When Andrea Weagle and her family discussed her father’s deteriorating health in March, they decided that end-of-life care was the most comforting option for him.
She contacted the Fishermen’s Memorial Hospital in nearby Lunenburg, NS, where the province had announced a palliative care unit with five beds in 2021.
But Weagle said her father, who lived in Bridgewater, could not be admitted due to a lack of hospice staff.
Her father, Ernest Bolivar, spent his final days in the emergency room at South Shore Regional Hospital in Bridgewater, where he received end-of-life care before being moved to a private room eight hours before his death. During their stay in the emergency room, Weagle and her sister had to spend the night there because there were limited overnight accommodations available.
Marlene Wheatley, vice president of the South Shore Hospice Palliative Care Society, says cases like Weagle’s father’s are why her organization is pushing for more end-of-life beds in the province.
Weagle, a nurse, said that while the staff at Bridgewater took good care of her father, having access to a palliative care room would have made her family’s already difficult situation a little more comfortable.
“It’s important to get involved”
She said palliative care rooms are designed to benefit patients’ families as well. They are private, usually larger and have amenities for overnight stays, such as a bathroom, refrigerator and more electrical outlets.
“I think it’s important to advocate for these things because people deserve to be respectful and dignified at the end of their lives,” Weagle said. “And I think the more we can do to make it a positive experience for people, the more important it is.”
According to a report by the Canadian Cancer Society, Nova Scotia has the fewest palliative care beds per population in the Maritime provinces, with only 2.99 beds per 100,000 people, while Prince Edward Island has 6.01 and New Brunswick has 4.27 beds.
Calming option in the last days
Wheatley believes palliative care rooms give people the opportunity to spend their final days in an environment where they can find comfort, whether that’s through gentle music in the room, visits from family and friends, or breastfeeding from a loved one.
However, she said that palliative care patients who ended up in the emergency room did not find the best conditions.
“The staff, of course, always do their best … but they are limited by space, bed availability and then the availability of bed type,” she said.
Wheatley’s organization has contacted four regional legislators, the cities of Lunenburg and Bridgewater, and Premier Tim Houston to raise awareness of the issue.
As a daughter who went through this process, Weagle said that the option of end-of-life care in a palliative care room could help people cope with grief.
“It often helps people to move on if they have a positive experience when they say goodbye. It’s about showing love,” she said.
5 beds at Fishermen’s Memorial Hospital
When asked about the five beds at Fishermen’s Memorial Hospital, a Nova Scotia Health spokesperson wrote in an email that they are “committed to addressing resource and staffing challenges to ensure these specialty rooms can care for patients as intended.”
When asked, Nova Scotia Health did not confirm whether the five rooms are currently in operation, but wrote that palliative care teams are available to ensure that “each patient receives comprehensive care tailored to their specific needs.”
