SHA told chaos of pandemic led to mother’s decline

Sue Nimegeers’s mother never had COVID -19, but she still counts her as a victim of the disease.

“She never tested positive, but the chaos of the pandemic itself around us, we feel, took her from us just way too soon,” Nimegeers told the board of the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) on Friday.

Nimegeers’s 89-year-old mother lived in Radville, one of 12 communities that was transitioned to “alternate levels of care” as part of the SHA’S COVID -19 response plan.

She blames reductions in home care and physician staffing, in part, for her mother’s decline.

“Please leave at least one doctor in our rural facilities,” she said. “It’s just not justified to pull them away like this.”

That was one of four recommendations she made to SHA officials during an emotional plea. SHA CEO Scott Livingstone said some are already in the works as the system gradually reopens. He accepted that efforts to contain the risk of COVID-19 have had costs.

“The quote-unquote collateral damage caused by the collective COVID response is something that’s on everybody’s mind,” he said. “I’m not going to sit here and tell you that there hasn’t been an impact on people across the province, of course there has been.”

Nimegeers said her mother’s ordeal began early this year. Just months ago, she was still playing shuffleboard. But she faced heart trouble that brought her frequently to the clinic in Radville.

“Her health was failing significantly,” said Nimegeers.

Her mother remained at home, but began to struggle when the SHA reduced the length of time home care workers cared for her.

“We felt that, at this point, she was falling through the cracks,” she said.

Family members came to check on her every day. On the morning of March 28, they found her in such a poor condition that they called an ambulance.

“When they drove away with her that day we feel that we sent her into the abyss,” said Nimegeers.

Her mother was diagnosed with pneumonia. Her dementia led to wandering around the halls in confusion.

Nimegeers wishes she or other family members could have been there, but COVID-19 restrictions made that impossible.

By April 2, Nimegeers’s mother was back in the Radville clinic. On April 5, the nurse working there said she had taken “a turn for the worse.” Only one family member at a time was allowed to visit. They found her “extremely freezing cold to the touch.”

Their mother was being treated by a licensed practical nurse, said Nimegeers.

“Because all three of our doctors were pulled away from the facility, there was no help for that LPN,” Nimegeers said.

Her mother was then sent to the Weyburn hospital, where she died on April 6.

“She had to spend the last 10 days of her life without family around, and she ultimately died with no family by her side,” said Nimegeers.

Nimegeers called for changes to allow better access to family members, to keep doctors in rural areas and to ensure home care is restored to an acceptable level.

SHA board chair Dick Carter expressed his sorrow at the tragic story. “We’re always sorry to hear about a story like that,” he said. “On the other hand, these are uncharted waters that we’re in.”

Livingstone confirmed that home care visits have been shortened to reduce the risk of exposure. But he said that was never meant to reduce the quality of care. He also acknowledged that physicians from Radville have been supporting emergency service in Weyburn.

But he stressed that the SHA is now moving forward to reopen parts of the system affected by the response plan. He said the SHA has already accepted Nimegeers’s recommendations on changes to visitation policies.

Nine of 12 rural facilities affected by the temporary conversion to alternate level of care will see their emergency rooms reopen over the next four to six weeks. Radville, however, will not be among them due to what the SHA has called pre-existing service disruptions.