Witness to Edmundston ER death calls N.B. emergency care situation 'catastrophic'
Suzanne Ducas says the man in his 70s had been in the waiting room for several hours
A woman who witnessed the death of a man in the Edmundston hospital's emergency department waiting room earlier this week is denouncing the health-care situation.
"It is catastrophic what is happening in our [ERs]," Suzanne Ducas said in French.
A man in his 70s died in the waiting room of the Edmundston Regional Hospital's emergency department Wednesday, when the ER had a "high level of traffic and long wait times," but the Vitalité Health Network has said it does not believe there's any connection.
This marks the fourth death of a patient waiting for care in a New Brunswick hospital ER since July.
Ducas says she visited the Edmundston ER with her daughter, who had an injured foot, on Wednesday.
According to her, the man had been in the waiting room for several hours when someone shouted, "The gentleman is not well."
"I went to the person — because I have training as an attendant — and the gentleman was white and really not well," said Ducas.
Then a woman shouted, "code blue," and staff tried to resuscitate the man, she said.
The day before, Ducas had gone to the emergency room with her daughter and says she was told there would be an 18-hour wait. A nurse apologized for the situation, she said.
"I have the impression that there is too little staff, people are overwhelmed, resources are insufficient."
Review underway
A Vitalité review of the patient's death is underway.
But the patient was triaged, monitored and cared for according to established protocols, according to Dr. France Desrosiers, president and chief executive officer of the regional health authority.
His condition was deemed stable during triage, she said in a statement Thursday.
"At this point in time, no cause-and-effect relationship between the level of traffic and the death has been established," Desrosiers said.
Residents worried, says mayor
Edmundston Mayor Eric Marquis says residents are looking for answers soon about what happened and how similar situations can be avoided.
Some people are worried, he said. "Well naturally, it brings a lot of questions on how a situation like that can happen within the hospital."
Many people in the area don't have a family doctor and the city's only after-hours clinic closed last summer, said Marquis. So the ER is their only option.
But wait times have been longer than usual in recent weeks, with the triple threat of respiratory illnesses on the rise — COVID-19, the flu and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, he said.
Marquis is hopeful some relief could be coming in the new year.
Community clinic in the works
He says the mayors of the regional service committee met with Vitalité and Health officials in September to discuss the need for a new collaborative care clinic in the Edmundston area.
"This was received really well [by] Vitalité. So we're waiting on their side to get a proposal on how we could move along to get this facility running," he said. "We're hoping to get more news after the holidays."
Vitalité says it has a meeting scheduled with the city's general manager at the end of December.
"It was agreed that we would start the planning phase in January 2023," a spokesperson for the regional health authority said in an email.
"We can't provide any further details at this time."
If plans for a new clinic don't come together quickly, Edmundston council could take the issue to the provincial government, said Marquis.
"It is possible. We will have to see in the near future."
Weekend Sackville ER closure, Caraquet ER service reduction
Sackville Memorial Hospital's emergency department will be closed from 4 p.m. Friday until 8 a.m. on Sunday, because of a shortage of available physicians, Horizon Health Network announced Friday.
All patients requiring emergency medical care will need to be treated at another hospital, and all ambulances will be diverted to other hospitals.
"The decision to temporarily close the [ER] is made to ensure safe care for our patients and clients," Horizon said in statement.
"Horizon remains committed to providing safe and quality care, and we are actively working to recruit physicians and nurses to the communities we serve to reduce temporary closures and resume services." This is a top priority, it said.
The Sackville ER is normally open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., daily.
For non-urgent medical needs, people are encouraged to use Tele-Care 811, eVisitNB.ca, after-hours clinics and pharmacies.
Meanwhile, Enfant-Jésus RHSJ Hospital in Caraquet will operate at reduced capacity from Friday at 8 p.m. until Saturday at 8 a.m., due to "an unforeseen shortage of nursing staff," Vitalité announced.
The ER will remain open only for people who require urgent and critical care, the regional health authority said in a news release.
"People who still come to the emergency department for non-urgent reasons will be referred to another hospital or asked to return the next day if their condition permits," it advised.
Ambulances will be redirected to another hospital.
With files from Radio-Canada