My mother, at 91, was still an active senior who lived alone in her apartment.
This past Aug. 6 at a senior’s drop-in center, she took ill with a severe upset stomach.
She was taken mid-afternoon by ambulance to Vernon Jubilee Hospital. At about 9 p.m. that same night, she was released and sent home alone by taxi.
The next morning, a caregiver that we had hired to check up on mom found her in her bed unable to move.
She was taken to Vernon Jubilee Hospital by ambulance where she was diagnosed with a broken hip.
Sadly, she died three days later when an embolism traveled to her lungs and impaired her breathing.
I went to the hospital and questioned the administration about why they had not called my sister, who was the contact person.
My sister and I both live in Edmonton and would have notified the caregiver of the situation.
She then would have been there to help mom after her release and having experienced a most difficult day.
The administrator replied several times that, “hospital protocol” was followed.
I ask you, is this how our seniors are treated in their golden years? Do seniors elsewhere face these same, no common sense hospital policies?
John Wulchuk
Edmonton
