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Disease terrifies hospital visitors
Some terminal patients are facing their final days without family visits because of fear of SARS, writes David Rider.
David Rider
The Ottawa Citizen
Sunday, April 06, 2003
TORONTO - Some terminally ill people are dying alone at Toronto hospitals because family members are too afraid of catching SARS to go into the hospital to say goodbye.
The phenomenon is the grimmest face of a paranoia about Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which has gripped Toronto.
Dr. Larry Grossman, head of palliative care at Scarborough Grace Hospital, said he is heartbroken at the way some of the 10 people in his ward are living out their final days. None have SARS.
"You walk into the room now and see patients lying all by themselves, looking around, nobody there to comfort them and it's been very, very hard," Dr. Grossman said.
"We just had a gentleman die this week whose family had been at the bedside 24 hours a day up until this outbreak, and then they just simply stopped coming. He could not understand why nobody was there."
The man had limited English skills, but even hospital staff who spoke his language could not make him understand why he had been abandoned on his deathbed.
Scarborough Grace is the epicentre of the Canadian outbreak of SARS and was closed to most visitors March 26. Close family members of critically and terminally ill patients, however, can visit provided they wear a mask, gloves and gown.
Dr. Grossman said his staff are encouraging family members to keep visiting, telling them that, with all the precautions, the hospital is very safe.
The pleas have had little effect. One patient's brother-in-law was fantastic, giving the dying man massages, sitting with him, sometimes singing softly to him, the doctor said. He hasn't visited since the SARS scare began, and the patient, who is alert, "is lying in the bed with nobody to be with him."
A young single mother, whose daughter previously visited, will likely die alone this weekend, he added.
The families will suffer for a long time because of guilt and the loss of a chance to say goodbye and have some final physical contact, he predicted.
Even when family members do visit, the mask, gloves and gown limit that important, intimate contact. Also, the team of hospital staff who normally comfort dying patients is dramatically reduced because the outbreak has forced many of them into quarantine.
At nearby York Central Hospital, which has also been effectively closed because of SARS concerns, palliative-care nurses said most patients are still getting regular visitors.
The SARS stigma is taking its toll on staff, however, who have found their children are unwelcome at some daycares, their spouses are being sent home from work and they can't even get their pets groomed. "I would never have believed these things would have happened," said Mary Yates, the hospital's director of organization and human resources.
Health officials say only those who have visited SARS hotspots or come into direct contact with SARS-infected people are in danger of infection. As a precaution, though, staff at some hospitals including York Central have been ordered to quarantine themselves -- wearing a mask around family members and at work, eating alone and avoiding physical contact. The order for York Central expires at midnight tomorrow.
More than a dozen staffers have been told to stop bringing their children to informal babysitting and daycare, Ms. Yates said. Provincially licensed daycares have been ordered not to take such action.
Also, spouses of some of the 1,800 hospital staff have been told to stay away from work for as much as 10 days without pay.
"We even had one woman call very upset because her dog-grooming appointment was for today and her dog groomer refused to take the animal" even though the owner's non-quarantined husband would have delivered the dog and the virus isn't known to jump species.
"The staff have gone way beyond the call of duty and are working incredibly hard to protect the public and are going through this quarantine stuff," Ms. Yates said, "and to get this treatment, it's a bit of a slap in the face."
© Copyright 2003 The Ottawa Citizen
Some terminal patients are facing their final days without family visits because of fear of SARS, writes David Rider.
David Rider
The Ottawa Citizen
Sunday, April 06, 2003
TORONTO - Some terminally ill people are dying alone at Toronto hospitals because family members are too afraid of catching SARS to go into the hospital to say goodbye.
The phenomenon is the grimmest face of a paranoia about Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which has gripped Toronto.
Dr. Larry Grossman, head of palliative care at Scarborough Grace Hospital, said he is heartbroken at the way some of the 10 people in his ward are living out their final days. None have SARS.
"You walk into the room now and see patients lying all by themselves, looking around, nobody there to comfort them and it's been very, very hard," Dr. Grossman said.
"We just had a gentleman die this week whose family had been at the bedside 24 hours a day up until this outbreak, and then they just simply stopped coming. He could not understand why nobody was there."
The man had limited English skills, but even hospital staff who spoke his language could not make him understand why he had been abandoned on his deathbed.
Scarborough Grace is the epicentre of the Canadian outbreak of SARS and was closed to most visitors March 26. Close family members of critically and terminally ill patients, however, can visit provided they wear a mask, gloves and gown.
Dr. Grossman said his staff are encouraging family members to keep visiting, telling them that, with all the precautions, the hospital is very safe.
The pleas have had little effect. One patient's brother-in-law was fantastic, giving the dying man massages, sitting with him, sometimes singing softly to him, the doctor said. He hasn't visited since the SARS scare began, and the patient, who is alert, "is lying in the bed with nobody to be with him."
A young single mother, whose daughter previously visited, will likely die alone this weekend, he added.
The families will suffer for a long time because of guilt and the loss of a chance to say goodbye and have some final physical contact, he predicted.
Even when family members do visit, the mask, gloves and gown limit that important, intimate contact. Also, the team of hospital staff who normally comfort dying patients is dramatically reduced because the outbreak has forced many of them into quarantine.
At nearby York Central Hospital, which has also been effectively closed because of SARS concerns, palliative-care nurses said most patients are still getting regular visitors.
The SARS stigma is taking its toll on staff, however, who have found their children are unwelcome at some daycares, their spouses are being sent home from work and they can't even get their pets groomed. "I would never have believed these things would have happened," said Mary Yates, the hospital's director of organization and human resources.
Health officials say only those who have visited SARS hotspots or come into direct contact with SARS-infected people are in danger of infection. As a precaution, though, staff at some hospitals including York Central have been ordered to quarantine themselves -- wearing a mask around family members and at work, eating alone and avoiding physical contact. The order for York Central expires at midnight tomorrow.
More than a dozen staffers have been told to stop bringing their children to informal babysitting and daycare, Ms. Yates said. Provincially licensed daycares have been ordered not to take such action.
Also, spouses of some of the 1,800 hospital staff have been told to stay away from work for as much as 10 days without pay.
"We even had one woman call very upset because her dog-grooming appointment was for today and her dog groomer refused to take the animal" even though the owner's non-quarantined husband would have delivered the dog and the virus isn't known to jump species.
"The staff have gone way beyond the call of duty and are working incredibly hard to protect the public and are going through this quarantine stuff," Ms. Yates said, "and to get this treatment, it's a bit of a slap in the face."
© Copyright 2003 The Ottawa Citizen
