Close X
Monday, November 11, 2024
ADVT 
National

Inquest To Examine Death Of Woman Sent Home From Winnipeg Hospital In Taxi

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 10 May, 2015 02:20 PM
    WINNIPEG — A woman whose mother died hours after being sent home in a cab from hospital is hoping an inquest that is to start Monday will provide some answers and help her heal.
     
    Heather Brenan collapsed on her doorstep in January 2012 and was rushed back to Winnipeg's Seven Oaks Hospital, where she died from a blood clot that had moved to her lungs.
     
    Months later, two other patients were sent home in taxis from the Grace Hospital and died before they got inside their front doors. The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority said there was no systemic problem and an internal investigation found the hospital did nothing wrong.
     
    Dana Brenan said her 68-year-old mother spent four days in the emergency room and was sent home at night without her house keys.
     
    "They just shoved her in a taxi and sent her home. That's not right," Brenan said. "I'd like to see things like that stopping, but clearly they're still happening."
     
    Manitoba's chief medical examiner called the inquest in 2013 to look into Brenan's death and to "examine hospital policy regarding the discharge of patients at night, particularly those who are elderly, frail, and who reside alone."
     
    The inquest, scheduled to sit for three weeks, is also to determine whether a shortage of acute-care beds might have been a factor in Brenan's death.
     
    The health authority updated its discharge guidelines, but Brenan's daughter said there are still problems. Hospital staff should be well educated on a standard policy that ensures vulnerable people aren't sent home alone at night, she said.
     
    "The policies are written, put on a shelf, and nobody is ensuring that they're being followed. I'd like more accountability."
     
    Miles Pollack has little faith in the inquest.
     
    His uncle, David Silver, was found frozen on his doorstep about 14 hours after he had been sent home in the middle of a frigid winter night last year.
     
    An autopsy found his death was due to a heart condition, but Pollack said no one at the health authority really examined why a 78-year-old man was sent home alone in a cab in the dead of winter.
     
    He said his confidence is shaken after an internal investigation absolved hospital officials.
     
    "My expectations aren't that high," he said. "I sure hope that they do something because even one death is way, way too much."
     
    After the death of another patient, 62-year-old Wayne Miller, then-health minister Erin Selby instructed all health authorities to ensure that patients sent home in cabs make it into their homes. Miller was  spotted on a sidewalk by a passing driver who called 911.
     
    Brad Hartle, spokesman for Health Minister Sharon Blady, said in a statement that the province is looking for "answers on what could have been done differently or better in the case of Ms. Brenan and to further make sure patients are being discharged appropriately and safely."
     
    Felicia Wiltshire, spokeswoman for the Winnipeg health authority, said in a statement that officials are focused on "continuous improvement" and look forward to the inquest's recommendations. She wouldn't discuss changes to the hospital discharge process.
     
    For Dana Brenan, the inquest is as much about healing as it is about forcing change.
     
    "I am hoping for closure," she said. "I don't know whether this inquest will bring that about."

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Royal Canadian Navy Retires Aging Warship In Halifax

    Royal Canadian Navy Retires Aging Warship In Halifax
    HALIFAX — The Royal Canadian Navy officially retired one of its warships today in Halifax. The destroyer HMCS Iroquois served the navy for nearly 43 years.

    Royal Canadian Navy Retires Aging Warship In Halifax

    Canada, U.S. Announce Broad New Uniform Standards For Rail Safety

    Canada, U.S. Announce Broad New Uniform Standards For Rail Safety
    WASHINGTON — Canada and the United States are announcing wide-ranging, new rail-safety standards with the aim of avoiding disasters like the one that devastated Lac-Megantic, Que., in 2013

    Canada, U.S. Announce Broad New Uniform Standards For Rail Safety

    Sentencing Arguments Underway For Ex-quebec Lieutenant-governor Lise Thibault

    QUEBEC — Sentencing arguments are underway in Quebec City in the fraud case of former lieutenant-governor Lise Thibault. The 76-year-old pleaded guilty last December to fraud and breach of trust.

    Sentencing Arguments Underway For Ex-quebec Lieutenant-governor Lise Thibault

    Conservatives Increase Fundraising Advantage In First Quarter Of Election Year

    Conservatives Increase Fundraising Advantage In First Quarter Of Election Year
    The latest financial reports filed with Elections Canada show the governing Conservatives raked in $6.3 million in the first three months of 2015 — up almost $1.7 million over the same period last year.

    Conservatives Increase Fundraising Advantage In First Quarter Of Election Year

    Who You Know, Not What You Know, Was Once A Factor In P.E.I. Politics

    Who You Know, Not What You Know, Was Once A Factor In P.E.I. Politics
    The days when getting your road paved in P.E.I. meant voting for the right politician might be gone, but Green Leader Peter Bevan-Baker says political connections still pose an obstacle for third parties trying to make a breakthrough in Monday's election.

    Who You Know, Not What You Know, Was Once A Factor In P.E.I. Politics

    Premier Prentice Says Alberta NDP Pipeline Policy Will Mirror Mulcair's

    Premier Prentice Says Alberta NDP Pipeline Policy Will Mirror Mulcair's
    EDMONTON — Premier Jim Prentice is ratcheting up warnings of a NDP-governed Alberta, bringing federal NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair into the fray and saying the party has a "fundamental distrust of business."

    Premier Prentice Says Alberta NDP Pipeline Policy Will Mirror Mulcair's