Speak to families, not administrators

Re: “Barrette looking for the gold standard” (Montreal Gazette, Sept. 20)

I wish Health Minister Gaétan Barrette good luck in looking for the “top-performing” retirement homes. I doubt there are any. I fear that his definition of efficiency could be easily swapped with cost containment. On a practical level, this means unappetizing food and poor care in terms of personal hygiene, attention and cognitive stimulation.

My 101-year-old father resides in a public facility that boasts an A+ hospital accreditation. If this is what Barrette considers “top performing,” I’d be happy to share that my father gets one bath per week, a menu devoid of fresh fruit and vegetables and might wait an hour to be taken to the toilet.

While Barrette is checking out these top-performing facilities, he should examine the critical role played by paid companions, and assess what would happen if they were not around to feed and occupy the residents.

It is all well and good that Barrette wants to improve care for our aging population, but he needs to dig deeper to gather authentic user experiences from what he considers to be gold-standard homes. Speak to us, Dr. Barrette, not the administrators. Carol Levine, Montreal