Alberta cancer patient moved into storage room during hospital stay

Rose Roll, 56, from Taber, Alta. says she was moved into a storage room during a January stay at the Chinook Regional Hospital in Lethbridge. (Supplied)

A 56-year-old woman from southern Alberta says she was forced to stay in a storage room during a recent hospital visit.

Rose Roll, from Taber, is battling multiple myeloma.

She had been in remission, but the cancer came back.

Her doctor put her on a new injection medication and had her stay at the Chinook Regional Hospital in Lethbridge in case she had an adverse reaction.

“It can have pretty life-threatening reactions, so they have an antidote and they can give it to you if you have any of these reactions,” she explained. “So you have to be closely monitored.”

Roll was scheduled to stay at the hospital from Jan. 19 to 25, and says the stay went smoothly until the 24th.

That’s when Roll alleges a staff member said she had to give up her room because someone else needed it.

Instead of moving her to a different room, she was put into a converted storage room where she spent the rest of her hospital stay.

“They have to take me down to main floor to get my injection, my treatment, and as they were taking me or loading me, a staff member came and told me that I would be moving rooms,” Roll said.

Roll says the room was dirty and wasn’t properly cleaned during her stay.

She says hospital staff weren’t checking in on her as often as before, and even forgot to bring her breakfast.

The room also didn’t have a washroom or running water.

“The storage room was filled with equipment on one half,” she said. “It looked like they had pulled some equipment out, because it was all out in front of my door to fit in my bed.”

Health care advocates say Roll’s experience highlights chronic overcrowding issues in Alberta’s health-care system.

“It’s upsetting to hear stories like this,” said Chris Gallaway, executive director of Friends of Medicare.

“Unfortunately, it’s not surprising here in Alberta. We’re in a situation where we haven’t kept up with the capacity we need to provide health care to Albertans.

“We don’t have the beds, and we don’t have the health care staff. We need to provide the care that Albertans need.”

Roll hopes sharing her experience will lead to change, saying she doesn’t want anyone else to go through what she did.

“I would like that storage room to be strictly a storage room, and for them to never put a patient in there again,” she said.

Steven Staples, National Director of Policy and Advocacy with the Canadian Health Coalition, says Roll’s experience speaks to a wider issue of poor health care, not just in Alberta but across Canada.

“It’s a hangover from the pandemic,” said Staples.

“It’s something that continues across the country, and I don’t think governments have done enough to address this ongoing problem with a lack of resources and a lack of caregivers, which leaves patients in the lurch.”

In a statement, Alberta Health Services said Chinook Regional Hospital is currently experiencing high patient demand and the unit Roll was on is dealing with a respiratory outbreak.

“We apologize to this patient for their experience at Chinook Regional Hospital. In response to their concerns, we have removed the shelving unit and cleaned the room to enhance comfort and privacy. A washroom is located directly opposite the patient’s room, and meals are provided to all patients, regardless of their room location.”

With files from CTV News' Kathy Le