WINNIPEG – Health officials say proper discharge procedures were followed in the cases of two men who were discharged from hospital and died shortly after.
“If you have an underlying medical condition that may predispose you to sudden death, you can’t predict when that would happen,” Winnipeg Regional Health Authority CEO Arlene Wilgosh said at a news conference Thursday.
In separate incidents just over a month ago, two men died outside their homes after being discharged from the Grace Hospital Emergency Room and taken home in cabs.
David Silver was found frozen outside his home about 14 hours after he was released from the hospital in the middle of the night. The other man was found outside his home on Arlington Street.
Officials have since completed “critical incident reviews” of the two deaths, saying “the discharges were deemed appropriate.”
The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority will create a checklist to ensure discharged patients can manage when they get home, Wilgosh said.
Officials were asked how they can be sure the proper discharge procedures were followed in these two cases, if there was no checklist; Wilgosh said they interviewed all the hospital staff involved and are taking their word for it.
“These are professional staff, they have a professional code of ethics,” Wilgosh said.
The health authority is also working with taxi companies so drivers have specific instructions if their passengers sent home from hospitals require extra care. The Manitoba Taxicab Board said it’s about making sure the public is confident in their service.
“I think for the comfort of the families and comfort of public so people know when people are being discharged and given ride by cab, people know there are expectation and they know what those expectations are,” said Bruce Buckley, chair of the Manitoba Taxicab Board.
David Silver’s cousin said it’s about time these changes took place.
— With files from The Canadian Press
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