The Tory MLA for Cape Breton-Richmond says a local hospital doesn’t have enough support and resources for palliative care services.
Alana Paon says staff members are providing the best services they can at Strait Richmond Hospital in Evanston, but there are no palliative care beds.
She says she’s heard of a number of recent disturbing incidents where there have been deaths on a stretcher, in a retrofitted storage closet, and someone who was transferred from one ER bed to another before they passed away.
Paon tells The Hawk it has to be tough to not have dignity in your final days.
“I really can’t imagine having to say goodbye to a family member under those circumstances,” she says. “It’s stressful enough as it is to watch someone you love pass away, let alone with the public almost watching you.”
Paon says they want a minimum of four designated palliative care beds; there are currently two retrofitted rooms for palliative care services, but they’re not guaranteed for those patients.
She says it’s not fair the rural hospital is being left behind.
“We have palliative care services and a designated area for palliative care services in Antigonish at St. Martha’s Regional Hospital,” she says. “There’s designated palliative care services in Sydney and even in New Glasgow.”
Paon says it’s a perfect example of inequity between rural and urban communities.