Elderly home care client suddenly dropped by new provider

A 99-year-old Edmonton woman was unexpectedly dropped by Revera, the new home care provider she was assigned to just two weeks ago.

Helen Pierce lives in her own home. On Thursday night a home care worker never showed up, according to her daughter Sharon Anderson. 

"At 6 o'clock she was supposed to get her medications. Nobody came," Anderson said on Friday.

"I called Revera and they said 'Her case has been cancelled. We no longer have her case.’"

Pierce only started receiving home care several months ago from an Edmonton-based agency.

But that organization was dropped in a recent consolidation by Alberta Health Services so her case was taken over by Revera.

Anderson says the transition has been "a nightmare."

"Mom's had two people coming in at once, at the same time, " Anderson said.

"She's had people who refused to give her meds because there supposedly wasn’t a care plan in the house. We’ve had service providers that are walking in and saying to Mom, 'What am I supposed to do?’"

No one at Revera would do an interview with CBC News but the company provided a written statement instead.

"During this transition period, we have experienced a very high volume of new AHS clients and regrettably there have been some challenges," the statement reads.

CBC News has learned that a number of other home care clients have been double-booked, missed or had their cases dropped.

AHS has apologized to Pierce and her family. However, officials won’t confirm how many other clients have had problems.

"Revera is working with us." said Carol Anderson. executive director of continuing care for the Edmonton zone of AHS.

"We're working with them daily, identifying where there's opportunities for improvement, and ensuring that action is taken where it’s been identified."

Pierce’s daughter Sharon Anderson was on the phone all day trying to sort out her mother’s situation.

Late today, Pierce learned she will get homecare but no one is sure which service provider will be involved.

However, Anderson from AHS says that Pierce is still a Revera client.