2023-08-27 05:18:45
Obstacles related to transfers between institutions for seniors in Quebec persist, several families testified to The Press. This is particularly the case of Chantal Bayard, who has been trying in vain for three years to transfer her mother to a CHSLD in Montérégie to be closer to her.
When Chantal Bayard wants to visit her mother, she has to travel the 70 km that separate the municipality of Saint-Césaire, in Montérégie, from the CHSLD Jeanne-Le Ber located in the east of the island of Montreal. “With the traffic, it can take me up to four hours to travel there and back,” says M.me Bayard.
For three years, she has multiplied the steps, so that her mother is transferred to a CHSLD closer to her home. Complaints commissioner, social workers, CLSC, citizen protection, deputies were contacted. Without success.
The Bayard family is not an isolated case. Early August, The Press reported that an 86-year-old man who resides in a CHSLD in Montreal was living in the hope of being transferred to an establishment near his daughters, in Quebec. Officials from the two regions passed the buck.
After the publication of the article in The Pressthe office of the Minister responsible for Seniors, Sonia Bélanger, requested verification from the network, and the man has since joined a CHSLD in Quebec.
” It’s ridiculous ”
Any request for accommodation “must be treated on an equal footing, regardless of the territory from which the request or the user originates”, indicated to The Press the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS). However, he specifies that “the occupancy rates of beds in accommodation being very high, delays are always possible depending on the priorities of the situations and environments concerned”.
For its part, the CIUSSS de l’Est-de-l’Île-de-Montréal said it could not comment specifically on the Bayard family file. However, he points out that several reasons can explain the delays.
The reception CHSLD may not have a bed available that meets the particular health conditions of the elderly person. Perhaps there is already a waiting list for the CHSLD or the chosen sector.
Carl Boisvert, media relations at the CIUSSS de l’Est-de-l’Île-de-Montréal
“Despite the efforts made, we are aware that admission times do not always meet expectations, but we are using all the means at our disposal to meet the accommodation needs on our territory”, for said Joëlle Jetté, information officer for media relations at the CISSS de la Montérégie-Centre. She adds that it may take longer to obtain a place in a unit for cognitive disorders, because not all CHSLDs have one.
For the President and CEO of the Council for the Protection of the Sick, Mr.e Paul Brunet, a three-year delay, as is the case with the Bayard family, is not reasonable. “It’s ridiculous, especially when you’re talking about old, severely disabled and sick people,” he laments.
Put “all his life aside”
Due to the distance between them, Chantal Bayard cannot visit her mother as frequently as she would like. “My mother deserves to see her family much more often. She deserves better than that. It pains me so much, ”she drops, moved.
His father, also residing in Montérégie, misses his wife deeply.
My father is so sad. He finds himself all alone. He spent more than 60 years together. He gets bored.
Chantal Bayard
Two other families also told The Press be unable to transfer their relatives to the area where they live. Since the spring, Marie* has been waiting for her mother to be transferred from Magog to Montreal, where she and one of her sisters live. “In the meantime, we spend our time on Highway 10,” she says.
His sister, who lives in Quebec, puts “her whole life aside and sacrifices herself”. “She has been without pay for over a year to stay in Magog near my mother who has no one left, my father having died a year ago,” she said.
“We have young children and are exhausted from navigating this system, which is a real administrative ordeal,” confides Claire* from Quebec. She tries somehow to relocate her father from the Bois-Francs to the Capitale-Nationale. However, the family is facing administrative problems.
His father, suffering from a neurodegenerative disease, lives in a private residence for seniors (RPA). “My father is no longer independent and should be placed in a CHSLD,” she says. The family would like him to be transferred to a CHSLD in Quebec. “Several community stakeholders told us that requests for interterritorial accommodation were almost impossible. We are really worried, ”says Claire.
With Ariane Lacoursière, The Press
*Names have been changed to preserve anonymity, families fearing reprisals.
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