S2.E16: Taken To Nursing Home, Dies Shortly After

The Big Issues

A family seeks answers after the death of its matriarch at a nursing home not long after beginning her care there, and under circumstances loved ones say they have reason to question. It's suspected that she caught COVID-19 in the home, but the issue is wholly unclear. They say too many of their queries have been ignored and that Health Ministry officials have been unhelpful. We ask: What ought to be done when controversies of this nature in care and nursing homes arise? Who regulates these institutions? And who investigates claims of neglect or lapses?

This programme first aired on NewsCo Observer Radio 91.1 FM on January 30th, 2022. The host is Kieron Murdoch. The guest is:

1. Arvel Grant, Public Health and International Development Specialist; social and political commentator.

More Background:

The woman was 69-year-old Camella Horsford, a mother of six. According to Denise Caleb, daughter of the late Camella Horsford, the family received word on November 13 that the woman had passed. She was reportedly taken to the nursing home on November 3rd, as a "day patient". Denise Caleb said the the family felt that the details being shared by personnel at the nursing home about her mother’s death were cloudy, so to speak. She also charged that the home had shown a lack of compassion in regard to the mothers passing the family’s desire to understand the circumstances.

Get the latest news from Antigua and Barbuda at the Antigua Observer online.