'A nightmare': Sask. family voices concerns over state of public long-term care homes

A Saskatchewan family’s experience with a public long-term care home is raising the alarm on the “unlivable” conditions faced by some seniors in the province.

Jeff Nachtigall’s 86-year-old father, Helmut, was recently diagnosed with dementia. Nachtigall turned to the public long-term care system for help – with Helmut being placed in Regina’s Pioneer Village earlier in the year.

“We started this journey six months ago, and it's not hyperbole for me to state that this has been a nightmare,” he told reporters following Question Period Tuesday.

According to Nachtigall, his father’s journey through the medical system was harrowing – beginning in the hospital, to the transitional care unit before being placed in Pioneer Village.

"It's not exactly a positive environment for an 86-year-old man with dementia," he said.

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Nachtigall claims his father was physically and chemically restrained by staff during his stay at the facility.

“I've got photographs of dad being physically restrained in a wheelchair, even though we specifically asked that that not happen,” he said.

“When dad is restrained like that, he becomes agitated, so he would frequently try to get out of these restraints, fall, hit his head, injure himself further. So, I mean, as a family, we haven't even had the opportunity to grieve dad's decline with dementia and Alzheimer's, we are fearing for his well being.”

While the family’s experiences paint a grim picture – Nachtigall was sure to note that there was some assistance.

“We can't paint this with such a wide brush to say that everybody did a terrible job. There were some people that did incredible jobs, and we're very grateful for them,” he said.

“But [they were] few and far between.”

Helmut's stay at Pioneer Village ended after an incident resulted in the 86-year-old breaking several of his toes.

"There was a little bit of a mystery around that. We kept getting different stories ... apparently somebody in a wheelchair ran over his toes," he explained.

The fear surrounding Helmut’s wellbeing led Nachtigall to place his father in a private home. However, the facility is costing the family $6,400 a month.

“I made the mistake of following my passions and becoming an artist, so I don't have deep pockets to subsidize my parents care,” he explained.

“I've actually recently given up the paintbrush and started working in mines so that I can help out in that realm. But the point being is that it's unaffordable.”

The Opposition NDP highlighted Nachtigall’s situation as proof that the Saskatchewan Party’s approach has resulted in a decline in the province’s long-term care centres.

“We continue to see the sort of chaos in our long-term care system, and lots and lots of people falling through the cracks,” NDP MLA Keith Jorgenson said.

“Not being able to afford care for their families, and not being able to basically afford to age and die with dignity is absolutely heartbreaking.”

Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, Seniors and Rural and Remote Health Lori Carr answered questions after speaking with Nachtigall Tuesday afternoon.

“We had a really good meeting … every individual that goes into one of our homes deserves dignity, and he has explained the situation to me, and we'll be looking into that,” she said.

Carr highlighted the government’s ongoing infrastructure projects concerning long-term care homes – citing a 240-bed facility currently under construction in Regina.

“Right across the province, we're actually building out some of our long-term care facilities as well,” she added.

While new infrastructure is generally welcomed, Nachtigall expressed worries that the system as a whole is in danger, citing his family's experiences.

“I had no idea, our family had no idea, the level of crisis our long-term care system is in,” he said. “If this is not addressed immediately, this crisis is going to be a catastrophe.”

“We're going to see a collapse.”