Province scrambles to find air conditioning units for elderly care home

The province is providing portable air conditioners to a care home in Summerside, P.E.I. after the daughter of one of its clients complained about the unbearable heat.

'It's not fair to the seniors that live there'

Isabella Zavarise · CBC News · Posted: Aug 01, 2018 7:00 PM EDT | Last Updated: August 1, 2018

Sylvia Magnotta's father Austin Gaudet lives at Wedgewood Manor. She says her father tells her the heat is pretty bad. (Steve Bruce/CBC)

The province is providing portable air conditioners to a care home in Summerside, P.E.I. after the daughter of one of its clients complained about the heat.

Sylvia Magnotta's 101-year-old father Austin Gaudet lives at Wedgewood Manor in Summerside.

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Wedgewood Manor does have fans within the facility and a dehumidification system which helps cool half the building, but Magnotta said this offers no relief to residents in the half of the building where her father resides.

"With this heat, the temperatures in there have been really intense. It's not fair to the seniors that live there. And to the staff that work there," she said.

'Something's going to happen'

Wedgewood Manor has fans throughout the facility, as well as heat pumps, but Magnotta says these offer no relief to residents in their rooms or common rooms. (Steve Bruce/CBC)

Magnotta said something needs to be done sooner, rather than later.

"Something's going to happen. Someone's going to die, and then it's too late. It's too late for apologies at that point. We need to do something now."

I cannot go home and sleep knowing the heat conditions in that building.- Sylvia Magnotta

Magnotta said she's advocating for her father, and all of the other residents in the home.

"My father would never complain, because he never wants to bother anyone. So I'm his voice," she said.

"Find the money. You find it for everything else. Find it for that."

AC units found

Magnotta says 'with the buying power the province has, there's no reason they can't solve the issue now.' (Steve Bruce/CBC)

Magnotta said she would like to see the province install units in the hallways and in the dining areas where residents spend a majority of their time.

"I just feel there's a lot of people there with breathing problems, especially my father. He has pulmonary fibrosis.… And something's going to give. I'm sorry, but I cannot go home and sleep knowing the heat conditions in that building."

Andrew MacDougall, director of long-term care with Health PEI, said several portable AC units are being brought into the facility this week, some as early as Wednesday.

"We've found up to a dozen or so, that were elsewhere within the government system. And we're fortunate to have been able to come across that recently."

Fiscal considerations

MacDougall says the province is aware of these issues and challenges, 'but sometimes it comes to the reality of, we need to make some decisions based on the budget you have.' (Steve Bruce/CBC)

MacDougall said the heat isn't as big of an issue at most of the province's 10 long-term care facilities, because most have full dehumidification systems.

Only half the building has the system installed at Wedgewood Manor but MacDougall said the other half will be installed by the fall.

"We've been certainly aware of these issues and challenges. But sometimes it comes to the reality of, we need to make some decisions based on the budget you have."