Wendy Fyrk says SHA has told her daily home care services for her father will be discontinued. (submitted photo/Saskatchewan NDP)

By Alison Sandstrom

COVID-19

P.A. woman says withdrawal of home care puts elderly father at risk

Apr 1, 2020 | 2:14 PM

There are growing concerns about the risk of COVID-19 transmission inside private seniors’ facilities, as the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) prepares to redeploy home care staff in response to the pandemic.

Wendy Fyrk’s 88-year-old father relies on home care to help him with his medication twice a day. But recently, the Prince Albert woman said she’s been told home care will be withdrawing that service, and a family member should provide the care instead.

“I’m angry because everyone’s being told to social distance,” Fyrk told paNOW. “They have a facility of 110 seniors so if they’re wanting family members to come in and take care of them, well that’s putting them at very high risk.”

The provincial government has banned visitors from SHA facilities, including long-term care homes, with very few exceptions. Fyrk’s father lives in a privately-owned senior’s independent living facility.

In a statement provided to paNOW the SHA said: “Clients in the independent living facility are considered to be the same as any client in the community living in their own home when it comes to the application of priority services and seeking family support. This facility is advised to limit, but not restrict visitors.”

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Fyrk said home care called on Monday to ask her to meet workers at her fathers’ facility that afternoon, so she could start helping him with his medication on Tuesday. She refused.

“You’re opening the door to at least 50 more people walking into that facility, and that’s a low estimate, at a time when we’re supposed to be keeping seniors basically secluded from the rest of the public to keep them safe,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Prince Albert Seniors Advocacy Centre has sent a letter to the province about the situation.

“The Prince Albert Seniors Advocacy Centre believes that the recommendations made by Home Care were rushed without a careful analysis of what the decision of pulling the services would or could cause,” Dr. John Fryters wrote. “We seem to forget that COVID-19 targets the elderly, specifically the advanced elderly and it is this target group that appears to contract this virus and die from it.”

Ryan Meili weighs in

On Tuesday, Fyrk joined NDP leader Ryan Meili on a conference call with reporters. Along with calling on the government to replace Home Care with family care at the P.A. facility, Meili asked for enhanced supports for seniors during the pandemic.

“Seniors are among the most vulnerable to COVID-19 and we need to do everything we can to protect them from the spread,” Meili said in a press release.

Preparing for a potential ‘surge’

In a statement provided to paNOW the SHA said “home-care services were being reviewed and prioritized related to the pandemic and essential services provision in order to prepare for a potential community surge in demand for care related to COVID-19 illness.”

At publication time, the SHA was unable to answer how many private facilities in Prince Albert were informed residents would lose access to some home care services.

In the case of Fyrk’s father’s residence, the SHA said it “has been in contact with the manager and any client with family support to help the family understand ways to assist their loved one.”

Meanwhile, Fyrk said she’ll keep fighting the SHA’s decision, adding if more health care workers are needed they should look at contracting nursing students.

“It’s not just my dad, it’s the whole facility. I want people to understand that,” she said. “Because if [COVID-19] gets in there, we’re going to have problems. We’ve seen what happens in Quebec and Ontario when it gets into seniors’ homes.”

Editor’s note: this article was amended to include comment from the Prince Albert Seniors Advocacy Centre.

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alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom