Patient dies while waiting for care in ER at Winnipeg’s Health Sciences Centre

A patient died while waiting for care at Health Sciences Centre’s emergency department in Winnipeg Tuesday morning.

The hospital is investigating the death, a Shared Health spokesperson told CBC News. Shared Health co-ordinates health-care delivery in the province and is responsible for operations at HSC.

Dr. Shawn Young, chief operating officer of the Health Sciences Centre, said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon that a middle-aged man arrived at the emergency room, seeking care. 

Just before 8 a.m., staff noticed his condition had significantly worsened. He was taken to a resuscitation room and declared dead shortly after.

Young said the man was a low-acuity patient and would have had to wait about 10 hours or longer before being seen that night. About 100 patients were in the emergency department through the night.

‘We did have a number of high-acuity patients at that time,” he said, adding that the hospital’s six resuscitation beds were also taken that night.

“When we see cold weather like this, we do have a number of patients that come in seeking shelter and safety as well, and that was a factor … in the waiting room as well.”

Young said while the emergency department was well over capacity, the numbers are not completely abnormal. Staffing remained at baseline levels, and that shouldn’t be a factor, he said.

The posted wait time at HSC’s emergency department was 8.25 hours as of 10 a.m. Tuesday, Winnipeg Regional Health Authority data said.

In November, the last month for which data is publicly available, HSC reported a median wait of 3.7 hours at its emergency department. One in 10 patients waited more than 13 hours for care that month.

Patient dies in waiting room of Winnipeg’s Health Sciences Centre

A patient died in the waiting room of Health Sciences Centre’s emergency department in Winnipeg Tuesday morning.
The hospital is investigating the death, a Shared Health spokesperson confirmed to CBC News.
Shared Health, which co-ordinates health-care delivery in the province and is responsible for operations at HSC, is expected to release additional information about the death later today.