Saskatoon mom says province's failure to avoid COVID-19 surge means twins aren't getting care
A Saskatoon mom is frustrated her baby twins aren't getting the care they need because of the provincial health care system's current COVID-19 gridlock — which she believes was preventable.
“We can see around the country and around the world where there are certain mandates in place or had we treated this a little differently, we wouldn't be at this point,” Melissa Bachmeier said.
In September, Saskatchewan started dialling back health care services to free up resources to treat a soaring number of COVID-19 patients.
“We wouldn't be to the point where everything needs to shut down again, and our hospitals are completely overwhelmed.”
Two of her kids, twins Joe and Jennifer, have Down syndrome and were born prematurely.
The current COVID-19 overload inside Saskatchewan’s healthcare system means their appointments with therapists have been cancelled.
“They've been redeployed because our medical system needs the support,” she said.
“I felt so horrible for the (centre's) coordinator, like she sounded so defeated that this is something that they have to do," Bachmeier said.
"Obviously, it's not something they want to do, they want to be here and provide the services and the situation in our province is making it so that they can't and there's nothing else we can do.”
In a statement, the Saskatchewan Health Authority acknowledged that skilled and trained staff, including some at the Alvin Buckwold Center, would be redeployed to attempt to meet the demand of critical areas of the system.
“The decision to slow down services has not been taken lightly, and is difficult for everyone, including our health care providers,” the statement said.
“The time frame for the service slowdowns is dependent on how quickly we can decrease COVID-19 case numbers, hospitalizations and ICU admissions. This is why we are encouraging all Saskatchewan residents to get vaccinated as soon as they are eligible to do so.”
When asked for a response, the Ministry of Health deferred to the SHA statement.
Bachmeier says her twins require occupational therapists, physical therapists, and speech-language pathologists, and without those services, they may not develop properly.
Her daughter Jennifer needed open heart surgery at just five months old to fix two congenital heart defects and isn’t able to sit up or hold her head up on her own at eight months old.
“She's gone through more things in eight months of life than a lot of people go through medically ever,” said Bachmaier. “She's spent over 100 days in hospital, she had a massive open heart surgery where they repaired two defects.”
“We couldn't put her on her chest so that also delayed her development. And she's done all of this, six weeks premature, 82 days in NICU, open-heart surgery. She's still managing to figure some of these things out on her own, but it's really hard to think how far she could be if she had access to these services.”
Bachmeier says she understands the impact the pandemic is having on the provincial government’s ability to provide services, but can only imagine the frustration of parents with more medically fragile children.
“(The provincial government is) so overwhelmed with those issues that it's hard to even think that this is a blip on their radar right now,” she said.
“But for some of us, this is kind of the whole thing, right? This isn't a blip on our radar. This is our lives right now.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
World seeing near breakdown of international law amid wars in Gaza and Ukraine, Amnesty says
The world is seeing a near breakdown of international law amid flagrant rule-breaking in Gaza and Ukraine, multiplying armed conflicts, the rise of authoritarianism and huge rights violations in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar, Amnesty International warned Wednesday as it published its annual report.
Photographer alleges he was forced to watch Megan Thee Stallion have sex and was unfairly fired
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
U.S. Senate passes bill forcing TikTok's parent company to sell or face ban, sends to Biden for signature
The Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would force TikTok's China-based parent company to sell the social media platform under the threat of a ban, a contentious move by U.S. lawmakers that's expected to face legal challenges.
Wildfire southwest of Peace River spurs evacuation order
People living near a wildfire burning about 15 kilometres southwest of Peace River are being told to evacuate their homes.
U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passes aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan with big bipartisan vote
The U.S. Senate has passed US$95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, sending the legislation to President Joe Biden after months of delays and contentious debate over how involved the United States should be in foreign wars.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.