Home care is not intended to 'do everything for people': WRHA
WRHA responds following CBC report on Edith Grunfeld, 91, who sent 2 workers away who did not meet her needs
The last thing the home care system should encourage is dependency, a Winnipeg Regional Health Authority official told the CBC on Friday.
Réal Cloutier, the health authority's chief operating officer and vice-president of long-term care and community-area services, spoke about home care two days after CBC reported that Edith Grunfeld sent two workers away because the services they provided after she was released from hospital were so limited.
The workers were not allowed to help her shower or remind her to take her medication, Grunfeld said.
But home care is only supposed to meet certain needs, said Réal Cloutier, the health authority's chief operating officer and vice-president of long-term care and community-area services.
"The program isn't intended to do everything for people," he said.
"It's essentially help them if they have specific gaps in their health needs so they can stay home."
Cloutier suggested Grunfeld's account is an exception to most people's experiences with the system.
"Our phones would be ringing off the hook if everyone is dissatisfied," Cloutier said.
But the complaint is important, he acknowledged.
"There's no question, at times expectations don't match up with the way we deliver services, and we have to listen to what people have to say," he said, adding anyone who is not satisfied with home care services should speak up.