Poorest Health Care in the Province

The journey is not for the faint of heart. Not the journey with Cancer, but the journey into old age, ... especially considering the state of health care in the province of Ontario...

Elvin is in hospital, ... Niagara Falls Hospital again, ... the place I dread the most and again, he is on a gurney in the Emergency. He is waiting to go to Hamilton for an angiogram following an episode of rising blood pressure, rising heart rate, and chest pain. He has been there since yesterday evening, ... very very tired and obviously unwell. He was seen by an internist at 4:30 this afternoon, a student had seen him earlier to do the preliminary questioning.

The Yellow Shirt Brigade, made up mostly of Seniors, has drawn attention to the poor health care in the Niagara Peninsula particularly, over the past 2 years. To-day we were again at Queens' Park drawing attention to our plight, ... I was to go, but would not leave Elvin at the mercy of inadequate nursing care. I will explain.

1. When we arrived at the former Emergency in Fort Erie, ... Douglas Memorial Hospital. he was triaged by a very kind and gentle nurse who would by the end of the day finish a 24 hour shift. Would you feel comfortable having her give you your medication, ... start and IV, ... I feel sorry for these women who are overworked to the point of it being to the detriment of patient care.

2. Elvin was fortunate to be hooked up to a monitor almost immediately 11:30 AM, however, ... a blood pressure cuff, necessary to monitor the rising blood pressure, could not be found, ... until 5 PM. And the Niagara Health System cuts our nurses, cuts our supplies and maintains that they have everything under control.

3. On arriving at the Niagara Falls hospital at 8:30 PM, he was placed on a gurney in the Emergency where he will likely stay, as he did the last time, for 3 or 4 days as there are no beds. The Niagara Health System has cut beds as they have cut nurses and services. A staff doctor asked a few questions and listened to his heart. My husband is on the maximum medications for his coronary heart disease. To-day when I went to visit, his blood pressure was rising as was his heart rate, ... when it got to 210/107 and his heart rate was 100, I went to the desk to suggest that perhaps they should come and do something.. A nurse came, and said they had not given him his medication and that is why it was so high, ... I would like to say I was dumbfounded, but rather was not surprised at all, ... this is par for the course at Greater Niagara General Hospital. They put the medicine in his IV and the pressure came down, .... some.

4. I called this evening to see if a bed had come available , and of course there wasn't one. I did learn however, that now my husband is running a fever. I am terrified.

It is now 11:15 and I should be in bed, ... however, I know I will not sleep, ...