Local MLA Raj Chouhan is raising concerns about a Burnaby senior who was left in a hospital hallway for 11 days.
"She was not treated with respect," Chouhan said. "She was kept in a hallway for 11 days and wasn't transferred to a residential care home because of a lack of beds."
Dorothy Asher, 84, had a stroke in November and spent more than three months in hospital and 11 days in a hallway at Burnaby Hospital while waiting to get assessed to move into a residential care facility.
Asher was eventually moved to a care centre, but Chouhan said her plight is indicative of a larger problem in the health-care system.
"She needed to be assessed and sent to residential care. She was in the hospital for over three months," he said. "It's not only this one senior who has suffered that indignity and disrespect while they were in the hospital. An 84-year-old should be kept in a bed that is proper, which is inside the ward, not in the hallway. We have seen enough people in the hallway and in the Tim Hortons at (Royal Columbian Hospital)."
The solution, according to Chouhan, is for government to create more long-term care beds so seniors, like Asher, aren't forced to languish in acute care hospital beds, while waiting to be transferred to an appropriate facility.
According to Chouhan, acute care beds cost the health-care system about $1,200 a day, while long-term care beds are about $200.
Chouhan noted that the B.C. Ombudsperson, in a report reviewing seniors' care, recommended that seniors moving from hospital to residential care be assessed within two weeks. Chouhan raised Asher's case in the Legislature on Monday, Feb. 27, and Health Minister Mike de Jong responded by saying "the government has done a tremendous amount in working with health authorities and community partners to provide thousands of additional beds and more options for seniors in need of care."
"Eleven years ago, the average wait for someone discharged from a hospital was about a year. It's now down to three months, and we're hoping to drive it (down) even further," he said. "So we're working hard, we're working with our partners, and the seniors action plan is our commitment to continue to work hard in that direction."
