The wife of an elderly military veteran is speaking out about an old government policy that is keeping her husband from being admitted to a veterans hospital.
Eileen Smith’s husband is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease and she would like to see him admitted to the Camp Hill Veterans Hospital in Halifax when she’s no longer able to care for him.
But her request has been turned down because the government doesn’t consider him to be a war veteran. Eileen says she was stunned by the response.
“He’s not a vet. They don’t class him as a vet. If he’s not a vet, I don’t know who is.”
John Smith says he’s lucky to be alive after having suffered a heart attack and two brain hemorrhages in recent years.
“I should have died two or three times,” says John. “I heard them say I was going to die, but I didn’t die anyway.”
However, Alzheimer’s is beginning to take a toll on the 82-year-old. He says he can remember the day and the date, but can’t recall the name of Canada’s prime minister.
Photos of his years in the service do spark memories of war in the veteran, beginning with a stint in Korea in October 1953.
John served 27 years in the military and retired as a master warrant officer. However, the government says there is no room for him at Camp Hill, due to a two-month technicality.
Under Ottawa’s national health-care plan of 1966, only veterans of the Second World War and Korean War qualify for subsidized, long-term care.
An armistice had already been signed when John landed in Korea to begin duties as a peacekeeper.
“Two months? That really upset me,” says Eileen. “I was so upset that day when I found out that he didn’t qualify.”
“It’s a policy we’ve been trying to change for many, many years, because there are many modern-day veterans who are now in their 70s and 80s who require that type of service,” says former Nova Scotia NDP MP Peter Stoffer, who is on the board of the Veterans Legal Assistance Foundation.
For now, Eileen says she will spend her days enjoying her husband’s company. The couple is set to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary this fall.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Bruce Frisko
