Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my statement today I talked about a woman who had to wait 34 hours in order to be let into a room and suffered from a stroke. She was sent down to Edmonton, as I talked about in my Member’s statement. I felt that this was a disgusting way for government services and funding to show that the standard of health is completely unreasonable and unfair.
My questions will be focused on the Minister of Health and Social Services and specific only to this incident. I want to be very clear. I’d like to know what happened in this situation. I want to know what the Minister is doing about it. And will this Minister be willing to put a written apology in place and explain why it happened and why it won’t happen in the future?
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. A couple of questions there. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Member’s question. Yesterday we happened to be out of session, and I was in my office all day. I spent the better part of my day addressing this specific situation. I talked to the husband of the patient myself. I know my deputy minister has talked to the patient’s husband in Yellowknife. We had a nurse in the department mobilizing the key people in the department to move this patient along into a room as quickly as was possible.
This patient had a stroke. She had to be sent to Edmonton. It was a decision made by the doctor here. She had to be near cardiology and neurology services so that she could be monitored. Capital Health’s Edmonton Clinic hospital is right now under what’s called full capacity protocol. They are completely full, and they have waiting lists. They have 50 patients in emergency rooms. It was safer for that patient to stay in the emergency room until they got a bed and she was able to get that. There were a few neurology patients, and it was really important for her safety and for the best practice of health. The doctor here and the doctor there thought that she had to be close to that hospital.
It is really unfortunate that she was not able to get a bed, but for reasons of traffic and volume of work required at the Edmonton Royal Alexandra Hospital, that was what they had to do.
Waiting 34 hours for a room is completely unreasonable. I would not describe that as a reasonable level of care that we pay for with our tax dollars. Two weeks ago this Minister knew there were problems down there. The husband called me to say that they knew this in this department and they understood this in this department.
I want to know what the plan was, because there appears to be no plan if they sent her down there with no room. And is this Minister prepared to put an apology in writing to this family that explains, “Sorry this happened, and it will not happen again”?
I’m not aware of this two week ago communication the Member is talking about. I did talk to the husband of the patient yesterday. I let him know that I was taking this issue very seriously and that I was using all of my powers and authority available to me to help this NWT resident who is being cared for in emergency without being able to find her own room.
We use Capital Health services because for services like neurology and cardiology, we don’t have those services here. The doctors here felt it was better for her to be sent there than to stay here. She was being taken care of and monitored, and I believe that I as the Minister and the department did everything we could. I was on the phone all day yesterday to do everything within our power to move her. I’m glad to know she has finally moved into a room of her own.
The Minister just doesn’t seem to understand the question. I’m not asking or stating that the problem was in sending her to Edmonton. That’s not the problem. The problem is that she had to wait in emergency 34 hours to get a room. There seems to be no concern about an apology to this family. There seems to be no concern or thought as to saying: well, maybe if this hospital is full and if there are no rooms in this hospital, why could we not have sent her somewhere else, be it in Edmonton or Calgary?
I asked that very question, and I was advised that the Capital Health authority decides where these patients go. Doctors consult with each other when we’re sending patients South and when they’re receiving. On the basis of what the doctors know, they decide what facility and what expertise this patient needs.
This patient needed neurology and cardiology treatment. Royal Alexandra is where she had to be. Before she could be placed in a room, she had to be in emergency. There were two other Alberta residents with neurology conditions. They were all being monitored. They had a bed; it’s just that they didn’t have a room.
We use the services in Alberta. We do not control the capacity issues at the hospital where she was being taken care of. We are all aware of NWT residents who go to Stanton hospital and wait for hours for service. Unfortunately, sometimes we have to wait for service, but I want to tell you that this patient was given the best service we were able to provide. I know it wasn’t the best, but I was on top of that all day long, and so was my department.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, the issue seems to elude the Minister. It’s not that she needs to go to Edmonton. It’s not that she needed to go to emergency. It’s that she spent 34 hours in emergency. That is ridiculous.
Mr. Speaker, why are we sending people to Edmonton if they have no rooms? I know the hospital care is the level that we’re concerned about, but why are we sending them to that hospital if they don’t have any rooms? Why did we send her there, and where is this apology that I think this family deserves?
The doctor here decided that she needed services we didn’t have here. Capital Health doctors decided that she had to go to the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton. We had inquired about other capacities, and I understand that the emergency units in Calgary, as well as in Grande Prairie, were also at full capacity.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
