My letter is in response to the article that Carole Fawcett wrote in the Morning Star July 30 about the bureaucracy in the Interior Health Authority.
She writes about her mother, who needs care because she has broken her clavicle and needs help with bathing or showering.
I feel very sorry for her 96-year-old mom who has to go through all this pain and trouble.
I am old myself and might not be far from this care myself, but maybe the blame is not with the IH so much – if there is blame in this case.
I would like to point out that there is another side of the coin too, that we maybe should consider.
Those care aides have a tight schedule as is.
They might have three or more people that need a bath or a shower or other clients that need help by getting up and dressed, give medication, etc.
They all would like to have it early in the morning, but the care aide can do only one at the time. They have to travel from the one place to the next, they have to fill in the paperwork, etc. It all takes time.
Her mother is in supporting housing. I don’t know exactly what that means or how much help she is entitled to, but not transporting food over the hallways seems a bit extreme to me,
But if that is the rule, well, we have to go by it but we can’t blame IH for that.
Maybe she should look for other accommodations?
My husband and I moved into Carrington Place a little over two years ago.
We both saw the need that it was time for us to do so though we did not need care yet.
We are still independent, but when necessary we can get more care. The care here is excellent.
There is a nurse five days a week and there are care aides around the clock seven days a week for residents that need help with dressing bathing, etc.
We have also care aides coming in from Interior Health who, what I’ve noticed, are bringing the people to-and-from the meals and it always surprises me how they can time it so well. Of course, they do more than just bringing the people to the table, but that is what I see.
As I mentioned, we don’t need regular care yet, but I had a fall twice, one early in the morning when there was still only one aide, the other in the middle of the night at 2 o’clock. Both times when I pushed my alarm button the aide was here within five minutes. I had no broken bones only a bump on my head one time and a split lip the other time. Both times they kept checking on me the next day how I was doing.
When my husband took a bad turn, I called the nurse, she checked him over, tried to settle him down and when that did not work she called the ambulance and made sure he went to the hospital.
She did all the work, answered all the questions and called my daughter to let her know that her dad was going to the hospital and she should meet him there since I was not able to go with him myself.
They all work very hard and are very friendly.
When sick they will bring the food for four days to the room without charge and if we want to pick it up for some reason that is fine too.
Although I can agree with Carole Fawcett that there is a lot of bureaucracy around and hard to take at times, it is not always where we think it is.
We miss the visits from our children and grandchildren who live so close by and would love to visit us. The visits of friends and people that just drop in when you don’t expect…So nice.
The hair care and foot care we did not have for more than four months, was that necessary or was it bureaucracy?
It was to protect us they say. Did we like it? No, we did not.
Hopefully, this will not last.
We are happy to live at Carrington Place and have high praise and respect for the staff and the people who work here.
Maureen Kampen
Vernon