Jean Fletcher has more than her share of problems to deal with, but now she’s also trying to find out why she’s been rejected by a government program that could keep her in her home.
Six weeks ago the 75-year-old Fletcher passed out in her home and wasn’t found until the next day. She has many health ailments, her family says.
“She has Parkinson’s, her spine has completely deteriorated to the point she’s bent over and can’t straighten up,” said Lorrena Clee, Fletcher’s daughter. “Both her knees are gone. She’s survived two bouts of cancer and she’s visually impaired due to macular degeneration and glaucoma.”
Fletcher has been staying at the Abbey J Lane, which Clee says costs taxpayers $1,000 per day. Doctors didn’t want to send her home without more daily assistance. She applied for the $400 per month home care allowance that would have subsidized her cousin looking after her. But she was rejected without a specific explanation and after asking to be re-examined she hasn’t heard back in two weeks.
Health Minister Maureen MacDonald said yesterday she couldn’t speak to Fletcher’s specific case as she didn’t know the details. But she said the province is looking to add more staff next year to quicken response times.
Liberal Leader Stephen McNeil said rejecting Fletcher doesn’t make personal or economic sense.
“For $400 Jean would have been home in a place that not only would have been better for the taxpayers of Nova Scotia but also would have been better for Jean,” McNeil proclaimed.
