Skip to content

Letter: Mom went from dangerous falls to Burnaby 'royalty'

Editor: My mother, after seven falls, two of them back-to-back, ended up in Burnaby Hospital for 23 very long days. I cannot believe how fortunate I was to have Fraser Health locate a bed for her at St.
st. michael's centre burnaby
Entertainment at St. Michael's Centre in Burnaby. Submitted

Editor: 

My mother, after seven falls, two of them back-to-back, ended up in Burnaby Hospital for 23 very long days. I cannot believe how fortunate I was to have Fraser Health locate a bed for her at St. Michael’s Centre, where she was transferred on May 1 to initially spend 14 days in quarantine. 

I cannot begin to explain how absolutely wonderful the nurses and caregivers and staff I have met over the past three months have been toward me and, more importantly, to my mom.

They have kept me calm during my phone calls of concern and motivated me to stay strong during the days that never seemed to end of worry regarding my mother’s health and care. 

I have had daily phone calls with my mom and weekly FaceTime visits, and even got to see her briefly from a distance at the entrance when dropping off clothing and toiletries.

All of the nurses and caregivers have been very accommodating in these difficult times and certainly have their work cut out for them to safely begin the arduous task of making arrangements for the upcoming future family visits.

I thank everyone at St. Michael’s Centre from the bottom of my heart for keeping my mom and the other patients safely contained from Covid and being such wonderful, compassionate, and hardworking individuals. 

Keep up the excellent work.

My mom has repeatedly said that everyone has been very kind to her, the food is great and she is being treated like royalty. Her exact words to me yesterday were, “When I go, I am really going to miss this place.” 

Now if that isn’t an accolade, I don’t know what is.

Patricia Tochkin, Burnaby