It’s wrong for seniors to languish in hospital beds

Re: “Health authorities identify culprits in long emergency wait time,” John Larter, Editorial Cartoon, Sept. 26.

I can identify with this and I can speak from experience. For over a week, I “lived” with these people at Rockyview Hospital as I waited for placement in a physio rehab facility.

I was in a room with four beds, with three other women who were basically immobile, unable to leave their beds unassisted.

Personally, I have no complaints — I had my needs met, was mobile and had family and visitors. These people had none of that. They were in their beds all day, rarely had a visitor, had no exercise or socialization (or even an outing in the hall in a wheelchair).

Only one of them was occasionally taken to the bathroom. Two of them barely said a word, and the third was rude, cranky and loud. I could hardly blame her. What total frustration for these people — and they are there for months on end.

By the time they get moved, they will have lost what strength they had. It was a large unit, with many such rooms, and I’m told there is more than one unit filled with seniors waiting for better care. The total for all the hospitals is in the hundreds.

I don’t blame the staff. They were stressed and overworked.

I am one of those old people and my heart goes out to them. What does it take to find the proper homes where they can live out what time they have left? Maybe this very insightful cartoon will jolt our new premier. I suggest that he quietly send someone to these wards to see first hand how sad and wrong the situation is.

Elaine Peake, Chestermere