Dear Editor,
I read with dismay the trials that Mr. Scotty Smith encountered upon his discharge from St. Albert’s Sturgeon Community Hospital. I question the ethics of discharging anyone without ensuring that someone is available to pick up the patient being discharged. Where does the responsibility of care end? Surely there must be protocol in place to ensure a patient being discharged has some way of getting home whether that is in the city of St. Albert or in a neighboring community. Mr. Smith’s situation, however, highlights another significant issue – the lack of sustainable public transportation.
How does one get back home to Barrhead if the same situation were to arise again and there is no one at the other end of the phone to take the call? What options are there for those who live an hour or more away and need to get home? Furthermore, what options are there for those who live in the town or county of Barrhead and need to get to an appointment and have no personal transportation? How many of our seniors who still live on their own, valuing their independence, forgo appointments that should be kept only because they have no way of getting to them?
It is time to consider some form of sustainable transportation that provides supports to seniors and other vulnerable individuals who require support in getting around. I have no doubt that collectively if we put our heads together we can come up with a sustainable model of local public transportation that serves the members of our community, who otherwise are dependent on the benevolence of friends like Mr. Smith’s to get them out of a jam. Regardless of the ethics of those who discharged Mr. Smith or the lack of protocol the real issue is the absence of sustainable public transportation.
I challenge the Councilors of the County and Town of Barrhead to address this lack of support and consider what can be done to alleviate this issue before our seniors and those supported in the vulnerable sector are forced to move to larger urban areas where transportation is not an issue.
Ralph Helder
Executive Director – Blue Heron Support Services Association
