Death of Man While Waiting in ER in Winnipeg to Be Investigated by Province

An ambulance drives past Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg on June 15, 2023. The Canadian Press/David Lipnowski

The Manitoba government says it has called for a critical incident review after a middle-aged man died after waiting hours in an emergency department of a Winnipeg hospital.

The incident happened on Jan. 7 at the Health Sciences Centre. The man had been brought to the hospital by ambulance.

Officials said he was considered low-acuity and was checked on while he waited. However, his condition deteriorated to a point where they could not revive him.

Dr. Shawn Young, chief operating officer of the Health Sciences Centre, told reporters they were treating about 100 patients at the time.

“When we see cold weather like this, we do have a number of patients that come in seeking shelter and safety as well, and that was a factor in the emergency and waiting room,” he said.

Young said they had examined the documentation and talked with staff as part of an investigation into what happened.

“We'll continue to examine video footage as well to see what interactions have occurred during that time. But we were very early on in the investigation, but it is interviewing staff, reviewing the notes, and reviewing any security footage we have,” Young said.

Manitoba Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said the government’s review findings will be shared, adding that the government will enact any changes needed to prevent similar situations.

“I’ve taken the step as minister to immediately ensure that this is treated as a critical incident. That work is underway,” Asagwara said.

“As the minister, I’m committed to making sure that Manitobans have clarity about what we learn from this critical incident.”

There is no indication if an investigation by the chief medical officer would be initiated.

The Epoch Times attempted to contact Manitoba’s health minister and the hospital, but did not hear back by publication time.

In 2008, another patient at the Health Sciences Centre died after a long wait in the emergency room.

Brian Sinclair was a double amputee who had a history of substance abuse, according to the Canadian Medical Association Journal. He waited 34 hours at the hospital before staff found him dead. An autopsy determined that he had a bladder infection caused by a blocked catheter. The inquest also said the 45-year-old man had been dead between two and seven hours before he was found.

Young said that there are a number of deaths in emergency department waiting rooms each year.

“We don’t want to see any. But this is something that we do face. People do come to us in a very critical state.”

There’s been a number of other recent cases of patients dying while waiting in ERs around Canada.

In 2023, data from Nova Scotia showed that emergency department deaths were at a six-year high, at 666 deaths compared to 558 in 2022.

One of those was a 37-year-old mother who had waited seven hours to see a doctor. Allison Holthoff died on Dec. 31, 2022, after being taken to the emergency room at the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre in Amherst, N.S., about 140 kilometres north of Halifax.

She was the mother of three school-aged children. Holthoff was also the deputy chief of a volunteer fire department.

Her death came after that of Charlene Snow, 67, who died on Dec. 30, 2022, at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital after she waited for seven hours for medical help. After being told she would likely have to wait overnight to see a doctor, Snow left. She died within an hour.

In early December 2024, a 39-year-old Montreal man died of an aneurysm a day after he left an emergency room after waiting for six hours to be treated.

Adam Burgoyne said in a Dec. 5, 2024, post on social media that he was put in the waiting room after staff at the hospital made sure he wasn’t dying. He said he waited six hours and left.

Burgoyne died the next day of an aortic aneurysm, according to a Dec. 13 online obituary.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.