A man from Grand Bay-Westfield says his father stared at the wall and became shaggy and scrawny while waiting eight months in hospital for a long-term care placement that he’s no longer convinced was necessary.
Now, nine months after getting into a special care home, Terry Power, 67, has regained weight and resumed normal activities, including bathing and shaving himself, talking on the phone and going out with friends, says his son.
“He’s back almost to his pure normal self. … He probably could have kept his house and had someone in there to check on him a few days a week,” Joe Power said.
Joe’s comments underline what health-care officials have been saying for years — that hospitals are not the right place for people waiting for long-term care.
About 560 New Brunswickers are currently in that situation.
“If you have relatives in there, keep an eye on them,” Joe advised. “It’s worse than what you hear.”
Joe’s father was taken to Saint John Regional Hospital in May 2025 for what was initially thought to be a stroke but was then determined to be seizures from alcohol withdrawal.
He used to have about eight beers a day, said Joe, but stopped drinking the day he went to the hospital.
Terry was also diagnosed with dementia.
Joe said it was clear during an assessment done shortly after Terry was hospitalized that he wasn’t thinking right,
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