FOIP order is part of struggle for access to parents

Earlier this year Shauna McHarg enjoyed a victory in what has been a long struggle.

The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner ordered Covenant Health to disclose information about why her visiting privileges had been restricted and she had been banned from their premises.

McHarg’s mother Helen, who has advanced Alzheimer’s disease, and father Ron are residents on separate wards at the Edmonton General Continuing Care Centre.

The McHargs have been residents at the General since early 2010, after a period at Alberta Hospital.

In the weeks following their arrival Covenant Health imposed visitation conditions on the family, but during in April 2010 and October 2011 more restrictive conditions were placed on Shauna alone.

“I am allowed to see my mom for one hour, from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Friday,” McHarg said in an interview.

She has been banned on occasion from visiting her mother and father for supposedly “breaching the security and safety of the residents.”

A further ban came in March 2012, according to McHarg, when seniors health vice-president Al Pierog told her she was permanently forbidden from visiting friends she’d made among the residents, including the late Beverley Munro, who had been vocal about her own complaints against the facility.

She was informed that she would be charged with trespassing and permanently barred from visiting her mother and father if found meeting with them on Edmonton General property.

In response, McHarg began a long and complicated effort to gain more access to her parents. She dealt initially with Covenant Health management figures, who upheld the restrictions against her, but would not tell what they were based on, citing privacy concerns.

She later sought help from the health minister, the Alberta ombudsman, the Health Quality Council of Alberta and the Alberta Health Services patient concerns officer, without any action forthcoming. Ruth Adria of the Elder Advocates of Alberta provided assistance.

In April 2011, McHarg made a Freedom of Information and Privacy (FOIP) request for her personal information from Covenant Health to find out why she was being banned from its premises and having restrictions imposed on her visiting privileges.

“I should be able to find out why I was banned and why do I have restrictions,” she said. “It’s very important for the decision to be justified.”

Covenant Health provided some documents in response to the request, but withheld other information.

Following an appeal by McHarg, an adjudicator with the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner ordered Covenant Health to provide further information to her. The decision was announced in an October 25 release.

At the end of November, she was informed that a similar decision had been reached in a FOIP request to Alberta Health Services for information it has on the matter.

Meanwhile, however, Covenant Health is disputing the adjudicator’s decision and applied for a judicial review by the Court of Queen’s Bench, which is scheduled for February 27-28.

“My goal is to see my parents,” said McHarg. “Despite following the process I’ve been told to follow and spending three years doing it, there’s no solution. It doesn’t seem like Covenant Health is very accountable to anyone.”