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CBC
2 hours ago
- CBC
Palliative care unit in Lunenburg still not open 4 years after it was announced
Social Sharing Four years after it was announced, a palliative care unit at Fishermen's Memorial Hospital in Lunenburg, N.S., has still not opened its doors due to staffing challenges. The five-bed unit to serve Lunenburg and Queens counties was scheduled to open in the fall of 2021 with "home-like environments" that would accommodate patients receiving end-of-life care and their families. Nova Scotia Health says it hired a medical director in June to prepare for the opening and operation of the unit. But there is no opening date yet, even though the physical space is ready. CBC News requested an interview with a representative of the health authority, but it could not accommodate one and instead sent an emailed statement. "Staffing a new unit with a specialized area of care has its own unique challenges," a spokesperson for the authority said in the statement. "We are working to add doctors, nurses and other staff before these beds can be populated." For people like Mahone Bay resident Christopher Heide, the delay made an already painful situation more difficult. His terminally ill wife, Deborah Hickman, died in the hospital's emergency department on May 26, 2022, without access to the care the unit was meant to provide. Heide said his partner of almost 50 years developed a sudden cough and was diagnosed with pneumonia shortly before her death. He had heard from a friend that the Lunenburg hospital had a palliative care unit, so he decided to ask about it. "The doctor wasn't able to make that happen. And we ended up in a room just as part of the emergency ward in Fishermen's," he said. Hickman was placed in a room near the hospital entrance, where Heide said they constantly heard the wail of ambulance sirens, the clatter of stretchers, and the bustle of nurses and doctors coming and going. They also had to share the room with another patient, and only two visitors were allowed at a time. Heide said staff were kind and attentive, but he missed the comfort, privacy and family-oriented space that palliative care offers — something he experienced when his mother died in another province. He said it's disheartening to see that, three years later, the unit is still not open. "I feel very frustrated for all the people who are going through it now," said Heide. "There's a great need out there." When CBC News asked the health authority how many people are needed to have full coverage of the unit, the spokesperson said the hiring of Dr. Patricia Caldeira as medical director was a positive first step. "Efforts are focused on continuing to work on securing the rest of the team needed to open the beds. Beyond that, I don't have anything else," the spokesperson said. Marlene Wheatley-Downe, vice-chair of the South Shore Hospice Palliative Care Society, says she knows of other cases in her community similar to Hickman's. Her organization has been advocating for more palliative care beds, and says it has been in communication with the health authority regarding the unit. However, Wheatley-Downe said it is "frustrating" and "disappointing" not knowing when the unit will open or how many people they need to hire. "We toured the unit last September, and everything was there and ready to go. But they were empty," she said. Wheatley-Downe hopes the hiring of a medical director means the rooms will open sooner rather than later. Lunenburg County has the oldest median population in the province, so she says it's important to have those five beds up and running.
CBC
3 hours ago
- CBC
Meet Charlotte, a canine first responder bringing pawsitivity to a Quebec community
Equipped with her customized vest, Charlotte the golden doodle keeps a busy schedule. For the past four years, she's been responding to emergency calls with a paramedic team in Mont-Laurier, Que. The five-year-old therapy dog and her handler Marc Paquette with Les Ambulances Y. Bouchard et Fils have followed ambulances to help deliver death notices, offered support for people with suicidal thoughts and intervened in cases involving autistic patients. Her skill is providing comfort and support, says Paquette. "It often starts with eye contact," he said. "She looks like a big stuffed animal, very harmless, and she's trained to be calm." He says Charlotte's presence has become integral in the Laurentians town of 14,000, and her unique role has allowed the first responders to not only gain trust among patients but also improve crisis management in the field. "Charlotte is an integral part of the pre-hospital care system," said Paquette. "We're available every day, evening or night, to assist the public." In her four years of service with the team, Charlotte's presence in the community has turned her into a quasi celebrity, joked Paquette. She's recently been asked to help provide support in court, to provincial police and residents in care homes. "She's well known and has become part of the fabric of Mont-Laurier," he said. "It's not rare that when I'm walking, people ask me 'Where's Charlotte?'" De-escalating situations Initially, Charlotte started her training with Paquette when she was three months old with the goal of becoming a service dog to support first responders. But Paquette decided to take it further. "To really bring it into the community and to respond to interventions in the field," he said. "We enter people's homes. We defuse crises." Paquette says he knows of other support service dogs working with paramedics in the province, but he isn't sure they're as integral to their team as Charlotte is to his. The main benefit of this program is how she has improved crisis management, says Paquette. When Charlotte approaches an individual in crisis, Paquette says 90 per cent of the time, the individual starts opening up. He says her presence sometimes prevents paramedics from having to bring people into the hospital network because of the dog's ability to de-escalate situations. "Once the crisis has been defused ... we are able to refer them through 811 to other psychosocial resources," said Paquette. "Before, the only place [to] transport was the emergency room." A complex training program Charlotte was trained at Mélanie Boucher's dog school in Sainte-Thérèse, Que., L'AcadémieChien. President and founder of the school, Boucher says the dog's success is not Charlotte's alone, but speaks to the commitment of her handler, who also put in hours of training. The duo had to go through three levels of obedience school and Charlotte had to complete between 160 to 180 hours of training, she says. Charlotte was the first dog the school trained for a team of paramedics. Since then, about 20 have gone through the program to serve with other professionals. The school has trained about 100 dogs for a variety of needs since 2018, she says. It's quite a complicated training process to train dogs to serve in a professional setting. It takes about a year, considering the school is preparing dogs to meet a variety of individuals in less-than-ideal circumstances, says Boucher. "Unlike assistance dogs that we train for individuals ... [Charlotte] has to be able to approach people" she said. "We teach the dogs to go and apply pressure points to bring comfort to people … let's say to lean on them, on their knee, on their chest, wherever the person needs it." Dedicated to the dog's training, Paquette would make the commute from his Laurentians town to the school just outside of Montreal regularly, says Boucher.
CTV News
7 hours ago
- CTV News
Canadians suffering through unbearable situations as pain medication shortage continues
Watch Manufacturing issues with one major supplier has left pharmacies across the country struggling to supply patients with pain medications. CTV's Kathy Le reports.
