Family wants answers over mom’s death
Children say health system ‘failed us’
“WE PUT HER THERE TO BE TAKEN CARE OF, AND SHE WASN’T TAKEN CARE OF.” NANCY MACFARLANE
REGINA — When she died, 74-year-old Margaret Warholm weighed just 89 pounds
Most of her back had been engulfed by a raw, red rash, painful to the touch, and a large bedsore.
Before her death on Oct. 6, 2013, Warholm lived in the Santa Maria long-term care home for a year. She had just been admitted to Regina General Hospital, where she was diagnosed with superior mesenteric artery syndrome, usually brought on by severe, rapid weight loss.
Her medical records bluntly stated she was malnourished.
Three days later, she was dead.
Warholm’s family believes a lack of care led to her death. They estimate that in the final few months of her life, she lost around 30 pounds.
Bedridden, she had lived with a condition called spinal stenosis. It led to severe pain and mobility issues which meant she could not feed herself. They say food was brought to her bed on a tray and left there, but no effort was made to feed her.
A doctor’s report noted that at the Santa Maria, when Warholm complained of pain, “she was told by house staff that it would not be worrisome” and had been started on a painkilling Fentanyl patch “for the past week” to deal with it.
Three months earlier, Warholm fell from a wheelchair at the home as she was moved for a bath; medical records show that three days before she died, the hospital found a number of recent fractures in her spine, possibly as a result of the fall.
Speaking with reporters on Wednesday, a tearful Nancy Macfarlane, Warholm’s daughter, said if the family had known about her mother’s condition, they would have done something.
“We put her there to be taken care of, and she wasn’t taken care of,” Macfarlane said.
Nancy was at the legislative building with her sisterin-law, Leanna Macfarlane, and her siblings, Susan Langan, Donna Webber and James Macfarlane.
They wanted to talk about their mother’s case to try and “stop anybody else going through” what her family has, Nancy said.
“We’re not just fighting for our mom; we want to help everybody who has nobody.”
Leanna Macfarlane said she wants Health Minister Dustin Duncan to know one thing: “He failed us.”
Speaking with reporters, Duncan said he still has questions about the case — discrepancies between stories of how Warholm fell, clinical decisions and Santa Maria’s response to the case — and urged the family to reach out to the ombudsman.
“I think this certainly warrants further investigation,” he said. “It’s a troubling case.”
In 2011, the government changed regulations to remove a minimum per-day staff time requirement at care homes — a change of which the Opposition has long been critical.
On Wednesday, NDP Leader Cam Broten said Warholm’s case should provide “a wake-up call.”
“It’s through stories like Margaret’s that ... we can have a larger, provincial discussion about what needs to happen, and I think minimum care standards are a first step,” he said.
Duncan said he isn’t sure minimum care standards are the answer.
“I think we can have a very reasonable debate in the legislature and in the public about appropriate staffing levels for facilities, but none of that matters if the processes, the procedures that are put in place, aren’t followed,” he said.
In a Nov. 6, 2014 letter to Warholm’s four children, the Santa Maria’s executive director, John Kelly, admitted “a number of matters related to the care of Mrs. Warholm should have been better managed,” and said the care home was “committed to improvements.”
The letter said changes were made, including “enhanced dining” for residents, extra staff training, and the adoption of “consistent assignment of staff,” “purposeful rounds” and a new charting system.
When reached for comment Wednesday, Kelly said he couldn’t speak to specific cases.
“At this point, Santa Maria continues to work on the direction the province has gone, which is resident, family-focused care, and we continue to make changes toward that,” he said.