Coastal Waters Aged Care has immediately apologised and expressed “our deepest condolences” for the treatment of Ulladulla man Ron White and his family the day he died.
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His partner of 41 years, Fernanda Troncia was “disgusted” and deeply hurt by “a terrible vision that will be forever in my mind”.
Mr White, 79, died in palliative care in the early hours of Monday morning four days before Christmas at the Coastal Waters facility at Worrowing Heights.
Staff presented Mr White’s body for her to view on a hospital gurney in a zippered body bag, when she arrived mid-morning, driven from Ulladulla by friend and neighbour Debbie Wheatley.
Coastal Waters had not called to advise 76-year-old Ms Troncia of Mr White’s death until after eight o’clock on December 21, she says, but they knew she was coming.
"What I have in my mind is the picture of the one that I love in a very ugly little room... in a plastic bag like a pack of frozen meat."
- Fernanda Troncia
Glen Hurley, Chief Operating Officer of Coastal Waters’ parent company Allity, responded quickly after hearing the story.
“The staff and management of Allity sincerely acknowledge that the experience of the family was not acceptable,” Mr Hurley said.
“It is in no way a reflection of the standards we stand by in upholding the dignity and respect of our residents and for family members.”
Mr Hurley said Coastal Waters’ General Manager, Roselyn Carasco “has only recently become aware of the family’s experience, and as a matter of priority will be reaching out to the family personally”.
According to both Ms Troncia and Ms Wheatley, the first words from the senior staff member when they arrived were “I’ll take you to see the body, not I will take you to see Ron”.
The only concession to Fernanda’s feelings as the staff member unlocked the door to let them both into the room where Mr White lay were “Are you ready?”.
“He was on a gurney with the bag and she unzipped it about 30 centimetres to uncover his face and just stood back,” Ms Wheatley said.
Ms Troncia had to further unzip the bag herself to view Mr White’s body.
They say the lack of dignity appalled them.
There was a spare bed in Mr White’s room, apparently unoccupied at the time.
“Why could he not have been laid out there? It was not a hot day, and he had not long died,” Ms Wheatley said.
As best they can deduce, Mr White died between five and six that morning.
He had been at Coastal Waters for several months in the terminal stages of cancer after home care became to difficult for Ms Troncia to manage.
From both women’s descriptions senior staff, while helpful at other times, on this occasion were aloof and detached, showed no respect and offered the occasion no dignity.
“Always when I visited Ron the nurses, caterers and cleaners were all very nice people,” Ms Troncia said.
“One of the nurses came up to me after and gave me a hug and offered condolences.”
Days later, still outraged Ms Troncia phoned Coastal Waters to tell them how she felt.
To the staff member who answered the phone she read a handwritten letter she has shown the Times.
“I told them I was disgusted.”
“The girl in the office tried to interrupt but I said hear me out.
“I told her you treated Ron, the love of my life, with coldness and disrespect.”
She described Ron White as “a man of high intelligence, a really kind man and a real gentleman”.
“I hope that you cold-hearted people will end up in Coastal Waters when you grow old. Shame on you.”
“PS: It won’t happen to me because I will rather eat razor blades.
“Afterwards I asked [the staff member] if that was on the record and she said no. As far as they were concerned then I don’t exist.
“I tried to be nice but I am my mother’s daughter.”
That reference was to a woman of the French Resistance in World War II, an explosives expert, who Ms Troncia saw treated with dignity at the end of her life, laid out with a floral tribute.
“We are in Australia. We should know better how to treat people,” she said.
Ms Wheatley said of Coastal Waters “I can’t believe this is their usual way of operating. People skills were severely lacking”.
"The experiences of our residents' families and carers in all instances are of utmost importance to us and are taken seriously at every level."
- Glen Hurley on behalf of Coastal Waters
“As such we are committed to investigating and addressing the unacceptable nature of the family’s experience at such a personal and sensitive time,” Mr Hurley said.
Mr White was cremated on December 23 and Ms Troncia has placed his ashes in a small circular floral memorial garden bed at their home.