” But I was told they were too busy.

Each day I spent many hours a day in the hospital with my mother tending to her needs. One afternoon upon arrival, I was informed that she had fallen out of her hospital bed. I was not notified when they found her in the morning. She was clearly labelled as someone who was immobile and needed help if she ever walked. However, she still fell out of bed, it has left me wondering how that happened and how long she had been lying there. What happens to patients who have no one there to advocate for them?

I have many examples, that I can share with you about a lack of care leading up to my mother’s death. However, the moment that will be forever ingrained in my mind was when I walked into her room and found she had passed away. I was not notified that death was imminent and when I arrived I had to inform the nurses at the nursing station that my mother had passed. I was told later by a nurse that someone was supposed to call the family. But I was not called. The thought of my mom dying alone is unbearable and the hospital’s total disregard for the feelings of loved ones still haunts me.

In closing, as a society we seem to accept this complete lack of respect for our aging population, we regard them as a burden on society. We forget that it was these individuals who shaped our country. We don’t help them enough to get them to leave the hospital or avoid long-term care. Our system is failing and we need to consider that we are all going to be old one day.

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