Deceased, not discharged: hospital mixup devastates family

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This article was published 26/09/2018 (2744 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WHEN Roy Harper rushed to the Seven Oaks General Hospital to check on his ailing uncle Sunday afternoon, he was told the man was better and had been discharged.

Turns out the Winnipeg hospital was wrong: Harper’s uncle wasn’t discharged, he was deceased.

David Harper went to the Seven Oaks emergency room for an unknown issue sometime Sunday, his family said.

They are now awaiting an autopsy report to determine the cause of death, and the family — as well as Indigenous leadership at the reserve and the provincial and federal levels — want to find out what happened to the man, who was in his late-fifties.

“We want to see changes made,” Roy Harper said Tuesday. “How could this have happened? I was told (at 3:30 p.m.) he was sent home and doing fine. Then I get a call (from a relative), he had died two hours before that.

“I was very devastated by that news.”

On Tuesday, executive members at the hospital met with David Harper’s relatives and Indigenous leaders.

Afterwards, Roy Harper said the family was pleased it received the two letters it had asked for: one, an apology for the incorrect information on David Harper’s health status; the second, to confirm the investigation will continue and that there will be a further meeting between health officials and leadership of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, Assembly of First Nations, Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, and the Southern Chiefs’ Organization.

“I think they are sincere, and trying to find solutions how they can better serve people, even Indigenous and non-Indigenous, that use this institution,” he said. “I want to find out exactly what happened to my uncle.”

Gary Knott, a band councillor at David Harper’s home reserve of Wasagamack First Nation, said it is a question being asked by many others, as well.

“I’m still trying to figure out what happened,” Knott said. “There has been a big communication error… I was told to come, because we want to know what happened.”

The Harper family is not the first family to be misinformed by Seven Oaks staff about a patient’s condition.

Two years ago, Dan Nemis was told three times by a nurse on the phone his then-99-year-old mother had died — until the nurse suddenly said, “Whoops, wrong person.”

“This is unbelievable it is still happening at Seven Oaks,” Nemis said Tuesday, adding his mother, Sophie, is now 101. “There are lots of good people there, but then there are others.

“It just baffles me.”

A spokesman for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority said in a statement, staff “deeply regret that a family member received incorrect information regarding the patient’s status.”

“This incorrect information understandably added pain and confusion at an already difficult time, for both the family members who were present when he passed, as well as those who were unable to be there, and for that we have apologized to the family.”

The spokesman said members at the Seven Oaks General Hospital’s leadership met with the patient’s family to discuss the incident.

“A representative from our Indigenous Health team was also present to offer support,” he said. “A review of the incident is underway. We will remain in touch with the family to share with them what we learn.”

For David Harper’s sister, Nora Whiteway, the answers can’t come soon enough.

“I’m devastated,” she said. “It was shocking.”

The Seven Oaks ER is scheduled to be converted by provincial officials into an urgent care centre next year.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca