I just want to go home

Times Contributor     

 

Concerns were brought up in Wheatland Council on Jan. 21 that some of our most fragile elders with mobility problems have to wait extended lengths of time for a return ride home from the hospital, after being discharged in evening hours. They may be brought in by ambulance, but they can’t return home in one.

During daytime hours, the Strathmore and District Handi-bus Association does an exceptional job of meeting all the needs of the area’s elderly, but after 5 p.m. they cannot provide service. They were asked by Strathmore hospital administrative staff if they could offer standby services from 5 p.m. to 5 a.m. every day of the week, but funding is an issue as staff and overhead costs need to be paid. The Handi-bus currently gets all their funding from donations and grants. 

Alberta Health Services (AHS) was contacted, but funding is not available for any services outside Alberta Health approved healthcare facilities. They issued this statement to inquiries of what could be done. 

The Inter-facility Transfer Program in Calgary is a fleet of ambulances responsible for transferring acute care patients in the Calgary Zone between Alberta Health-approved healthcare facilities. In Strathmore, AHS contracts EMS services to the Wheatland and District Emergency Medical Services Association (WADEMSA). WADEMSA receives funding from AHS to respond to emergency calls and perform acute care inter-facility transfers, like in Calgary.

If a patient discharged from emergency care at the Strathmore Hospital can’t make travel arrangements, Alberta Health Services staff will help the patient get home safely. In Strathmore, that includes making them an appointment with the Handi-bus, contacting a family member or friend, or calling them a taxi.

Alberta Health Services constantly monitors the EMS system, to ensure it is using the right resources at the right time.  It balances the need for emergency medical services with requests for non-urgent transfers to make sure all patients receive the care they need.

Patients being transferred between health care facilities are transported via ambulance – that has not changed. But, it’s important to remember that long-term care residents are just that; residents, not patients. Sagewood is a place of residence, not a hospital.

AHS understands the importance of ensuring patients remain safe and healthy during, and after their care. When a patient is deemed well and healthy enough to be discharged from care at the Strathmore Hospital, staff look at all options available to help them return home safely.

Again, problems arise if the family has no van or weren’t available. Even helping a somewhat healthy person into a car can be difficult, but add injuries or size and the odds go up that the one lifting, or being lifted, will sustain an injury. 

The other options left to clients are staying in hospital overnight, taking a taxi or taking to the sidewalk. 

One community member related a story where the family member was told by hospital staff to walk the patient home, indicating that ‘the home isn’t far….just wheel her down there.’

In December 2013, Minister Fred Horne was reported by the Vulcan Advocate to say “the province is committed to looking at this issue.” 

AHS Inter-facility transfers (IFT) are about 40 per cent of the provinces ambulance usage. 

Chief Administrative Officer Shirley Reinhart of Wheatland Lodge said they have not had any current problems, but they haven’t had any after-hour emergencies of late either. She said Wheatland Lodge would never leave patients sitting out in the cold and would find some way to get them back to the lodge.

Sagewood spokesman Ali Shivji, AgeCare Chief Operating Officer, said that their facilities and nursing staff make sure all transportation arrangements are made for clients needing medical care. While Sagewood is a private facility, they do have agreements with Alberta Health Services for case work and assessment of long term clients and those clients are fully covered under Alberta Health Care. Shivji was under the impression that the long term care patients, due to their unique arrangements with Alberta Health Services, would be transported to and from the hospital.

Rob Witty of Wheatland and District Emergency Medical Services Association said they have never taken patients back to their homes, and it isn’t part of the current ambulance policy; there may be some exceptions worked out for those clients grandfathered over from the extended care unit of the hospital and now living in Sagewood. However, he qualified there was no funding for return transportation on a regular basis, as funding would need to be in place before transportation could be offered.

Martin DePueter, owner of two cab companies in Strathmore, may have a solution by about May of this year. He is considering purchasing a van to accommodate pick-up of the elderly or handicapped with medical need and those in wheel chairs. It will be available to service nighttime coverage. He is waiting to clear licensing mechanisms.

For now, funding seems to be the underlying issue, and the bottom line is that some kind of service may be in the works, but until then people need to be aware their loved ones may have to shelter in hospital waiting areas until someone can pick them up, or wait until morning when rides arrive.