Winnipeg woman calls for critical incident review in father's disappearance

Now, the concerned daughter has penned a letter to provincial health authorities, asking them to conduct a critical incident review and investigate ways of protecting other members of Manitoba's aging population.

"The reason I've made that (request) is because I do believe that my father, at this point, is presumed to unfortunately be deceased. This was not a natural death, this was a traumatic death and it was preventable, I believe, if he had timely and appropriate supports," Moberg said Sunday.

"This is constantly going through my mind. I haven't slept properly in months at this point."

Moberg, whose 81-year-old father Earl left his home on Gilmore Avenue the evening of Dec. 12, believes failures and deficiencies within Manitoba's health-care system created unsafe conditions for her father and unnecessary strain on her family.

She wrote a nine-page letter to the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara on April 26 outlining her father's interactions with the health-care system and explaining why she feels his death should be considered a critical incident.

Under provincial legislation, a critical incident describes any "unintended event that occurs when health services are provided to an individual and results in a consequence to him or her that is serious and undesired."

It includes injuries, disabilities and deaths that do not result from an underlying health condition.

Months on waitlist, limited home care

Moberg's letter describes a painful and protracted battle with the health-care system in which her family repeatedly tried and failed to secure support services for Earl after his November 2019 diagnosis.

He spent months on waitlists for respite and homecare as his condition worsened. Meanwhile, Moberg's mother — also a senior and Earl's primary caregiver — was left to develop a safety plan without advice or oversight.

She equipped the elderly man with a GPS tracker, but he frequently removed it in confusion, the letter said.

"It would have been extremely helpful for an occupational therapist to bring in physical samples of the devices that are available, provide education on the different options and assist with how to set them up and use them," Moberg wrote in her letter, noting the family would have considered installing other technology, including door sensors or overlapping tracking methods.

Earl received limited amounts of respite care that was interrupted by challenges with the accompanying transportation service. From the time of his diagnosis until the day he was last seen, he received just four hours of home care. As a result, his family was grappling with significant caregiver burnout, Moberg said.

Qualified for placement a week after disappearance

The week after Earl went missing, the WRHA contacted Moberg's mother to say he now qualified for placement in a long term care facility, the letter said.

"She received reassurance that if my father were found that he would go from hospital to long term care and would not need to wait in the community. As anyone could understand, this was bitter irony, following which there was no further contact from the WRHA," Moberg said.

Moberg described Earl as a loving father and husband who dedicated his career to teaching in Indigenous communities in northern Manitoba.

She wants the province to review how it supports and develops care plans for people with dementia. She would also like an improved GPS tracking system for such seniors, more space in respite and home care services, increased communication between health-care providers and more robust education and supports for caregivers.

On Sunday, Moberg gathered with roughly 40 people — including relatives, friends and members of the Bear Clan Patrol — to search the trails, riverbanks and bushes along Chief Peguis Trail for evidence of Earl.

Hours of searching turned up no results in the area where he was last believed to be seen.

Moberg, who was hopeful the spring thaw might reveal some signs of her father, said she will continue to look for him in the coming weeks.

She asked people living in the area to do the same.

"People may have forgotten that my dad is still missing, and the fact that it is a recovery at this point… please be just aware that there is a human being that hasn't been found," she said.

"People may have forgotten that my dad is still missing, and the fact that it is a recovery at this point… please be just aware that there is a human being that hasn't been found."

As of Sunday, the Moberg family has not received a response from the province regarding the potential of a critical incident review.

They have also asked the province to look into improving its silver alert system. Currently, the missing senior alerts are not sent to mobile phones, but the family would like to see that changed, Moberg said.

She stressed that alerts should be targeted to specific geographic areas rather than province wide to prevent people from suffering "alert fatigue" — a term describing those who become desensitized to electronic safety alerts.

"I just don't want to see this happen to anybody," she said.

"My heart goes out there to anybody who has a loved one right now who is missing. I want to say that you have a voice, and I am calling on people to share that voice. Reach out to your MLA, reach out to the minister of health — reach out and share that this is something that is important to you."

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca

Tyler Searle

Reporter

Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the Free Press' city desk. Since joining the paper in 2022, he has found himself driving through blizzards, documenting protests and scouring the undersides of bridges for potential stories.

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