At-home care was a priority during recent healthcare negotiations in Toronto, but there is still a serious shortfall in the system
“He made it abundantly clear, over and over again, that he wanted to die at home, but it wasn’t an option.”
So said Laura Duma, whose father Dan passed away on July 18.
According to a report in the Globe and Mail, the Alberta oil-sands worker had been diagnosed with incurable liver cancer and was hospitalized in Fort McMurray when the wildfires occurred. The disaster forced him along with hundreds of other patients to travel to Edmonton.
Unable to return with his wife, Ana, to their Fort McMurray home, he decided to move to Windsor where he had lived for 15 years and where his daughters Laura and Andrea now resided.
The move would prove troublesome as Duma was ineligible for any services provided by his local Community Care Access Centre (CCAC), the public agency that coordinates home care in Ontario, for the first 2–3 months after relocating province. He could not get nursing care, help from personal support workers, or access to publicly funded equipment such as a hospital bed.
Dr. Darren Cargill, the palliative-care leader for the Erie St. Clair Regional Cancer Program, learned about Duma’s case and tried to help, even bending the rules to secure him a bed at a hospice in Leamington. “In the eyes of the Ministry [of Health and Long-Term Care,] he wasn’t even in that bed,” said Cargill. “We kind of snuck him in on a weekend, took care of him, and gave him a peaceful death.”
Duma’s problems stemmed from a nationwide inter-provincial agreement, under which his lingering coverage from Alberta could only cover “medically necessary services,” such as hospital and physicians’ bills, until his Ontario Health Insurance Plan could kick in; the gap usually lasts two to three months. Lisa Gretzky, NDP MPP for Windsor West, plans to introduce a private member’s bill named Dan’s Law, in memory of Duma, that would close the gap.
The issue had actually been raised with Health Minister Eric Hoskins in January, who in an emailed statement said that he and Premier Kathleen Wynne have “indicated that this is an issue of concern for our government.” He further reported that federal and provincial health ministers have formed a working group to “modernize and expand” their reciprocal billing agreements.
“We can’t wait for them to actually sit down, have this conversation, and really get this done,” said Gretzky.
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So said Laura Duma, whose father Dan passed away on July 18.
According to a report in the Globe and Mail, the Alberta oil-sands worker had been diagnosed with incurable liver cancer and was hospitalized in Fort McMurray when the wildfires occurred. The disaster forced him along with hundreds of other patients to travel to Edmonton.
Unable to return with his wife, Ana, to their Fort McMurray home, he decided to move to Windsor where he had lived for 15 years and where his daughters Laura and Andrea now resided.
The move would prove troublesome as Duma was ineligible for any services provided by his local Community Care Access Centre (CCAC), the public agency that coordinates home care in Ontario, for the first 2–3 months after relocating province. He could not get nursing care, help from personal support workers, or access to publicly funded equipment such as a hospital bed.
Dr. Darren Cargill, the palliative-care leader for the Erie St. Clair Regional Cancer Program, learned about Duma’s case and tried to help, even bending the rules to secure him a bed at a hospice in Leamington. “In the eyes of the Ministry [of Health and Long-Term Care,] he wasn’t even in that bed,” said Cargill. “We kind of snuck him in on a weekend, took care of him, and gave him a peaceful death.”
Duma’s problems stemmed from a nationwide inter-provincial agreement, under which his lingering coverage from Alberta could only cover “medically necessary services,” such as hospital and physicians’ bills, until his Ontario Health Insurance Plan could kick in; the gap usually lasts two to three months. Lisa Gretzky, NDP MPP for Windsor West, plans to introduce a private member’s bill named Dan’s Law, in memory of Duma, that would close the gap.
The issue had actually been raised with Health Minister Eric Hoskins in January, who in an emailed statement said that he and Premier Kathleen Wynne have “indicated that this is an issue of concern for our government.” He further reported that federal and provincial health ministers have formed a working group to “modernize and expand” their reciprocal billing agreements.
“We can’t wait for them to actually sit down, have this conversation, and really get this done,” said Gretzky.
Related stories:
More than 45,000 Canadians sought healthcare outside the country last year
Healthcare red tape separating Canadian couple from each other
