I came into the hospital believing my father was entering a place of safety, professionalism, and trust. I was grateful he was there. I believed the people responsible for his care would protect him, advocate for him, and communicate honestly with our family.

But as time went on, cracks began to show.

Then those cracks widened.

And slowly, people’s true colours began to reveal themselves.

The longer my father remained hospitalized, the more concerning the environment became — not only in relation to his treatment, but in relation to communication, documentation, transparency, and accountability.

This is not merely emotional speculation. The risks associated with prolonged hospitalization are well documented.

According to Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) data, more than 153,000 Canadians experienced harm in hospitals last year alone, with the hospital harm rate remaining at approximately 6% for five consecutive years. �

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CIHI defines hospital harm as unintended harm occurring during hospitalization that may have been preventable through evidence-informed practices. �

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Research further demonstrates that patients who experience hospital harm remain hospitalized significantly longer than those who do not. �

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My father spent over a year inside that system.

Over a year dependent on the integrity, honesty, competence, and transparency of the very people whose documentation and decision-making are now being questioned.

Over a year exposed to the exact type of systemic vulnerabilities public healthcare inquiries have repeatedly warned about:

normalization of poor practices,

breakdowns in communication,

inadequate documentation,

institutional defensiveness,

and retrospective narratives that become increasingly difficult to challenge once entered into the medical record.

What began as trust gradually became concern.

Then disbelief.

Then the horrifying realization that we were not simply fighting illness — we were fighting a system increasingly more focused on defending itself than confronting its own failures.