‘It’s disgusting’: 82-year-old discharged to motel after lengthy Oshawa hospital stay

An elderly hospital patient says she was pushed out of a hospital before she had fully recovered and sent to a hotel. Beth Macdonell explains.

An elderly woman is speaking out after being discharged from a hospital in Oshawa to a motel in Bowmanville, Ont., following a lengthy hospital stay.

“I was shocked. I thought it was a dive,” Dorothy Spulnick, 82, told CTV News Toronto on Thursday.

Spulnick, who lives with severe COPD, said after spending more than six weeks at Lakeridge Health Oshawa in May and June, and with no home of her own, she was discharged to Liberty Inn in Bowmanville, Ont.

She said the hospital put her in a taxi to meet a personal support worker at the motel along with medication and oxygen for two days. Spulnick said she arrived there without meals or shoes.

“How can they do this to anybody? It’s very … I don’t know. It’s so selfish and mean to think they treat people my age this way,” she said.

Spulnick’s family said they weren’t even notified about her discharge and an agency brought in to advocate on her behalf received the news in a letter.

Spulnick no longer needed treatment: hospital

A letter from Lakeridge Health to Spulnick that was shared with CTV News Toronto indicated she no longer needed treatment and the physician discharged her on June 17, before being taken to the inn on June 25.

The letter went on to say that Spulnick “refused” to leave the hospital and didn’t “meaningfully participate in discharge planning.”

Spulnick, however, said she did not feel ready or well enough to leave the hospital.

The woman’s family, meanwhile, says the hospital network wasn’t helpful in getting their loved one on the crisis list for long-term care, adding they couldn’t safely bring her home because her care needs had become too complex.

“When you have an 82-year-old who needs oxygen management, I don’t think a hotel is an option for that. That to me is insane,” Spulnick’s daughter Tammy Vandersanden said.

“They cannot care for themselves. I get if you’re having a patient who is capable of movement (or) breathing fine, not someone in her situation.”

In the end, Spulnick never stayed at the Bowmanville motel and travelled to the hospital in Cobourg for care.

With various help secured, she’s now been added to the crisis list for long-term care and is staying with family until a permanent place is secured.

“I’m speaking out because I don’t think it’s fair the way they are treating seniors. I think it’s disgusting. It really is,” Spulnick said.

Patients can be discharged to temporary accommodations: Lakeridge Health

CTV News Toronto asked Lakeridge Health how many times in the last five years patients have been sent to hotels or motels. It said it was unable to provide the exact number but said there have been instances where temporary accommodations, like hotels, have been identified as the most appropriate discharge destination. The health system cited privacy laws as the reason it couldn’t specifically comment on Spulnick’s case.

“The safety and wellbeing of our patients is our highest priority. Discharge planning is an individualized process LED by the patient’s interprofessional care team in collaboration with the patient, family members, and caregivers, where appropriate,” Lakeridge Health said in a statement.

“Decisions about discharge are based on each patient’s clinical needs, with the care team working alongside community partners to support a coordinated transition to the most appropriate care setting.”

Ontario Minister of Health’s office responds

CTV News Toronto also reached out to the Ontario Minister of Health’s office for reaction to a patient being discharged to a motel.

“Our government expects all hospitals to provide the safe, high-quality care patients deserve and to fully meet their obligations under the Public Hospitals Act. This includes having a patient relations process in place to address patient and caregiver concerns,” it said in a statement.

“It is a clinical decision, made by a healthcare professional, to discharge a patient and determine the services they require following discharge. The Ministry of Health is not involved in these decisions.”

The statement added that concerns about professional conduct can be reported to various regulatory colleges, which are responsible for investigating complaints.