Wait for long-term care home transfer in Ontario setting family back $26K a month
Flipping through an old photo album, Julie Cayen is looking back at a time before dementia started to take her mother, Carol. A time before her mother needed 24-hour supervision, and the cost of her care was threatening to drain their savings.
"It's really hard. It's very hard," she says. Adding, "My mom was a fantastic mother. She did everything she could."
For over a year, Julie's parents, Carol and Larry Couse, lived together at the Villiage of Tansley Woods, a private retirement home in Burlington, Ont. Carol had been diagnosed with dementia, which was moving quickly.
“In addition to her memory loss, she was having issues with wandering, and also becoming quite physically and verbally aggressive,” Cayen said.
In December, Carol had a violent incident with another patient. Afterwards, the home decided Carol needed one-on-one care 24 hours a day while waiting to be transferred to a long-term care home.
The extra care was not covered.
“For the two of them to live there, [it] went from $5,500 a month up to $26,000 a month in a matter of two weeks,” Cayen said.
Carol was placed on the crisis list by Home and Community Care Support Services – the highest priority for long-term care placement.
Cayen applied to 10 homes, and she says half of them rejected her mother’s application due to her behavioural needs.
The remaining five homes – including the long-term care section at Tansley Woods – had no beds available for four months.
Cayen says her mother was also rejected from a behavioural help for dementia patient program at St. Peter's in Hamilton, Ont.
As of now, Carol and Larry Couse have paid over $100,000 in personal care.
"Nobody really seems to have an answer, to be honest. Nobody seems to know what we can really do," Cayen says.
One long-term care advocate told CTV News Toronto that this is far from an isolated incident and that the system is now broken. Broken to the point where certain patients are being denied the care they desperately need.
"This is flagrant failure systemically, and our government needs to answer for why they're allowing certain facilities to effectively discriminate and discriminate against some of our most vulnerable," says Vivian Stamatopoulos.
Stamatopoulos says the system is supposed to be public, adding, "The last time I checked, you can't show up to a publicly funded hospital with, let's say, a broken leg or a gunshot wound and have the hospital say, ‘Sorry we can't actually provide that care, you know, go to a different hospital.’ But for some reason, that's appropriate in long-term care?"
CTV News Toronto reached out to the ministries of Long-Term Care and Health for comment, who directed us to the province’s Home and Community Care Support Services, which said it does not report on average wait times.
“All individuals living in the community who are on the crisis long-term care waitlist are reviewed by Home and Community Care Support Services care coordinators to ensure their care needs are being met until a long-term care bed becomes available and to support a seamless transition to long-term care," the statement reads.
Cayen says, at this rate, her parents will be out of money in less than two years.
“What about people who don't have any savings? They retire with minimal savings. What about people who don't have family to advocate for them what happens to them?"
For now, they'll continue to wait – hoping for help that they fear may not come.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
DEVELOPING 122 active wildfires burning across Canada, 32 considered 'out of control'
The 2024 wildfire season has begun, and it's shaping up to follow last year's unprecedented destruction in kind, with thousands of square kilometres already consumed.
B.C. parents sentenced to 15 years for death of 6-year-old boy
A British Columbia Supreme Court judge has sentenced the mother and stepfather of a six-year-old boy who died from blunt-force trauma in 2018 to 15 years in prison.
Veteran TSN sportscaster Darren Dutchyshen has died
Veteran TSN broadcaster Darren 'Dutch' Dutchyshen, one of Canada’s best-known sports journalists, has died. He was 57. His family says 'he passed as he was surrounded by his closest loved ones.'
'More aggressive': Tocchet shifts lineups as Canucks get ready to take on Oilers in Vancouver
As the Canucks prepare to take on the Oilers for Game 5, Vancouver head coach Rick Tocchet is making changes to the team's lineup.
Think twice before sharing 'heartbreaking' social media posts, RCMP warn
Mounties in B.C. are urging people to think twice before sharing "heartbreaking posts" on social media.
Police issue Canada-wide warrant for Regina homicide suspect
Police have issued a Canada-wide warrant for a man wanted in a homicide which occurred in Regina on May 12.
Trudeau calls New Brunswick's Conservative government a 'disgrace' on women's rights
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau assailed New Brunswick's premier and other conservative leaders on Thursday, calling out the provincial government's position on abortion, LGBTQ youth and climate change.
Kevin Spacey receives star support as he fights to get his career back
Kevin Spacey is pushing back on the 'rush to judgment' against him and is being backed by some big names as he seeks to reclaim his acting career.
Speaker cuts ties with Sask. Party, alleges he faced threats, harassment from gov't MLAs
The Speaker of the Saskatchewan Legislature Randy Weekes has severed ties with the Sask. Party after accusing some members of harassment and intimidation tactics, including a situation he claimed saw the Government House Leader bring a hunting rifle to the legislative building.