Ontario seniors are being shortchanged when it comes to health care in hospitals and in the community, according the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions' public hotline.
The responses from the hotline, released in January, have drawn significant answers from the families and friends of senior citizens that seniors are being removed from hospital too early.
According to the hotline, which has attracted more than 700 calls since August, critically ill seniors feel they are being ushered out of care facilities. Once they are no longer patients, insufficient care is given to the patients outside of hospital care, says Michael Hurley, president of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions.
Hurley hopes to draw attention to how cuts in the number of hospital beds in Ontario has affected care for seniors.
“There is increasing pressure on doctors and discharge planners to move seniors out of hospital quickly, and a lot of that pressure is felt by older people,” says Michael Hurley, president of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions to the Ottawa Citizen. “We observe patients being sent home while still acutely ill, without any support.”
Hurley said elderly patients are often referred to as "bed blockers" because they are often seen as taking up bed space for longer periods of time, opposed to patients who are in critical care, says Hurley.
Ontario has fewer hospital beds per capita than any other province, according to the OCHU website. The province also has the shortest average length of hospital stay in the country. Since 1980, more than 30,000 hospital beds have been cut from hospitals in the region.
Hurley adds that he spearheaded the hotline because his organization feels the elderly are being unfairly targeted to unclog Ontario's 97 per cent hospital bed occupancy rate. In July and August, Hurley spoke at hospitals and care facilities throughout Canada about the issue.
"We know that Ontario doesn't have enough hospital beds, and we feel that the pressure falls on clearing out the elderly to make space," he says.
For 87-year-old Centretown resident Russell Gilespie, the hotline results hit home. Gilespie spent several weeks in the intensive care unit of a city hospital for a liver problem. Following his treatment, Gilespie was tossed out.
“It’s a scary thought, that people are potentially being forced out of hospital,” he says. Gilespie adds that his fellow hospital roommates also felt that their health care was rushed. “To put it simply, it’s unfair.”
Centretown resident Mona Najion’s critically ill mother, Gina, was admitted to an Ottawa hospital last year, only to be released quickly after.
“The nurses spent the majority of the time trying to find a easy way of getting my mother out of there. My family felt like she was a nuisance and taking up space, and I know that she realized it, too,” she says.
“They are essentially pushing elderly patients out and into senior homes to clear beds and make space. This is a huge problem.”
When her mother was released back into the community, the support also fell short. “Elderly patients are discriminated against, which is a shame,” says Najion.
This troubles Eric Manherz, president of Ottawa Seniors, who says he hears upset seniors and families on a nearly daily basis.
“Hospitals seem to be dumping people out, usually at the end of a week. Patients who may need extra help or extra care are essentially being returned to their senior’s residences or homes with very little detailed instruction as to what their needs are,” he says.
“This group of people are very vulnerable, and the hotline responses clearly illustrate that this is a growing issue that needs to be dealt with.”