Welland man doesn't have time to wait for life-saving surgery
Doug Dobias needs life-saving surgery, but time is not on his side.
The 60-year-old Welland man had a botched surgery for a hiatal hernia about a decade ago, and has had problems with his stomach and digestion ever since.
The former heavyweight 280-pound boxer, who now weighs 180 pounds, is unable to keep food or water down and requires a feeding tube. His daughter says he has only been given three months to live.
(My dad) has been a boxing coach for 35-plus years, and he's always kept himself in great condition to the best of his ability and ate healthily," Alexis Dobias said.
Doug needs to find a doctor who is willing and capable of repairing the original botched surgery. Alexis said a Canadian doctor has been found, but with COVID-19 delays and an overburdened health system, there's no surgery date in sight. It can be months or two years," she said.
The family found a clinic in Buffalo that could do the surgery, but it would cost as much as $20,000. The family has started a GoFundMe - Coach Doug Dobias needs us! - to help with costs.
It would be much more practical for everybody if we can get it done in Canada, if we can find a way to expedite things," Alexis said, adding that by sharing her dad's story, she hopes to raise awareness about the problems with health care in Niagara
Heather Paterson, Niagara Health's Interim executive vice-president, clinical services and chief nursing executive, said all surgical patients are assessed by their medical teams to determine their individual needs, treatment options and scheduling of their surgeries. We understand that wait times for surgeries can cause added stress and worry for patients and their loved ones," she said.
Our staff and physicians are working hard in challenging circumstances to provide safe, quality care to patients and their families."
For privacy reasons, Niagara Health can't comment on individual cases.
Jeff Burch, NDP member of the house of assembly (MPP) for Niagara Centre, said he is aware of Doug's story and has heard similar stories.
The Dobias family sent a letter to Burch, and he intends to share Doug's story at Queen's Park. As soon as I get the family's permission, I will be talking about their specific case and demanding we do better for these families."
Burch said health-care workers are doing their best, but the government has cut resources.
The government has neglected health care for years with things like isolation pay and Bill 124, which (limits) their pay to one per cent (for three years). With inflation, it actually means a decrease in pay and all of the other things the government has done, which are disrespectful to health care that has driven front-line workers from our health-care system," Burch said.
The result is that we have these lengthy delays in surgery. We have off-loading problems for EMS (emergency medical services). All of these situations come because of the lack of staffing in Niagara where there are 600 vacant positions in the health in the hospital system."
Earlier this month, Niagara Health issued an update to the community speaking on hospital pressures including a shortage of health-care workers across all five sites, longer emergency department wait times and a high number of vacancies.
Burch said he is also concerned about a story where an ambulance was called to take a person to hospital, but a taxi showed up instead.
Burch encourages the public to speak up if they are concerned about their health-care system.
We can demand better of our government and there are ways to do that, whether it's writing letters or calling your MPP's office and demanding that they do their job, and support our public system and support front-line health-care workers," Burch said.
STORY BEHIND THE STORY: Alexis Dobias is sharing the story of her dad's declining health with Niagara This Week to raise awareness about the need for more resources for health care in Niagara.