Manitoba man upset with ambulance service, emergency department after mom suffers stroke

WINNIPEG -

A Manitoba man is frustrated with the province’s ambulance service and the emergency department his mother was taken to for care after his family was denied visitation.

Tyler McNish said his mother suffered a stroke shortly after 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. She was then taken by ambulance from the family’s farm 20 minutes from Shoal Lake to Brandon — once there it was determined she needed to be sent into Winnipeg.

He said the ambulance response and transfer didn't seem urgent.

"By the time they finally got her here, it was 1:45 in the morning,” McNish said, referring to when his mother got to Winnipeg. “So it was almost six hours later and everybody knows with a stroke time is everything, right? So it was frustrating."

According to Shared Health, after a patient gets to a facility and staff determines they need to be taken to a different site, the communications centre is contacted to arrange transportation.

“Our centre will triage this information and assign the most appropriate mode of transport, as well as a clinical team to support the patient’s care needs,” it said in a statement. “These transport teams are based out of Winnipeg."

McNish said the frustration continued once in Winnipeg.

He noted the family was not allowed into the Health Sciences Centre ER due to the COVID-19 visitation policy and was told instead to call a phone number to speak with a doctor.

McNish said the doctor needed consent to do a risky surgery.

"It was like, ‘She's going up there in 30 minutes.” So we were like ‘Can we see her before this?’” he said.

“You're telling us this could be the last time I could see my mom and they were like, ‘No, no you can't. You'll be able to see her in the morning as soon as she's transferred up to the floor.’”

McNish said the family was told repeatedly someone would be able to see her, but that didn't happen

Eventually, a nurse told them to go home

"Why did they let us wait for 15 hours and make us sit here and put us through more stress, you know? Seeing my dad like that is tough enough," McNish said.

McNish said with the help of a patient advocate, his dad was able to see his wife on Tuesday.

McNish added his mother is showing signs of improvement and he's praying she'll make a full recovery.

"You’ve got to show compassion and empathy, right? People are going through the toughest times of their lives,” he said. “They never come here for a good reason 90 per cent of the time.”

The Shared Health spokesperson also told CTV News Winnipeg that it recognizes the emotional strain visitor restrictions have had on patients and their loved ones throughout the pandemic, and visitation principles have been regularly reviewed over the past 18 months.