25 Feb The filth at the VG is nothing new

In response to those photos of maintenance problems and housekeeping deficiencies at the Victoria General Hospital in Halifax, a prominent retired Nova Scotian writes:

The filth at the VGH is nothing new. My husband suffered a heart attack in 1995…. I was with him on the day they moved him from the ICU to a private room. A few minutes after he was settled in the bed, we noticed that the floor was dirty, the garbage can was overflowing with dirty Kleenex and blood stained pads, and some of those bloody pads were under the bed. When the nurse came back to the room, we mentioned the dirty conditions. She said it was a janitor’s issue, not a nursing issue.

Shortly thereafter, a man who said he was the shop steward for the cleaning staff appeared. He asked if we had laid a complaint about the cleaner. We said, no, we didn’t know who the cleaner was, but had asked the nurse to have the former patient’s bloody pads taken from the room. This guy started yelling at my husband, who was just starting recovery from a heart attack. The fellow was angry, loud and defensive. He said the cleaner who was responsible for the room was having a hard time with family issues lately. We said well, that is unfortunate but look for yourself. Is the room clean? Eventually, the fellow left and a few hours later someone came to remove the garbage.

So, same old, same old.

That’s not my department, says Werner Von Braun.