Winnipeg woman in ER for 8 days should not have been hospitalized in first place, daughter says

A Winnipeg woman claims her mother’s health is deteriorating rapidly in a hospital bed after being sent there by her residence, despite there being nothing wrong with her physically.

Sylvia Richardson insists the Rosewood Supportive Housing had no reason to send her 78-year-old mother Christine to St. Boniface Hospital, where she’s reportedly been languishing in the emergency room under heavy drugs for eight days.

Richardson also says Rosewood has been deceptive about the entire situation.

“They just tried to sweep it under the rug,” she said. “The only reason we know the information that we do, we weren’t told this by administration, was staff told us what happened.”

Richardson says it all started on June 17 when Rosewood reportedly told her they wanted to send her mother Christine, who has dementia, for “panelling” – an evaluation for placement into a long-term care facility.

Richardson says the next day, Rosewood claimed her mother was aggressive and called an ambulance, where they took her to St. Boniface. She adds the message from the housing facility was vague about whether they would be transporting her elsewhere and did not even mention St. Boniface by name.

Christine has been in the ER ever since, in a room with no windows and that smells of urine and feces, Richardson claims.

Richardson says her mother has only now begun to show signs of aggression because she doesn’t understand why she was taken from her residence.

“A week ago I took her to gardening centres and we’re walking around, we’re laughing, she’s telling me how happy she is, only to find her in a bed in a ward that she looked horrible,” Richardson said.

The Winnipeg woman believes Rosewood wanted her mother out of the facility, as the family kept advocating for better care. She says Rosewood is now evicting Christine.

“We got a phone call from Lesley Claeys informing me that the panelling has been completed and they have deemed that my mother is unable to return to the Rosewood,” Richardson said. “This is moments after I had just spoken to the department head nurse who said that they don’t do panelling at St. Boniface Hospital.

Wandering from locked facility

It isn’t the first issue Richardson says she’s had with Rosewood. Even though it’s a locked-door facility, Christine managed to leave the building multiple times; there was apparently no reception at the front door despite a promise of 24/7 surveillance.

“We liked the idea that it was a locked facility that was supposed to provide dementia care,” Richardson said. “My mother somehow managed to walk out the door undetected, no one was watching, and she walked down a long hallway, went down the stairs and came out the front door. Just walked right out.”

The last time Christine wandered from the facility was in May, Richardson says.

“She just kept walking and she found her way to Grant Memorial Baptist Church,” she said.

Richardson says she has repeatedly been at odds with Rosewood administration.

“I wanted to talk about the fact that my mother had a psychological assessment and they had requirements that she should be moved to the main level, because she wanted to walk around. We wanted a safe place to be able to walk around outside. Those requirements were never met.”

CityNews reached out to Rosewood, but the request for interview went unanswered.

“We still have to move her to a different place, get panelling done at a different hospital, and then be placed in a home,” Richardson said.

For now, Richardson is waiting for news about her mother’s transfer to another hospital.

CityNews also contacted the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority who said in an email statement, “In general, admission to hospital from the emergency department can be impacted by the availability of beds at the appropriate site and unit for the level of care required. We know that this can be difficult for patients and their families. We continue to work to address these concerns through a variety of initiatives that are underway within the healthcare system, and our expectation is that every patient that comes to us for treatment will receive the highest standard of care possible.”