A Regina woman is sharing her concerns after her 99-year-old father was left bloodied and bruised after being knocked down by another resident at his long-term care home. Marcel Huot, 99, was seriously hurt after he was pushed to the ground by a fellow resident, who suffers from dementia, at his long-term care home in Regina. According to Marcel’s daughter, Maureen Hout, the resident had entered his room and took some of his belongings. When Marcel tried to stop him, he was pushed and hit his head on the floor. A photo provided of Marcel shows heavy bruising around his right eye. The resident who pushed Marcel is still living at the facility. “There’s no room in another ward where he can be supervised more and have the care that he needs,” Maureen explained. “So not only does that put my father and other people at risk, it’s [also] not good for him.” Maureen says raising awareness is what drove her to highlight her father’s circumstances. “My dad’s been embarrassed, and that really hurts. He did nothing wrong,” she said. “We’re private. This has been difficult to come do, but I think it’s really necessary.” The incident was raised during question period at the Saskatchewan legislature, with the NDP pointing to a shortage of long-term care spaces. “There’s not enough long-term care beds, there’s not enough specialized long term care beds, there’s not enough respite beds, there’s not enough of anything,” said NDP MLA Keith Jorgenson. Minister of Rural and Remote Health Lori Carr said she had not been made aware of the incident. “I haven’t actually had the opportunity to talk to the family and this hasn’t come across our desk as casework so I’m not aware of the situation,” she said. “What I can say is when we put our residents into any type of care facility, we expect that they will be taken care of and that’s what this government expects.” A meeting was held at the legislative building to brief the minister about the case. It was an opportunity for Maureen Huot to express her concerns to Carr. There was discussion about whether the minister has the authority to investigate. Formal permission may be required from some of the parties involved.
