Fredericton police investigate death of patient in ER waiting room in July 2022

The Fredericton police major crime unit is investigating the death of a patient in the ER waiting room more than a year ago, and a coroner's inquest into his death remains suspended pending the outcome, CBC News has learned.

Darrell Mesheau, 78, died while waiting for care at the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital's emergency department on July 12, 2022.

Witness John Staples told CBC News at the time that an elderly man had been waiting alone in a wheelchair, in visible discomfort, for hours when he appeared to fall asleep. It was only during a routine check of people in the waiting room that a hospital employee realized the man had stopped breathing, Staples said.

The death of Mesheau, a former diplomat, father of two and grandfather of one, sparked outrage across the province and prompted a major shakeup of New Brunswick's health-care leadership.

 Premier Blaine Higgs fired Horizon president and CEO John Dornan, dropped Dorothy Shephard as health minister, replacing her with Bruce Fitch, and removed the boards of both Horizon and Vitalité, installing a trustee for each health network instead.

A coroner's inquest into Mesheau's death was scheduled to begin on May 29, but was abruptly postponed just three days after it was announced because chief coroner Heather Brander reopened her investigation when new information came forward.

No details about the nature of that information have been released, but the coroner's office subsequently contacted police.

Investigation started in June

Fredericton police are "investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of Darrell Mesheau," spokesperson Sonya Gilks confirmed to the CBC.

"Our major crime unit's involvement … began in June 2023," when the provincial coroner's office "reached out to us," she said in an emailed statement.

"At the beginning of the inquest, the [coroner's office] made the decision to pause as they felt the circumstances of the death necessitated investigation."

The investigation is being led by a sergeant in the major crime unit, she said.

Gilks declined to provide further information, such as the nature of the possible criminality suspected, what the investigation has involved to date, or how much longer it's expected to take.

"We cannot disclose any further details of the investigation as it is currently active," she said.

The Office of Chief Coroner also declined to comment, citing the ongoing police investigation.

The coroner's inquest into Mesheau's death remains on hold due to the investigation, said Coreen Enos, a spokesperson for the Department of Justice and Public Safety.

The inquest will be rescheduled once the investigation is complete, she said.

Mesheau's sister, Susan Mesheau, who previously served as spokesperson for the family, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Waiting room nurses were doing double duty

Horizon Health Network has previously declined to comment on its internal review of Mesheau's death, which led to four "direct" recommendations and four "indirect" recommendations, which are defined as concerns "that would not have prevented the incident but are important for patient/staff safety."

Among the recommendations was to "identify and implement a strategy to ensure all waiting room patients are reassessed according to the [Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale] reassessment guidelines."

The licensed practical nurses who were assigned to check on patients in the ER waiting room the night Mesheau died were also assigned to other tasks and "could not commit to regular checks," internal documents obtained by CBC News through a right-to-information request revealed.

The nurse-to-patient ratio the day Mesheau died was "alarmingly high and unquestionably … unsafe," according to local representatives of the New Brunswick Nurses Union.

There were 17 admitted patients in the ER and 29 registered patients in the waiting room.