The plight of a local man in need of therapy is going to the province. Norm Gagatek suffered a brain-stem stroke a little over a year ago and has since been fighting to regain some of the life he lost.
But while Norm was being treated for a severe bedsore in Calgary, news was released that Interior Health (IH) were going to be making cuts to the speech and language pathology (SLP) care at Invermere’s hospital.
Jason Geisbrecht, IH program administrator for rehabilitation in the East Kootenay has said that the new system is being put in place to standardize care across the Kootenays and will mean that much of the care that used to be given in person will now be made through video conferencing.
Kim Harris, Norm’s fiancée, spoke with local MLA Norm Macdonald who, according to Kim, has told her that he will be bringing her concerns to the province.
“Kim reminded me that it isn’t just Norm who relies on this therapy to improve his ability to communicate. She mentioned all the other patients who struggle to communicate who need the services that were being provided,” said Macdonald.
“My fear is that the SLP has been in Invermere for four years and people have gotten used to that service,” said Kim. “For people thinking ‘I can come home to Invermere hospital and get these services,’ this is the problem. We finally get these services and now it’s being pulled and it’s being centralized. I don’t think that works for acute care. You need a human aspect.”
Kim said Norm has been recovering nicely from his recent treatment and is excited to see him back in rehabilitation. She said she hopes he will be able to be back in rehab by Christmas.