‘Dehumanizing’: B.C. woman outraged her mother placed in hospital sunroom with no call button

For a second time, a patient at Royal Jubilee hospital in Victoria has complained about being put into a sunroom rather than a proper recovery room after receiving treatment.

A B.C. woman is advocating for better care for her mother at Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria.

Alicia Allen said her mother had knee revision surgery on Aug. 8 and was put into a standard room for her first night of recovery.

However, the next night she was moved to a sunroom.

“This is not a standard hospital room, there’s no bathroom, there’s no proper light, there’s no sink and most importantly, there’s no nurse call button,” Allen told Global News. “So if you need a nurse, you can’t easily press the button to get the nurse to come, you have to yell.”

Allen said her mother cannot close the door to the room as the nurses would not be able to hear her calling.

She also said there are not enough plugs for machines, there is no option for dim nighttime lighting, and there is no indication the space is being used as a room so people keep walking in unannounced.

Allen said in addition to the knee surgery, her mother has lymphoma and emphysema. She is very concerned about the level of care her mother is receiving.

“She’s not a younger person, she’s a senior, she’s vulnerable and then, they put her in this room that frankly, I find dehumanizing.”