SASKATOON — Bailey Smith said their family is still processing the death of their grandfather, William Cone, who recently due to complications from a broken hip.
The 86-year-old Cone had Alzheimer’s and wandered out of the Preston Special Care Home, where his family had just placed him.
Smith, during a media availability with Saskatchewan NDP Deputy Leader Vicki Mowat on Wednesday, Oct. 29, said her grandfather wandered with his walker eight blocks away from the home, where someone on the street witnessed him fall. The person helped Cone, who could only remember his phone number and birthday.
“Somebody called my grandmother, leaving a voice message. She called them back, and she went to [the Royal University Hospital], where she met him. She then called the care home and let them know that he was in the hospital with a suspected broken hip, which turned out to be a broken hip. He [Cone] had been put into the care home about 36 hours prior,” said Smith.
“He was known to wander, which was part of the reason we had put him in there. My grandma was taking care of him alone, and the care home was aware that he would leave. He left his condo a lot. My grandma couldn’t do it on her own anymore. We, the family, helped as much as we could, but it was just becoming too much. We put him in the Saskatchewan Health Authority’s care, thinking that was the right move. It blew our lives up.”
She added that the care home’s staff did not even know he had left the facility, telling them that what might have happened was that they propped a door open for kitchen renovations, which Cone could have used to get out, since the door was unsupervised.
“All the doors were supposed to be locked within nine days after he had passed away from a broken hip due to complications. All we want is more safeguards for our family members. We don’t want this to keep happening. The more I talk about it, the more people reach out about their family members wandering out or passing away from easily treatable things in care homes that should have been caught,” she said.
Smith suggested that, if possible, residents in care homes, especially those suffering from Alzheimer’s and other illnesses, should wear bracelets like those used for babies in hospital maternity wards, triggering an alert if they leave.
“I don’t know that we’ve really even had time to grieve properly just because of how it happened. I think, with all the shock and anger and everything else, we haven’t really had time to stop and properly grieve. Everything’s been a bit of a whirlwind. I think that none of us has just stopped to process yet. I think we’ll probably eventually, but right now we’re more focused on making sure this doesn’t happen again. Eventually, we’ll stop and grieve, but it just hasn’t happened yet,” said Smith, who added that she wants to raise awareness as her way of doing something good from the tragic event.
Mowat, also the Health Shadow Minister, said she is calling for a full investigation into what happened to Cone to ensure no other incident occurs in any senior care facility in the province, and for public accountability in what she described as a repeated issue of seniors leaving care homes.
“This has turned into a system-wide problem, and there needs to be system-wide solutions presented as a result of this. It can’t be treated as a one-off. That’s why we need a full investigation and public accountability for what’s happening here, to identify which procedures were not followed,” said Mowat.
The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA), in a statement sent to SaskToday, offered condolences to Cone’s family for the tragic loss of their grandfather and invited them to discuss any concerns they have. The SHA said a formal review of the incident has been initiated.
“The review process will include obtaining family perspectives, a post-analysis disclosure to the family, which includes facts and actions taken or to be taken, and actions to be considered to improve care delivery moving forward. The SHA cannot comment on specific cases due to patient confidentiality legislation. The SHA, its employees, leaders and physicians strive to provide high-quality health-care services to the people of Saskatchewan,” the statement said.
