Report on HSC hallway death delayed

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This article was published 23/06/2023 (846 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A report examining the circumstances that led to a man dying in a hallway while waiting for care at the Health Sciences Centre emergency department has been delayed.

A spokesperson for Shared Health said the critical incident investigation into the Feb. 28 fatality at the province’s largest hospital was a complex process, involving numerous interviews and process reviews.

The report and its recommendations are now expected to be ready for release in the near future, the spokesperson said.

On March 9, Winnipeg hospital management said the report would be completed this spring, and its recommendations would be released within three months.

“The report is currently being finalized,” the spokesperson said in an email response to the Free Press. “We remain committed to releasing it upon its completion, which we anticipate will occur in the coming weeks.”

In March, the Free Press reported the man died after being taken to HSC by ambulance Feb. 27 around 11 p.m.

The emergency department was swamped and dealing with double the usual number of high-acuity patients that night, with as many as 40 people waiting in the ER. The backlog of patients waiting to be admitted to hospital triggered the emergency department to enact its four-level overcapacity protocol on the afternoon of Feb. 28.

According to health officials, the man was triaged when he arrived at the hospital, and he waited about an hour in the hallway before his condition deteriorated and was pronounced dead.

Hospital staff had previously raised their concerns about staffing shortages and expressed fear a patient could die in the waiting room or hallway owing to a lack of resources to properly monitor everyone.

The patient’s death caused major moral distress for employees, said emergency department staff, who also expressed their anger and fear with the situation to management.

Few details about the patient or circumstances of his death have been released publicly. HSC management has not said why the death was considered a critical incident but has acknowledged the circumstances raised questions.

Immediately after the incident, hospital management said multiple daily meetings focused on capacity issues would continue to be held with HSC and other city hospital staff.

Manitoba NDP Leader Wab Kinew said there is significant public interest in the findings of the investigation, and recommendations need to be released and implemented quickly to prevent another tragedy from happening.

“The government really owes a responsibility to the people of the province and the folks at the bedside to conclude this report,” Kinew said. “And so, it’s disappointing to hear they haven’t done so already.”

The Fort Rouge MLA said it is the government’s responsibility to ensure Shared Health has the resources necessary to conduct critical incident investigations and reports in a timely manner.

“If we’re dealing with a situation where we have not only lost capacity to care for patients but also the capacity to learn from when things go wrong, then this is a very big concern that needs to get addressed quickly,” Kinew said.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca