Manitoba family told to cover cost for bringing home body of woman who died after hospital transfer
CBC
A Manitoba woman is angry with the province after she was told she'd be left to cover the cost to transfer the body of her late mother — who died after she was moved from her home community to free up a hospital bed for someone else.
Patricia Fosty was left scrambling on New Year's Day when her 84-year-old mother, Irma Rougeau, died at Morris General Hospital, about 50 kilometres south of Winnipeg — and Fosty was told it was up to her to bring her mother home to Winnipeg.
"I don't think the government should only pay if you get out alive," she said in disbelief.
"You transferred her outside her region. Why should we be on the hook for that?"
The person on the phone was apologetic, Fosty remembers.
"Those poor nurses are going, 'I'm sorry, but you're going to have to pay.' They felt horrible about it," said Fosty, who lives in Zhoda, in southeastern Manitoba.
She says she remained composed in the moment, "but, I mean, I could have been bawling my eyes out, not able to think straight — and I probably would have agreed to anything in that moment because we're talking about my mom's body and her care."
Shared Health, which oversees health-care delivery in the province, is apologizing and says Fosty was misinformed.
Its policy is to have the health-care facility cover transfer costs, which typically happens after a funeral home identified by the family handles transportation, Shared Health says.
Patient transfers are happening with increasing frequency in Manitoba, as health-care facilities make room for the growing number of COVID-19 patients.
Shared Health says since October, it has transferred 159 people from one regional health authority to another, including 12 patients in the last week.
Each patient who could be transferred receives a memo that says "transportation between facilities will not result in any personal cost to you."
It states a transferred patient, once they can be safely discharged, will be informed of their options and provided "appropriate resources to support a safe transition." The document doesn't say what happens if a patient dies.
After Rogueau's death, a decision had to be made quickly because the Morris hospital could not keep her remains.
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