The Alberta Medical Association says another patient has died while waiting for care at a major hospital.
Dr. Brian Wirzba, president of the AMA, says the man arrived at Edmonton’s Royal Alexandra Hospital on May 8 and died several hours later in a waiting room.
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Alberta Health Services says it is investigating and it can’t release further details due to privacy reasons.
The man’s death comes after Prashant Sreekumar, who was 44, died at Edmonton’s Grey Nuns Community Hospital in December after waiting nearly eight hours.
Alberta’s government ordered a judge-led inquiry into Sreekumar’s death soon after, and also announced it was creating a program in which physicians would help triage patients.
Wirzba says that triage program is still not in place and the latest death underscores how overworked Alberta’s health-care system is.
Keep letting more and more people into our Country resulting in overwhelmed healthcare, no jobs, too little housing and overcrowded schools. But don’t we good on the world stage.
The article implies that patients are not triaged. If so, what planet are these people on ? In most other countries, triage is standard protocol. Has been for decades. Puts Canadian medical services in a poor light.
People are on waiting lists to get necessary knee surgery. Accidental knee injuries that are survivable shouldn’t get any more priority than others. A week’s wait is nothing.
Absolutely disgusting! Fix this NOW!
The real white elephant in the room: Flooding the country with millions newcomers has overwhelmed the infrastructure including the essential services to a breaking point
The NDP threw tens of billions of dollars at health care when they were in power. Did anyone see a major improvement? No. We need a total overhaul of our health system. Copy the efficient systems of other countries. But we cannot because of the Canadian Health Act which limits health delivery to government only.
This doctor is giving out “false” information when it comes to doctors knowing when a person who presents with many of the same symptoms as other illnesses know who is going to die in the next few hours – for various reasons. Emergency does the BEST IT CAN with patient symptoms and SOME TESTS. Example, I was in a car accident and had pain in my side. Xrays were taken and the emerg doctor said everything was fine and sent me home. A few days later and the pain in the same side was bad so family doc sent me for more xrays. Three broken ribs BUT the SWELLING hid the breaks and only showed when the swelling went down. Here is why sometimes doctors in emerg are wrong.
And the AHS will howl that they need more more more more money. More money to waste to do much much less.
Welcome to austerity Canada. This is what you voted for the last decade.
It is going to get MUCH worse.
Hope you can tend a garden.