$3,000 monthly hospital fee adds extra stress for P.E.I. couple awaiting LTC bed

Michael Casey spends a part of each day at the bedside of his wife, Helen MacCallum, who has dementia and has been referred to long-term care by her doctor.

But Casey doesn't visit her in a long-term care facility. Instead, he goes to the Kings County Memorial Hospital in Montague, where she's been staying since March while she waits for a bed to become available in a home equipped to care for her.

The cost to the couple — about $3,000 a month on top of all their other bills.

"It adds a lot of stress to one's daily intake of issues that you have to face," Casey said.

Islanders who are in a long-term care home have their accommodations partially subsidized by the province, depending on their household income and what they can afford. What isn't subsidized has to be paid for by the person or their relatives.

The same expectation applies to the 65 patients currently waiting in hospital for a long-term bed, according to Health P.E.I.

"Patients are billed the accommodations portion of what would have been their long-term care fee," a spokesperson said in an email to CBC News. "For those who do not qualify for subsidization, the fee is $92.19 per night. Those who earn less than $36,000 per year may be eligible for a reduced fee. Depending on the patient's level of income, they may not have a fee."

Health P.E.I. said it is reviewing the policy, which has been in place since 2010. 

Questions about policy

Casey said he wasn't told about the fees or the process for seeking a reduction, and wasn't given a chance to provide details on his income.

Health P.E.I. said it couldn't comment specifically on his situation, but advised this: "If a patient has a different experience, we would advise them to speak with their medical unit manager for follow up and to request being connected with the subsidization team."

If a person does not have a facility to go into, because of the fact we don't have them built, that burden should not be placed on the person with dementia or their family.— Michael Casey

Casey also questions why he's paying for long-term care at all when his wife really isn't getting it. 

"If a person does not have a facility to go into, because of the fact we don't have them built, that burden should not be placed on the person with dementia or their family. There's somebody with a pay level higher than the patient or their spouse that should care and look after that."

Hospital staff 'wonderful'

Casey stressed that the staff at Kings County Memorial Hospital are "wonderful" with his wife, but he can see their frustration as well.

"They're working one minute with a patient that has Alzheimer's, and the next minute with somebody who had a knee operation… There definitely is a need for this to be addressed. "

He'd like to see more long-term care beds opened up as soon as possible, and the costs waived for those waiting in hospital in the meantime.

"We can't just bury our head in the sand, and say, 'Well, they can stay in the hospital. That's OK until they go into long-term care.'

"That's not OK. They deserve more than that. My wife deserves more than that."