When Morgan Lanigan’s wife, Kelly, began to feel intense pain, they headed to the hospital emergency department in Saint John, NB.
The first stop was St. Joseph’s Hospital, but when they arrived around 7pm on July 17, the staff said there was no room for them and that the ER of the San Juan Regional Hospital had the same capacity problem.
“She couldn’t stand the pain anymore,” he said Monday in an interview.
“That’s when we had to face a really critical time, because when they tell you to come back at 9 in the morning, your health doesn’t expect it.”
The Sussex ER, which is about 45 minutes from Saint John, was closed overnight at around 5.30pm due to staff shortages.
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“We made the decision to go to the pharmacist first,” he said.
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Lanigan said the pharmacist was able to offer some advice and some Tylenol with codeine and Advil, but the main cause of the pain still lingered and worried the couple.
“We made the decision to drive all the way to Fredericton,” he said, an hour away from Saint John.
The two were directed to the Regional Hospital Dr. Everett Chalmers because the emergency service at Oromocto Hospital, which would have been a little closer, was also closed from 4pm due to lack of staff.
1:50 NB city residents worried about recurring ER closures NB city residents worried about recurring ER closures
Lanigan tried numerous times to call the emergency service without success, before arriving there and telling him that he was accepting patients.
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When they arrived, the waiting room was full and they were told it would be 10 to 12 hours before they could see them. Lanigan was also unable to sit in the ER with his wife due to COVID-19 protocols.
He said the experience alone was difficult, trusting his wife, who was in pain and in need of help, could keep him informed as he sat helpless in the front seat of his car in a dark parking lot.
“We were in Fredericton for three hours and there was still no sorting to be done,” he said. “There were still five people ahead of my wife to be evaluated.”
He said his wife told him that a doctor had come out and was taking the vital data of those in the waiting room, something Lanigan found solace in, but the doctor advised him that it would be better. for his wife if he went home and found the maximum comfort possible. and try to make an appointment with your family doctor the next day.
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So that’s what they did.
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“I don’t know what’s wrong with my wife and she doesn’t either,” he said. “I want to be attentive to my wife. I want to make sure she’s still breathing.”
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He said he was afraid to close his eyes for fear something would happen during the night, not knowing what was causing his wife’s pain.
“So, knowing if the situation gets worse, I still have no choice,” he said. “What do I do? I have no answer for that. That makes sleeping difficult.”
This comes just a week after Horizon Health Network confirmed that a patient had died in Dr.’s waiting room. Everett Chalmers.
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He caused Prime Minister Blaine Higgs to fire the president and CEO of Horizon Health Network, Dr. John Dornan, and remove Dorothy Shephard from the health portfolio.
Higgs also wiped out both boards, which are elected officials, from Vitalite and Horizon Health Networks. Two patterns have been created.
1:58 Prime Minister Blaine Higgs replaces NB Health Minister after ER patient dies ER Prime Minister Blaine Higgs replaces NB Health Minister after ER death
Lanigan shared his experience on social media, tagging the prime minister in a thread on Twitter.
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“@premierbhiggs, my wife requires #UrgentCare * now *, but both St. Joe’s + Reeg’s urgency have more capacity,” she wrote in the tweet. “AND HE WILL NOT ENTER! What effect am I making now ?! Call an ambulance just to queue? Do you drive to the Fredericton Emergency Department?
“I’m glad you fired everyone, but how does that help us now?”
He said he used social media because the government talked a lot about the new health plan, which was unveiled last November. He pledged to improve the current crisis facing the healthcare system. Dorothy Shephard spoke openly about her successes, but many critics said the plan did not reach the biggest problem of all: recruitment and retention.
“Now we can see that somehow this plan has failed,” he said. “We have to restart and start over.”
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Lanigan said firing the lead seemed like an extreme reaction, but he believes the more hands on deck, the better.
“Clearly the boards that were on both health networks were elected and have an interest and at least some knowledge of the health care system and these people can still be a value no matter what it takes to make those changes.”
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The new Health Minister is taking his role seriously
Newly appointed Health Minister Bruce Fitch did not comment on the details of the case, citing confidentiality, but said his new role is being taken seriously.
When asked if he thought it was acceptable for someone seeking care to be turned down at several hospitals and unable to access others because of staff shortages, Fitch said he is looking at the affected “components” in the health care system. .
“Part of what I want to make sure of, as we move forward, is that we have the best care available to the people of New Brunswick, getting the care they need at the time they need it,” he said.
“I know it’s a somewhat general statement, not specific to the case you’re talking about, but it’s a continuation of the improvements that need to be made to alleviate some of the concerns we’re hearing day in and day out. -out. “
Fitch did not outline any specific plans it had to address the lack of access to urgent care in the short term, but said it has planned meetings.
He said there are no plans to rule out the health plan his predecessor Shephard presented in November. Instead, it plans to use it to deal with the ongoing crisis.
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Horizon Health Network did not respond to requests for comment before the deadline.
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