‘Inmates get treated better’: Alberta cancer patient on stay in hospital ‘storage room’

“I cried,” it was “like being kept in captivity.”

That’s how Rose Roll of Taber described her stay at the Chinook Regional Hospital in Lethbridge after she says she was moved to a bed in a storage closet.

Roll claims she was also forced to find her own bedding, food, water from a vending machine and had to use a public washroom.

“Inmates get treated better,” said Roll in an interview with Global News.

“At least inmates get a toilet, sink and are treated with dignity.”

She was admitted to the hospital on Jan. 19 so she could be closely watched while undergoing a new form of cancer treatment, which she claims can cause serious side effects.

Roll said she was in “a decent room” for the first five days.

She says her stay took a turn when she was told by staff that someone sicker needed that room.

“Some people refer to it as the closet, some staff refer to it as the tub room, and some referred to it as the den or the storage room.”

“I was really shocked,” said Roll, describing it as dusty, dimly lit and isolated.

“They said if I had to go to the bathroom, I could go across the hall and use the washroom that belongs to the two male residents. But it was a busy room and we had a COVID outbreak on our floor — I really didn’t feel comfortable going in there.

“One time when I was laying in there,  I was napping, and two workers come in and they flipped on the light and they said, ‘Sorry, we need stuff out of storage.’”

“It got to the point where I was angry and I said, ‘I’m going to go home,’ and they said, ‘no, that’s not in your best interest, you need to be monitored.’ And I was thinking, ‘Really?’ Because I’m not feeling like I’m being monitored.”

Discharged a day later, Roll shared her experience and photos of the storage room on social media.

“We apologize to this patient for their experience at Chinook Regional Hospital,” said Alberta Health Services in a statement to Global News.

“In response to their concerns, we have removed the shelving unit and cleaned the room to enhance comfort and privacy. A washroom is located directly opposite the patient’s room, and meals are provided to all patients, regardless of their room location,” the statement added.

“Over-capacity spaces are commonly utilized during periods of high demand to maintain patient care standards.

“It’s an established practice and we emphasize patients in over-capacity spaces receive safe and appropriate care.”

The Alberta NDP’s health critic said Roll’s account of her hospital stay is an example of the “serious crisis” facing Alberta’s health care system.

“The current government just doesn’t care,” Sarah Hoffman told reporters in Edmonton on Tuesday.

“They don’t care or they care more about their budget than they do about alleviating people’s pain, letting them live with dignity, ensuring that you can have those things that give you a good quality of life back in your life by getting the care and treatment you need and yet to be left in what that patient described as a storage area was not dignified.”

Global News reached out to the office of Alberta Health Minister Adriana LaGrange and was referred back to the statement provided by Alberta Health Services.

Roll said everyone needs to be treated with respect and dignity, and she hopes she’ll never be put in a similar situation again.

“I’ve went through this scenario in my head several times because what if they did do that to me again? It scares me.”

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