Krystal Mousseau’s life mattered
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 30/03/2022 (427 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Krystal Mousseau’s life mattered. She was a 31-year-old mother of two who contracted COVID-19 and went to hospital in Brandon on May 24, 2021, at the height of the third wave of the pandemic. Because our health-care system was overwhelmed, a decision was made to move Krystal to Ottawa for treatment. Despite having no underlying health issues, she died while being transported. My condolences go out to her family and friends.
Krystal’s story is important because it highlights the devastating losses that occurred during a dark time in our province. With intensive care unity capacity overwhelmed, 57 patients were ultimately transported out of Manitoba — more than double the amount of any other province — all while Health Minister Heather Stefanson assured Manitobans there was no crisis in our health-care system and adequate ICU capacity.
New information shows that the transportation company contracted by the government may not have been properly trained and didn’t have the right equipment to move patients. A critical incident investigation into the circumstances that led to her death has revealed there was a failure to put formal policies, standards or requirements in place to keep Krystal and other patients safe.
That is why, in conjunction with the family, the Manitoba NDP is asking the Progressive Conservative government to call an inquiry so that any systemic failures are known and her family can get the closure it deserves. Krystal Mousseau’s life mattered, and that’s why we cannot allow the questions about her death to go unanswered — but the government continues to say no to her family’s call for an inquiry.
Patients are still being moved all over the province in our health-care system. This kind of “highway medicine” can be detrimental to patient care as it puts people further away from the support of their loved ones. Yet it seems to be the new normal as we hear reports about patients being moved to health centres across the province, sometimes hundreds of kilometres away from family and loved ones.
Cuts to health care have consequences. We’ve seen that locally at our Concordia hospital with the loss of our emergency room, CancerCare clinic, ICU beds and long wait times for hip and knee surgeries.
It’s time for a serious evaluation of our health care system and to get back to putting patients first.
As always, my office can be reached at 204-654-1857 or matt.wiebe@yourmanitoba.ca
Matt Wiebe
Concordia constituency report
Matt Wiebe is the NDP MLA for Concordia.