Who are they? 

I haven’t a clue really, but they are the firm contracted by the Government of British Columbia, to provide in home support for elderly people. You know, the workers who come in to help a person get a bath, get dressed if they can’t do it.  Depending on your income level, the services are paid for by the Government.

This is the case with my 92 year old mother, Annice.

For some time now, we have had them send someone to help her wash up, twice a week. Every Tuesday & Friday. The permanent worker on Friday, was super, and Mom looked forward to her arrival. She was good, knew her job and did it well. The one’s showing up Tuesday were a bit less than ideal, but on July 14th, things got more complicated.

Mother broke her wrist in a fall in the home.

At the Royal Jubilee Hospital, the community laison worker suggested we get home support in for the mornings and night, to help mom dress & get ready for bed. It was a helpful suggestion, because frankly, a woman of 92 with a cast, isn’t going to do all that on her own. She is frail as it is.

And that worked out good. Each morning, someone has shown up and helped, at night the same thing. Today was bath day, and Mom was once again looking forward to Wanda coming, to help her afternoon bath.  Eager is the word I’d use, because as a son, I can only do so much. A woman’s touch, voice, all helps.

1:30pm and NO Wanda.

In contacting the people at Beacon, they claim the service was cancelled. Like isn’t that nice to suddenly find out. A phone call would have hurt?  But hey, it gets worse, because they say it was cancelled by the Hospital Laison worker.  In reading me the notes of the call, there is NO MENTION of such cancellation. Nor did I instruct the laison officer to make any such cancellation.

In the meantime, I also find out that each worker is supposed to be here for an hour, and that it is for 2 weeks only. So that is interesting, given that I would expect a 92 year old to heal in 2 weeks from a displaced fracture of her wrist.  After all, don’t us younger folks heal faster? Bet if you broke your wrist, you’d be able to use it in what, a few days, week tops?  NOT!

There is a community case worker as well, who I was in touch with on Wednesday, the day after the experience at the hospital. Strange, but no return call from her either, as she was going to check with the hospital laison worker, and get back to me. And yes, I know they are busy, but this is now Friday.  Enough time to call to say she is working on it, or something.

But then again, maybe not, given that her voice message today, said she’d be out of the office July 10 to July 13.  Funny, today is July 17th. You would think, that any service being cancelled would be made known to the client. And that too, irks me. Why are they calling them clients, when they are patients? So it is easier to disassociate one’s self from the fact that these are elderly people, who need compassion, as well as care?

Elderly people have trouble enough maintaining their dignity. Now here comes the B.C. Government and foists its care of elders, onto a private firm, whose bottom line is, to make money. That is so wrong, in so many ways, that I won’t even begin to detail it, yet.

Fact is, that Beacon Community Services made an assumption, or if they didn’t, then the Laison worker did, who doesnt have her case history. I rather doubt that a Laison Officer in the hospital even has the authority to cancel existing services, unless the patient is being admitted to hospital. So to my warped mind and some common sense, the problem is at Beacon.  Naturally they won’t admit to that.

Reality is, that our society today doesn’t seem to give a damn about the older generation, and the real problem is, WE ARE ALL GOING TO BE OLDER, THINK ABOUT IT.

It constantly amazes me at how callous and unresponsive government has become, to us, the people.

I have been trying to get some medical help for my 91 year old mother, and without a family physician, let me say that is not easy. Worse is how it seems that Government hides all the help programs out there, as if they hope the problem just goes away. I mean to have to call my MLA [1. Member of the Legislative Assembly] to get phone numbers is unreal, and unbelievable. Yet that is what it takes.

Just what is happening here?

It isn’t like she has a cough, she is 91 years old, and is extremely weak. She also doesn’t want to go to hospital, which is the only place an ambulance will take her, other than that, forget it. Now how in hell am I supposed to get her to a walk in clinic when she can barely shuffle to the bathroom with a walker, and me holding her? Yet that is the advice from our Ex Doctor, and from the various Senior Health Centers, which is like, what if she can’t? Is medical care in British Columbia simply for those who are mobile, or not too weak to move?

I believe that if someone is sick, you treat it now, not when it becomes a crisis, or life threatening. Surely there are others who believe this, or do we simply shrug our shoulders and say, well they are old, they’ve lived their lives. If that is the case, then where do I go to RESIGN FROM THIS HUMAN RACE? That to me is just unacceptable, and just plain WRONG.

We have worked hard all of our lives, and I sometimes wonder if it was worth it. I look at how my Father was treated by so called ‘health professionals’ and how the system really isn’t about providing health care to Seniors. How UNPROFESSIONAL they really are, and it cost him his life. He isn’t around, not because he was sick, but because of the Hospital, and its inability TO CARE.

I am determined to not let that happen with Mother.

Yet, when we rely on Doctors, on Nurses, and they fail us, what is there left for us to fall back on? Is it about the money? I mean does being rich somehow entitle you to a better life at the Senior Level? Does it get you the treatment you need? And how can any person be so heartless, so uncaring, as to accept that? How can people like Gordon Campbell or Stephen Harper or any of our leaders, be so unsympathetic, so unfeeling, when it comes to administering health care for all of the People?

The whole concept of Universal Health Care, is about making it easier for all of us to live, to administer to the health needs of ALL PEOPLE. Instead it has become merely a cash cow for some, a boon for some, and I don’t know, but making profit off of people’s misery, it just doesn’t seem right. Seems to be wrong on so many levels, and yet all of our leaders talk about re-establishing core beliefs, core values.

I guess I just want to know, when did having family values, having core beliefs, mean we IGNORE THE ELDERLY?