Frustrated family wants answers from care home
Mother at Extendicare Parkside has COVID, but little else revealed
Since learning a week ago that his mother tested positive for COVID-19 at Extendicare Parkside in Regina, Curtis Peyson says he and other family members have been left in the dark on the state of her health.
“We really don't know what's going on in there,” Peyson said.
He and his siblings moved their mother, 87-year-old Elsa Peyson, into a four-bed room in the care home in April after her dementia began progressing.
It had been one of Elsa's requests that she be moved into a home when the disease no longer allowed her to live independently.
“It was a hard decision to put her into something like that, but that was her wish,” Peyson said.
“Now you're second guessing that and wish you had just kept her at home with you.”
As of Tuesday, 11 residents at Extendicare Parkside who had tested positive for COVID-19 had died.
Fifty-five staff and 123 residents are actively infected, and 13 residents have recovered from the virus.
When the family was first notified in late November that a staff member at Extendicare Parkside had tested positive, Peyson said he and his siblings began working to try to move Elsa out of the facility.
Peyson's sister in Regina would pick her up and then drive her to Winnipeg to live with Peyson, where he could take care of her.
But just a few days later, before they could carry out the plan, they were told their mother had already tested positive along with dozens of other residents.
That was a week ago, Peyson said, and despite numerous requests, the family contends it has yet to receive any information on how their mother is doing.
“My sister has been writing, emailing them and she's been calling them and nobody's been giving her some information,” Peyson said. “It's been hell.”
Extendicare spokesperson Laura Gallant said in an emailed statement on Tuesday that it communicates with all family members through daily updated letters and weekly virtual town halls.
“Families are contacted directly should there be any change in the health status of their loved ones,” she said.
“We will continue to do all we can to protect our team, our residents and keep families informed.”
Elsa has a phone in her room, but Peyson said she no longer knows how to listen to or respond to voice messages, so she has to be near the phone when it rings to connect with her. He spoke to her briefly on Saturday and she seemed to be OK, but he has not been able to reach her since.
Peyson said he told Extendicare Parkside he was giving them 24 hours to provide more information on his mother's situation, and he has an appointment with a lawyer on Wednesday.
“I'm going to use whatever I can to find out what's going on with my mother,” he said.
Everett Hindley, minister of seniors, told reporters Regina Fire and Protective Services has been supporting the staff at Extendicare Parkside.
“The situation is obviously very, very concerning for us as a government,” he said. “We would be looking as a government to deploying all resources necessary to try to maintain the safety of the residents in these facilities.”
Hindley said extra supports have been offered to the care home through the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) and through the Ministry of Health.
Extendicare Parkside is a 228bed facility, with the majority of those beds in shared rooms. There are 34 rooms with four beds, 40 rooms with two beds and 12 single rooms.
In a 2019 SHA report on the quality of care in the province's longterm care facilities, it was identified that Extendicare Parkside was old and needed to be replaced. It specifically noted problems with the facility's HVAC system and flagged the high number of shared rooms as a concern.
“The current design with a large number of 4-bed rooms does not meet current standards of care or resident and family expectations for a home environment,” the report said.
Linda Anderson, who works in communications and ageism awareness for the Saskatchewan Seniors Mechanism, said her mother was a resident at Extendicare Parkside in 2005. Anderson recalled visiting her mother in the home and seeing staff struggle to keep up with the needs of the many residents.
“Long-term care homes with four-bed rooms are terrible,” she said. “The virus revealed how on the edge just even regular care was in the old homes.”
She said staff in care homes are not paid enough, leaving many to pick up a second job either at another care home or in another sector. While during the pandemic, care home staff have been limited to working in only one long-term care facility, Anderson said this is not keeping some from working other jobs. She also noted longterm care staff need more training.
Mike Kaminski, president of the Saskatchewan Seniors Association, also said the pandemic has highlighted long-standing issues of understaffing, overcrowding and the standard of care in the province's care homes.