An 80-year old woman with dementia has been denied care in English, and her 87-year old husband is now speaking out.
Alexandra Stefanatos speaks English and Greek, but no French.
A few months ago, George Zeliotis noticed something different about his wife of nearly 60 years.
Her sentences were incorrect, and she couldn't recall some phrases.
"She was missing the words sometimes," he said. "She couldn't remember the words even in Greek or English."
Doctors then revealed the bad news.
Stefanatos had dementia.
Initially, Zeliotis was told his wife would be placed in a bilingual nursing home.
Instead, she was placed in the CHSLD Rousselot in Rosemont.
There, he said that staff only speak in French.
Stefanatos had a hard time communicating with her caregivers.
Zeliotis tried to speak to the nurse in charge, and did so in French.
He said that she hung up on him, saying, "Ici au Quebec, on parle francais."
News of the incident reached Quebec health minister Gaetan Barrette this week.
"This is not the way to answer patients," he said in an interview with CJAD. "Efforts are being made as we speak to make sure that the patient will be transferred as soon as possible."
Stefanatos is now at Maisonneuve Hospital after contracting pneumonia.
Despite the minister's pledge, Zeliotis was told his wife will have to return to Rousselot when she gets better., as there is not room anywhere else.
After hearing of Stefanatos' plight, Jennifer Boivin reached out to Zeliotis.
She's the Montreal manager of Elizz, a homecare service.
Elizz will provide Stefanatos with a private caregiver, at no cost.
"It really touched me, thinking that someone in this state and in this part of their health has to go through this," she said. "It really made me feel bad for them."
This isn't the first time Zeliotis has advocated for patient rights.
In the late 1990s, he had to wait nearly a year for hip surgery.
He took his case to the Supreme Court of Canada, and won.
The court ruled that his wait time violated his Charter rights.
This fight, however, is more personal.
"They didn't show any passion," he said. "That hurt me a lot."
