Sisters say lack of care killed mother
Protesters at Oosterhoff’s office make plea for better long-term care
Dawn Shea and Cheryl Spelliscy thought they’d have many more years with their mother Rose Shields, a “spry” 88-yearold woman who above all else loved to spend time with her family.
Her death Monday night left them devastated.
Although COVID-19 has claimed the lives of about 1,900 long-term care home residents in Ontario since the pandemic began, the sisters said it was instead “a lack of care” that claimed their mother’s life.
“Lack of staffing — lack of care for her,” Shea said.
On Thursday the sisters joined a demonstration organized by Niagara Health Coalition in front of Niagara West MPP Sam Oosterhoff’s Beamsville constituency office to demand the provincial government resolve staff shortages while implementing a minimum standard of four hours of care per day for long-term-care home residents, in the hope that others would not have to endure the same fate as their mother.
About 30 people attended the event, including advocacy
group representatives Betty Miller from the Guardian Angels Program and Carol Dueck from Network 4 Long Term Care Advocacy Committee.
Dueck said advocacy groups have been lobbying for increased care standards for at least a decade.
“Everybody agrees it needs to happen. Ontario has the lowest amount of care for people in long-term care,” she said. “They get about 2.7 hours of care a day instead of four. We’re asking for four, but they really need al
most five.”
Shea and Spelliscy said they saw first-hand the impact inadequate care levels had on their mother.
In an interview, Shea said her mother’s condition began to deteriorate after she fell and broke her hip in early August.
“She was left alone, by herself. She would call us saying how lonely she was, and nobody would come and talk to her.”
Without adequate physiotherapy as she recovered from her injury, Shea said, her moth
er then developed pneumonia, followed by a severe rash.
“It was terrible,” Spelliscy said. “She was in so much pain it was hard on her heart.”
Their mother had a stroke last week, followed by a second stroke a few days before she died.
Ian West, vice-president of operations at Park Place Seniors Living — the B.C.-based parent company of Bella Senior Care where Shields lived — said staff shortages that have impacted other homes in the wake of the pandemic were not an issue at its local facility.
The Niagara Falls home, which has evaded any outbreaks of COVID-19, has managed to maintain pre-pandemic staffing levels, he added.
But West said he, too, shares concerns expressed during the protest.
“All homes, not just in Ontario but across the country, would they benefit from having more staffing and hours of care funded by the government? Absolutely they would,” West said.
While the long-term-care home operator of 30 residences across the country continues to lobby for increased staff levels and hours of resident care, West said it’s more important for people such as those at Thursday’s demonstration to demand change, too.
“You as the family members, and you as the residents, you have a louder voice than we do. Not only do you have a voice, but you have a vote,” he said.
Niagara Health Coalition chair Sue Hotte urged people to “keep the pressure up,” and call their MPPs and demand improvements.
“This government responds to pressure and we need to keep the pressure on them,” she said.