By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

Father says daughter’s stay in hospital tub room ‘unacceptable’

Jul 4, 2018 | 6:10 AM

A local father is not happy after his 19-year-old daughter spent part of her recent stay at Red Deer Regional Hospital in a converted tub room.

Mike Kilkus says his daughter was admitted on Sunday, June 24 for a blood infection and placed into a regular room.

She was moved into the tub room the following Saturday. Pictures of the room show a toilet by the bed and a space where there would have previously been a bathtub.

“They told me they were short on beds and that this was all they have,” he says. However, a few hours later he says his daughter’s original room remained empty and cleaned.

“She didn’t like it at all. She’s claustrophobic and she’s crying about not being able to have visitors and she doesn’t want to stay at the hospital,” he detailed. “She says if they can’t give her a room, she must not be sick enough to be here.”

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In a statement Alberta Health Services tells rdnewsNOW, “Every day our staff work hard to provide the best care they can to their patients. There are times that our hospital experiences capacity pressures, where we may be required to treat our patients in non-traditional care spaces. We recognize that these overcapacity spaces are often inconvenient for patients and their families, but want to assure you that no matter where you are, you’re still receiving the same great care.”

AHS adds patient safety and care is a foremost concern, and that while sometimes the treatment space for patients may not be optimal, that quality care can still be delivered.

But Kilkus questions whether emergency care could’ve actually been given if needed, noting there were few, if any electrical outlets and that his daughter’s IV was very close to the toilet.

“I’ve been living in Red Deer my whole life and my daughter was born in Red Deer. I don’t get it. I don’t know why we don’t have a new hospital, or more rooms,” he says.

While Kilkus commended the work of staff who took care of his daughter, he still believes the conditions she was put in were highly inadmissible.

“I don’t think any building inspector would let that (room) go,” he says. “It’s smaller than a jail cell. It looks like a jail cell. It’s unacceptable for anybody to be in a room like that.”

His daughter was discharged late on Sunday and is on the road to recovery.