On Wednesday, CHBC News brought you the story of a Penticton man who had been hit by a car but sent home from hospital without adequate support.
Frank Phrang, 91, was unable to care for himself but after inquiries from CHBC News, his situation has changed for the better.
Phrang is now under 24 hour care at a Penticton care facility.
“Somebody is looking after me,” Phrang said. “Everything is better. I have better choices. It is easier for me to go to the bathroom.”
Before being admitted Wednesday night, Phrang had been living by himself for two weeks, unable to cook, clean or even go to the bathroom without help from his 88-year-old neighbour.
Phrang is unable to walk and has a broken hip.
The senior spent weeks at Penticton Regional Hospital before medical staff decided he was ready for discharge.
When he arrived home, instead of getting round the clock care, he was provided two visits a day from care providers.
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The rest of the time, he was left to fend for himself.
“I’m completely helpless,” Phrang told CHBC News on Wednesday.
Interior Health says the responsibility for post-hospital care lies with ICBC since Phrang’s injury is from a car accident.
But it was only after CHBC News started asking questions about Phrang’s situation that ICBC says it was made aware of the situation.
Within hours of making a few inquiries, Phrang was taken to the care facility.
But questions are being raised about why he was not given proper support to begin with and more importantly, why someone in his condition was even discharged from the hospital.
Interior Health would not go on camera on Thursday but in an interview on Wednesday, told CHBC News that patients are not discharged until it is determined the proper supports have been arranged.
In a written statement, Interior Health says it worked collaboratively with ICBC by making recommendations to ensure the care Phrang received was appropriate.
IHA says it evaluated the services the senior was being given over the past week, determined he required additional services and communicated that information to ICBC.
But the insurance corporation has a different view.
“The hospital is responsible for initial discharge and for recommendations for that patient’s transition into the community,” said ICBC spokesperson Michelle Hargrave. “We then step in and make the arrangement for those hospital-based recommendations.”
However, one occupational therapist says premature discharges are actually quite common.
David McInerney says Phrang’s situation is obviously one where people were discharged who should not have been.
McInerney says premature discharges either happen as a result of a patient wanting to go home early or miscalculations with the health officials involved.
Meanwhile, NDP Health Critic Mike Farnworth says IHA is fault, adding ICBC is an insurance corporation not a hospital.
Farnworth also says ICBC is not a health delivery service; he says that is the job of health authorities.
“The Health Authority should have made sure the supports were in place,” Farnworth said. “Should have made sure he was going to get the treated he needed. That’s not ICBC’s job.”
Phrang tells CHBC News he will be staying at the care facility in the interim until he figures out a more suitable living situation.
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