A London woman is speaking out about the level of care her 84-year-old mother is receiving from the Erie St. Clair Community Care Access Centre.
Anne Howley's mother, Joyce, lives in Chatham and despite her failing health, her level of care hasn't changed in five years. She receives three half-hour visits a week, and Howley believes her mother needs more, not less, at-home care.
Howley called a 1-888 hotline set up by the Canadian Union of Public Employees and agreed to speak publicly about her family's challenges. She travels to Chatham frequently to help her mother and is calling for the provincial government to increase funding for at-home care. "As a nurse, I understand it, but I don't agree with it," she says. "I want her (her mother) to have a quality of life, and I want her to be as independent as possible. And for that to happen, I feel she needs a little more care."
Howley says her mother's husband also suffers from cognitive issues. "We're waiting for a call to say, we found her husband wandering down the street and can't remember where he lives."
Eventually, Howley believes she'll have to sell her home and have her mother move in with her in London.
Nurses working with CCACs across Ontario are currently on strike demanding a 1.4% wage increase.