Housing provider removed from Alberta government list after stroke patient housed in motel

The housing provider that placed a 62-year-old stroke survivor in a Leduc motel is being removed from a list of agencies Alberta Health Services uses to advise patients it discharges.

The head of AHS addressed the situation for the first time in a Thursday media conference.

Government ministers Adrianna LaGrange and Jason Nixon have both denied any knowledge of Contentment Social Services, the housing provider that described a motel room as a bachelor-style suite to Blair Canniff.

The partially paralyzed man was shocked to learn the suite was a room at a Leduc Travelodge location that could not accommodate the home-care supports Canniff requires.

Athana Mentzelopoulos, the chief executive officer of AHS, told media when patients are cleared for discharge from hospital, it's their choice where they go for non-medical housing.

She says staff present the patient with a list of options to consider.

"We don’t endorse," Mentzelopoulos said.

"I think the subtext of some of this is that we somehow are endorsing. We do the work to find out what is available in the same way that an individual might do if they were looking for care outside of the hospital."

A representative for the agency told CTV News Edmonton on Thursday its program is not meant for people with complex needs.

"This program is not for everyone," said Nadia Yousouf, the housing director for Contentment Social Services.

"It's just a gap that needs to be filled for people who cannot live on their own because they need their basic care needs met and people who do not qualify for long-term care because they're not complex enough."

Yousouf said the agency provides non-professional services such as meals, laundry and shower help.

She said because Contentment Social Services is being blacklisted, it's "a really tough place to be in" because their side of the story hasn't yet been told.

"What is being said is ... completely contrary from what we do," Yousouf said.

LaGrange said Contentment Social Services has been removed from the list of agency options and that Alberta Health will review all other entities on it.

“We can only acknowledge that there is an issue here that needs to be addressed,” LaGrange told a news conference.

"We've now been able to determine what that issue is and we are going to go forward making sure that we correct what that issue is."

The Opposition NDP pounded away on the issue during question period, demanding Premier Danielle Smith's government apologize to Canniff and detail how many other people are getting post-hospital care in motel rooms.

“This government's endless attempts to duck responsibility is embarrassing to watch,” NDP member Irfan Sabir told the house.

“This government owes it to Albertans to get to the bottom of this and ensure that no one is subjected to this kind of treatment in Alberta health care.

“Albertans deserve to know how far this government's motel-medicine model has reached.”

Smith replied that her government is dealing with hundreds of patients being discharged from hospitals every day.

She said the goal is to find them appropriate accommodations while freeing up limited acute-care hospital beds.

“Those beds are highly valued. We cannot be having (emergency or time-sensitive) treatments put off because we don't have the right patient in the right place,” Smith said.

With files from The Canadian Press