N.B. man, 98, hospitalized for 7 months waiting for long-term care home

Arthur Perry, 98, has been living in a hospital since a heart attack he suffered in May impacted his mobility.

Currently staying in the Oromocto Public Hospital, he’s anxiously awaiting placement in the Mill Cove Nursing Home, which is located near his former home in Cambridge-Narrows.

His daughter Shelley Poirier said it’s been hard seeing him in low spirits due to his extended hospital stay.

“Most days he’s very disheartened from being there,” she said on Sunday.

“He’s unstimulated, he doesn’t have people to talk to. Emotionally he’s going downhill. He’s very sad a lot of the time,” she said.

Poirier said while she and her sister, Shirley Applebee, are grateful for the care he’s receiving at the hospital, it was negatively affecting his mental well-being, as a hospital doesn’t have activities or opportunities to socialize like a long-term care home would.

Poirier and Applebee uploaded a video to social media explaining his situation in the hopes of raising awareness about the long wait times for long-term care placement.

The video has now reached over 9,000 views, and Applebee said many people have reached out to them with similar stories.

“It’s not just about us. It’s about everyone who is in this system who is trying to navigate a system that they don’t understand,” she said, adding she and her sister had been confused about how the long-term care home placement process worked.

Poirier said a case worker was assigned in June, but she didn’t receive any communication until early August.

“They said that they made a mistake that they weren’t in their area, and that he was being reassigned to another case worker,” Poirier said.

Perry finally received an assessment in mid-August, and went on a waiting list for the Mill Cove Nursing Home.

“He’s ninth on the wait list, so he’ll be well into his 99th year, at the rate things are going, before he sees a nursing home … if he does,” Poirier said.

Global News reached out to the Department of Social Development on Friday, and is awaiting a response.

Applebee said the hardest part of this process was seeing her father’s emotional ups and downs.

“It’s just watching him … and watching the life go out of him,” she said.

During her visit on Saturday, Applebee said he “had a spark” after seeing how the social media video had amassed thousands of views.

Applebee said it was the first time in a long time he seemed to have hope about the situation.