Death of patient at Winnipeg hospital under investigation

An investigation is underway into the death of a patient at a Winnipeg hospital.

CTV News has confirmed a patient died at the Health Sciences Centre on Monday, Feb. 27.

“While privacy legislation prevents us from speaking to specifics of a patient case, we are able to confirm that we are investigating a potential critical incident that occurred during a one-hour window on February 27 in the HSC Winnipeg emergency department,” reads an email from a Shared Health spokesperson. “An initial review of the circumstances surrounding this event is underway.”

The province defines a critical incident as “an unintended event that occurs when health services are provided to an individual and results in a consequence to him or her that is serious and undesired,” which includes death, disability or injury.

According to the Manitoba Nurses Union (MNU), the death occurred in the waiting room of the hospital's emergency department. Darlene Jackson, the president of the MNU, said nurses have been warning that they’re overworked and overwhelmed with the volume of patients they’re being asked to care for.

"The first thing I thought when I heard of this was how sad this is for the patient and their family,” Jackson said. “But my second thought was how sad I am for those nurses, because they have been voicing for many, many months that they were afraid something like this would happen."

Dr. Eric Jacobsohn, an ICU physician in Winnipeg, called the state of emergency departments, “dire.”

He said at any one time, the number of patients in the emergency departments far exceeds the designed capacity of the departments, and that ERs have become a difficult place for doctors and nurses to work, and unsafe for many patients.

"It’s really difficult to defend what is happening in the acute care situation in Winnipeg,” he said.

Health Minister Audrey Gordon, speaking at a Wednesday news conference, did not talk about the death, citing privacy reasons and the Shared Health investigation.

“An investigation is underway and I look forward to the results of that investigation,” she said.

Gordon thanked the nurses at the hospital for their dedication, and said Manitobans should continue to have faith in their emergency departments if they need help.

Manitoba NDP Leader Wab Kinew said there is an issue in the province’s emergency rooms.

“We have seen that we need urgent attention to support the nurses, health-care professionals, physicians and health-care aides who are delivering life-saving treatment on the front lines of ERs across the province,” he said.

“And as part of that, we need to be able to get answers, because Manitobans deserve to have confidence when they go to an emergency room that they are going to get the health-care that they're seeking.”