Family ‘distraught’ after father’s hospital transfer

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This article was published 31/01/2022 (1511 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The family of an elderly man with dementia is calling on the province to end patient transfers after the man was sent to a facility three hours away from his home.

Melissa Carter, the daughter of 76-year-old Elias Apalit, who has advanced dementia, said the family is distraught after he was transferred from Concordia Hospital in Winnipeg to Minnedosa Health Centre, 225 kilometres away.

Apalit was admitted to Concordia Hospital for dehydration on Dec. 28, according to Carter. While there, he suffered an injury that extended his stay. On Jan. 26, the family was given one day’s notice that he would be transported three hours away to Minnedosa.

He speaks both English and Tagalog; however, while in hospital his dementia worsened and he stopped speaking English. At Concordia Hospital, many health-care aides were able to speak to Apalit in Tagalog, but he was still very confused and upset when he was being transferred to Minnedosa, Carter said. The family is concerned about the potential language barrier in his new home.

The family is worried Apalit’s health will decline while he is far away. Carter explained her mother, Florinda, is distraught and her parents have never been apart for long periods during their 51 years of marriage.

“I want to say I don’t blame the staff that were taking care of him at Concordia. I know this decision was made by higher-ups and I know some of the staff advocated for him to stay,” Carter told the Sun. “The staff at Minnedosa have been very kind to my mom and to us as well.”

It was less stressful for the family when Apalit was at Concordia, Carter explained, as it was only a 10-minute drive from their home. The family knows he will get the care he needs, but it is knowing he is so far from home and if there is a turn for the worse, they cannot get to him right away. They have to arrange travel and accommodations in Minnedosa. Carter explained her mother is also elderly and can’t drive alone over such long distances, nor do they want to leave her alone in the community.

The province does offer some compensation for travel due to medical reasons, such as meal vouchers and up to $70 a day for expenses. While appreciated, Carter said many of the hotels and bed and breakfasts nearby charge between $80 to $150 per night. Factor in gas and food, and what the government is offering isn’t enough for them to afford to travel much to see Apalit.

They contacted Transcona NDP MLA Nello Altomare, who wrote a letter on their behalf to the health minister, the day before his transfer, urging her to look into other options.

Manitoba NDP leader Wab Kinew said Altomare had been advocating for the family and brought it to the attention of the party, and they felt they had to speak publicly about the family’s plight.

“We need to start putting the human element back into medical care,” Kinew said. “It’s not just Elias, there are at least 250 more patients in the same situation. Factor in their families and that is thousands of people affected by these transfers.”

The NDP would not have been in favour of the cuts to medical care the current government has made over the years, said Kinew. He added moving any patient to another facility is difficult for them and their loved ones. For people with dementia, like Apalit, it is traumatizing.

Pointing to other jurisdictions, he said others were able to keep patients in hospitals where they were originally admitted.

There are similar policies in other jurisdictions, a Shared Health spokesperson said. For Manitoba, transfers are necessary in order to preserve the system’s capacity to care for both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients

“Care teams take a number of factors into account when considering whether a patient is a suitable candidate for transfer — including whether the patient can be transferred safely, the patient’s specific care needs and whether the receiving facility can meet both their immediate and ongoing care needs,” the spokesperson stated.

They explained all hospitals and health centres provide a letter to patients and/or their families upon admission to hospital that detail the possibility they may be transferred to another site. A follow-up conversation typically led by a care team member occurs if the patient is identified as a suitable candidate.

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