Ajax woman back home after waiting for Ontario hospital bed

AJAX -- An Ajax woman who suffered a stroke in Cuba and was left waiting for an Ontario hospital bed finally came home this weekend.

Jean Coop Corson was in Cuba for her daughter's wedding when she suffered a stroke on Oct. 18. Her daughter, Susan Corson, said she was taken to a Cuban hospital for treatment. On Oct. 20, instead of being transferred home to Canada, she was airlifted to a hospital in Miami, Florida because there were no beds available for her in Ontario.

"She is mostly paralyzed on the right side of her body, her arm and her leg, she has gotten a little bit of movement in fingers," said Ms. Corson.

Doctors in Miami said her 64-year-old mother would need about a month in hospital plus several months of physical therapy and cleared her to return to Ontario on Oct. 25, but she remained there for a week while awaiting a bed.

"I've basically been on the phone since Sunday, begging and pleading with everyone to try and get her home," said Ms. Corson before flying to Miami last Friday. "There's nowhere to bring her and now she's stuck in Miami, with no money and alone."

Jean Coop Corson was finally transferred to Rouge Valley Centenary hospital on Oct. 31.

A spokesman for Ontario's Ministry of Health could not say whether the delay was typical.

"Ontario has 1,800 critical care beds across the province, and although we are able to capture our critical care capacity through an information system, we do not track wait times for individual patients repatriating from outside of Canada back into Canada," said David Jensen via e-mail. He added that it's up to an individual's insurance company to arrange their transfer back to Ontario if they get sick overseas.

The family said their insurance company was helpful, it was simply an issue of finding a bed. They expressed relief that Jean Coop Corson was finally home.

"We're happy that she's home," said Susan Corson's husband Colin Holmes. "It's a lot closer in terms of logistics to go to Scarborough than Miami, we're relieved she has her support network around her."