Manitoba man upset elderly mom sent to care home far away
A Manitoba man says no one in Winnipeg would put up with what his family has to do — travel long distances to visit their loved one in a personal care home.
When Curtis Penner's 87-year-old mother, Hannah, started showing signs of Alzheimer's disease it was the start of a tough road for the family.
Hannah spent months in the regional hospital before getting a personal care home space about a month ago. But it's a 150-kilometre round trip from her Winkler home, at a temporary facility in Crystal City.
Penner's dad Ed, who’s 91, drives himself twice weekly between Winkler and Crystal City.
That’s an unreasonable expectation for someone, especially his age, said Penner, who estimates it could be another nine months before his mother might be moved closer to the family.
Penner believes city people would never put up with driving such distances.
“The rural people have one standard and the urban people have another, because there is no person in Winnipeg that would tolerate having their mother shipped and hour and half out of Winnipeg,” he said.
Ironically, the facility in Winkler where the family would like Hannah to be, is a place where she invested a lot of time to make the lives of those residents better.
She would often be there playing piano, visiting the seniors or fundraising for the facility, according to Penner.
Now she can’t get in there as a resident herself.
Penner says his efforts on his mother’s behalf have so far gone unheard. He blames the province for not properly funding rural facilities.
"The government has made a wilful decision not to spend money in this area," he said.
In January, the province announced a public tender to build a new 100-bed personal care home in the Morden-Winkler area, but there has been no completion date announced for the facility.
And the government is now restricted in talking about it. A byelection set for April 21 in The Pas limits what the government can say public about any programming.
Correction : A previous version of this story said the distance between Hannah Penner's home in Winkler, Man., and the temporary facility in Crystal City was 150 kilometres. In fact, it's a 150-kilometre round trip between the two locations.(Mar 27, 2015 3:46 PM)
