Sask. government must help longtime advocate for low-income residents with health care: NDP
Aishwarya Dudha | CBC News | Posted: December 5, 2024 11:00 AM | Last Updated: December 6
Fred and Teresa Sandeski say they're struggling to pay for both care and rent as they deal with health issues
A longtime Weyburn, Sask., volunteer and advocate for people in need is now in need of help himself.
Fred Sandeski, 71, founded the Community Low Income Centre in Weyburn, Sask., and ran it for about 20 years, and has also advocated for people in need of housing.
Now, he and his wife, Teresa Sandeski, are in a financial pinch of their own.
Fred suffers from advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, as well as epilepsy and a visual impairment. Teresa normally takes care of him, but she recently needed kidney surgery, so Fred was placed into respite care at a special-care home in Weyburn for a month.
He said that once the month was up, the province told him he must pay to stay in care, which the couple can't afford.
"The seniors' care staff was excellent," he said.
"It's just that almighty dollar gets in the way. I understand where they're coming from. They need to get paid, but I don't understand why the policy and regulations stipulate that this has to be done."
WATCH | Weyburn senior who needs respite care draws attention to financial pinch:
The cost for his care is around $1,380 per month, or $50 per day. Fred relies on his pension, while Teresa receives Old Age Security.
"If you take my pension out of the equation of our budget, my wife wouldn't have enough to live on. And that was my biggest fear — making sure my wife was covered, was looked after," Fred said.
The NDP brought the couple's issue up in the legislature Wednesday. Keith Jorgenson, the Opposition critic for seniors, called the situation "heartbreaking."
"There's a couple that can't afford both hospice care and also to basically pay their rent — so they're being asked to choose between maintaining a residence and for … the husband to be able to die with dignity," Jorgenson said.
The issue is representative of a larger crisis in long-term care, Jorgenson said, and he wants to see the province cover the cost of Fred's hospice care.
In a statement sent to CBC Wednesday, the ministry said that respite care is generally available, for a standard fee, for people who normally live at home but depend on family for support.
Long-term care is "provided when an individual's needs can no longer be met in the community," and would be income tested, but is "heavily subsidized," the statement said.
"Clients assessed 'end of life stage' upon admission to a special-care home do not pay a monthly resident charge," the statement said.
Late Thursday afternoon, Sandeski confirmed to CBC that the Ministry of Health is helping him and will allow him to stay in the special care home free of charge for a few more weeks.
Sandeski said he hopes this will start a larger conversation about health-care needs in the province.