EDMONTON -- A St. Albert woman says she has not been allowed to visit her mother, who is dying of cancer, because of the pandemic.
Sharon Ryan’s mother Louise Ryan has stage 4 pancreatic cancer. The 90-year-old is alone inside a Catholic hospice.
“She’s feeling betrayed. She’s feeling abandoned. And so are we,” Sharon told CTV News Edmonton.
Visitors have been banned from healthcare facilities across Alberta with few exceptions. One is if the patient is at the end of their life.
Ryan says staff told her that her mom has two to three weeks to live, but she was told that’s not close enough to the end of her mother’s life.
“We’re only allowed to see her in the last two hours of life, one at a time, with full PPE,” Sharon said. “But only God knows when we’re going to die.”
Alberta Health Services is allowing an essential visitor to accompany kids who are patients and mothers giving birth. Ryan wants the same rules applied to her family’s situation.
“We support our operators to make local decisions that are geared to protecting all residents and staff. The site makes decisions about visitation based on clinical judgment of a patient’s current condition and prognosis.
In end of life situations when there may be a critical need to visit a loved one, visitors with or without symptoms may be provided with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and escorted to and from the room.
In this unprecedented time, we must weigh priorities, taking into consideration the health and safety needs of all patients and staff and how best to provide support at end-of-life.
These are very hard decisions and situations for all involved,” AHS said in a written statement.
Covenant Health, which runs the facility where Sharon’s mother is staying, also released a statement.
“Covenant Care recognizes the profound impact of separation during COVID-19 on residents and those in hospice care as they follow guidelines to protect the safety of all in their care.
The care teams understand that pandemic safety measures can be heartbreaking for families, and are doing all they can to support residents and patients through this time.
Covenant Care remains committed to working in partnership with families to ensure their loved ones experience family love and support in all circumstances, including when they cannot be physically present.”
In this unprecedented time, we must weigh priorities, taking into consideration the health and safety needs of all patients and staff and how best to provide support at end-of-life.
“I feel like we’ve all let her down. Because we promised we would be there with her to the very end and suddenly she’s in isolation with no visitors,” Sharon said.
Sharon said she has tried to visit with her mom through a window but she says because of the glass, her mom couldn’t see well. When she calls, she says her mom is confused.
“She keeps saying when are you coming to visit me? She doesn’t understand why we can’t come and visit her.”
“There can be nothing more harmful to someone than to die alone and in isolation. I know my mother is feeling betrayed. “
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Sarah Plowman
