
After being hit by a truck in a bike lane and dealing with a series of frustrating events that followed, a Penticton couple is sharing their disappointment with the holes in the system that is supposed to care for people who are injured.
Cara DuGray said that her husband Dustin DuGray was on his way home from work on May 14, riding in the bike lane when a truck turned off of Martin Street into the parking lot near Nanaimo Square and hit him.
The bike lane and sidewalks were described as bustling and full of people at the time, before the driver turned left into the parking lot and allegedly drove right through Dustin
They claim the driver didn't shoulder check or check his mirrors before turning.
When emergency officials arrived on scene, Cara said RCMP determined that there was no criminal aspect to the incident, as the driver was not intoxicated. Cara claimed the cops issued the driver a traffic ticket for careless driving and sent him on his way.
“It was just so crazy that in a 30-kilometer-an-hour zone and a designated bike lane, [a person] just pummelled through," Cara said. "[The guy] just got a ticket and walked away."
Castanet reached out to RCMP for confirmation and did not get a response by publication deadline.
Cara found out about her husband’s injuries when she called to check on dinner plans and found him “unintelligible and frantic.”
She said a paramedic took over his phone and told her that her husband had been involved in an accident as a pedestrian and she could meet them at the Penticton Regional Hospital where they were going via ambulance.
Around 45 minutes later, Cara arrived at the hospital and was unprepared for the scene she was about to walk into.
“My husband was hysterical to the point of incomprehension. This didn't align with the sprained ankle or broken wrist I was picturing. I walked into the hospital to find my husband's face drenched with blood, completely disfigured,” Cara said.
This led to them traveling to Kelowna General Hospital for care, where Dustin needed a total facial reconstruction surgery, due to multiple fractures in his face and jaw, along with a broken forearm, broken rib, and various soft tissue injuries.
“His whole face was basically broken except for the jaw. The surgeon said it was like a crushed potato chip,” Cara said.
“The whole thing had to be reconstructed like his eyes were popping out. It was the craziest thing I've ever seen.”
Cara added this was unlike anything her worst nightmares could concoct.
“This will take months of rehab, physio, various therapies, months off work, endless days and nights filled with pain and tears to fix,” she said.
The couple, now home from the hospital, said they were exhausted by the constant information needed for the ICBC claims and frustrated with using the online system, the health care system and the lack of repercussions for drivers responsible for collisions.
"I would ideally like to bring attention to the gaping holes in the system that seem to further injure and cause distress to people who are already victims."
Hospitals too full for proper care
Cara said several issues arose when they were being looked after at Kelowna General Hospital, which in her opinion was significantly understaffed and inundated with patients.
“Kelowna was insane. There were people stacked in the hallway, there were people stacked in closets,” she claimed.
“At one point they put him in front of like a breaker box or like an electrical panel…Then all of a sudden this electrician comes up and he says 'Hey, I need you to move because I need to get into this box right now.' I'm like, 'Well, if you can see the guy that's on the stretcher in front of you is visibly broken.'”
With no doctors or nurses around to help move the bed, Cara claimed she had to figure out how to move it, and her husband was just put in the middle of the hallway with the people doing the electrical work beside him.
The couple expected the hospital to have more resources, especially for a patient in her husband's urgent condition.
“They had so many people that they ran out of things like those call bells for the nurses that you can press, and they would give them the old hotel butler ding bells.”
Dustin was given one of those bells, which Cara claimed did not get the proper attention of medical staff.
“He's dinging it for hours and nobody's coming. So then I have to go walk around dinging this bell and trying to find a nurse.”
Cara said she doesn’t blame the hospital staff for the problems, as there’s clearly a larger issue at hand.
“I can see they're overworked and I totally get that but I don't know. Clearly the system is broken.”
Health authority addresses issues
Castanet reached out to Interior Health for comment on the issues the DuGrays saw while in hospital, and received statements back from Lindsay Taberner, executive director of KGH, who apologized for the family’s experience.
“Interior Health’s priority is to provide appropriate care to all patients at Kelowna General Hospital and all our facilities. KGH is a busy hospital and there are periods when we cannot get people into an inpatient bed as quickly as we would like. While we work to get people onto inpatient units, we continue to focus on meeting their care needs,” she said.
Taberner recommended that families speak to their Patient Care Quality Office if their concerns cannot be addressed by the hospital.
In response to what is being done to help address the ongoing staffing issues at hospitals, Taberner said “IH continues to work with educational institutions, communities and other partners to highlight career opportunities at Interior Health and attract a new generation of health-care workers into the sector.”
“The challenges we face recruiting doctors, nurses and other health professionals are not isolated to the Interior region, B.C. or even to Canada. The World Health Organization projects a global shortfall of 10 million health workers by 2030,” Taberner added.
“Simultaneously, we are focusing on improving hospital operations and capacity, and that includes staffing, recruitment and retention. Our priority is supporting our current staff while making workplace improvements aimed at recruiting new staff across various professional fields.”
Taberner said IH is all opportunities to entice workers, highlighting what KGH has to offer health care workers and what Kelowna has to offer our staff as a great place to live.
“At the site-level, there have been hiring fairs for support services staff and awareness sessions for current staff at KGH.
“Overall, and even with the global challenges, Interior Health has decreased our overall vacancy rate by about three per cent in the last year, from slightly about 15 per cent to closer to 12 per cent. We know there is more work to do and we are working closely with the Ministry of Health and other partners to further increase staffing.”
In regards to the overcrowded rooms and patients in hallways, said they are focused on building robust overcapacity management plans.
Taberner said they are building up their capacity to care for the growing local and regional communities.
“We are partnering with community and primary care teams to get patients who no longer need hospital care back home into the community with the support they need, opening up space at the hospital for patients who need acute care,” she said.
Enhanced care program exhausting
Cara said ICBC's 'enhanced care' program has done nothing but provide major roadblocks and additional stress for them since the accident.
“Despite being bedridden and unable to function on his own, ICBC has hounded my husband for an endless request of forms to be completed by him, 52 weeks worth of pay stubs and various other documentation even when he was recovering in the hospital and unable to speak,” Cara said.
She added that the online submissions were not fully available, which has led to them being unable to upload certain documents, receipts and mileage for reimbursement, having to email the information instead.
As well, they claimed their case handler was unresponsive while working with them.
They also expressed concern that reimbursement could take weeks and ICBC’s no fault insurance won’t provide a settlement.
The provincial government’s no-fault insurance, introduced on May 1, 2021, was dubbed the “enhanced care model,” replaced a litigation-based model and provides set amounts of compensation by injury type to victims, regardless of fault and without a referral.
Most victims’ right to a civil suit is removed, unless the at-fault driver is convicted of certain Criminal Code offences, such as impaired driving, for certain damages.
“The Government of BC has decided that drivers who negligently run over pedestrians causing grievous bodily harm are not responsible. I spoke to several lawyers who won't even consult because of the 'no-fault' insurance system,” Cara said.
“I understand that the systems are broken. But there has to be a break somewhere. The driver of this vehicle has forever changed both of our lives and he is none the wiser.”
Cara said she also is concerned about getting additional care easily after the early access treatments end.
The early access treatments, previously known as “preauthorized treatments,”are available within the first 12 weeks following a crash, according to ICBC.
Treatments accessed within the 12-week period should be necessary for the customer's rehabilitation, with a focus on reaching functional goals and following evidence-informed best practices.
“The thing is, a majority of people that are severely injured in an accident aren't going to be able to walk or in my husband's case, go for a chiropractor or massage or anything like that. You can't lay on your stomach, you can't leave the house. So by the time that you're even able to access those benefits, they're gone,” Cara said.
“Access to some of the best care”
Castanet reached out to ICBC, who said in a statement that they are committed to doing everything they can to ensure Dustin receives all of the benefits available to him.
They confirmed that a claim was received the day following the crash, with Dustin suffering extensive injuries in the crash including an forearm ulnar fracture, facial bone fractures, abrasions to his forearms and a laceration above his right eye.
“The following day a recovery specialist connected with him to offer support and information on the recovery benefits available to him after being released from hospital,” they said in an emailed statement.
“Since his release from hospital on May 18, we’ve been working with Mr. DuGray to ensure he receives all the care and benefits he is entitled to while he recovers at home. His injuries are preventing him from work and so he will be receiving an income replacement benefit which is currently being calculated.”
For anyone hurt in a crash and unable to work, ICBC’s Enhanced Care program will pay up to 90 per cent of their net income based on a maximum gross income of up to $113,000. Those who earn more than $113,000 can choose to purchase additional income top-up protection.
They said he is also approved for further treatments, which include acupuncture, chiropractic care, counseling, sessions with a kinesiologist, massage therapy and physiotherapy.
“[Dustin] is also receiving daily homemaking services for the next eight weeks and up to two hours daily of attendant care services for the next six weeks to assist him in his daily activities in his home. Equipment to help with bathing including a shower chair and reacher, bath safety rail and bath safety mat have also been provided,” ICBC said.
ICBC said they are looking into improvements being made to the online submission system that help with ease of filling, noting that “Customers need to feel supported on their recovery journey and be able to make the claims experience as seamless as possible.”
Otherwise their online claims service is said to be processed with the majority reimbursed the next business day.
“We are working to add the same functionality for submitting travel expenses by the end of June 2024.”
After the preauthorized treatments for the first 12 weeks, ICBC said to work with an injured parties’ care team, which is led by the customer’s doctor or medical practitioner, to help them access the services and care benefits that will help them recover as much as possible to their condition before the crash.
In answer to what progress or data can support that the enhanced care programs with ICBC has been the correct move since being introduced in 2021, ICBC said they’re able to provide “affordable auto insurance” and “access to some of the best care and recovery benefits available in Canada.”
“When Enhanced Care started in May 2021, drivers saved an average of nearly $500 on their premiums compared to premiums under the legal-based model. Basic insurance rates have remained flat under this model with no increases until at least 2026, which will make it six years in a row with steady Basic rates,” they added.
“Unlike the old legal-based, adversarial insurance model, Enhanced Care is collaborative. Our focus is on supporting people injured in crashes by ensuring they are accessing all the benefits needed in their recovery journey.”
Future unknown after accident.
Cara said her husband will be off work probably for at least three to four months.
“He will need care 24/7 for [the next] three months and then kind of take a look at that point and then see where he's at then,” she said.
“We made some adjustments to the home like adding some accessibility things to the bathroom. So I'm able to get him in there because he can't shower by himself, he can't sit up. He can't do anything by himself right now.”
She is unsure if or when her husband will be able to walk again.
“He's got a positive attitude towards it, which I think makes a huge difference. But yeah, we're just not sure at all what his future looks like right now.”
Cara hopes to see changes made to the healthcare system and ICBC, and by sharing her story, hopes the community will be a little more careful on the roads.
“[We’ve] really seen the impact, that even in a non-highway situation and a low speed zone, what not paying attention can do to change somebody's life.”
