Family says 79-year-old waited more than 90 hours on stretcher in Edmonton ED overflow
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Family says 79-year-old waited more than 90 hours on stretcher in Edmonton ED overflow
A 79-year-old waited nearly four days on a stretcher in a University of Alberta Hospital overflow area as Edmonton hospitals run over capacity.
News
Family says 79-year-old waited more than 90 hours on stretcher in Edmonton ED overflow
A 79-year-old waited nearly four days on a stretcher in a University of Alberta Hospital overflow area as Edmonton hospitals run over capacity.
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By Torontoer Staff
A 79-year-old man spent about 92 hours on a stretcher in an emergency department overflow area at the University of Alberta Hospital after being brought in with influenza and weakness, his daughter says. The prolonged wait and makeshift conditions have renewed concerns about hospital capacity and patient safety in Edmonton.
Carla Peck says her father, Art Peck, arrived by ambulance on the evening of Jan. 4 after a fall left him confused and weak. He spent most of the next four days in a curtained cubicle near the ED waiting room, before moving to an inpatient bed on Thursday afternoon.
Conditions in the overflow area
Ms. Peck described the space where her father waited as one of roughly a dozen small cubicles set up near the emergency waiting room. The cubicles had thin curtains and were barely large enough for a stretcher and two chairs. There was no bedside table and no private bathroom, she said.
Fluorescent lighting, constant machine beeps and the noise of other patients made rest difficult. Nurses checked in periodically, but Ms. Peck said her father, who has Parkinson’s disease, did not receive the mobility support he needed. She says his condition worsened while he remained immobilized.
He was in so much pain and he was just getting worse. He’s supposed to be in hospital to get better.
Carla Peck
How widespread is the problem in Edmonton?
Families and front-line doctors say long waits and use of temporary spaces are common as patient demand outstrips available inpatient beds across Alberta. The Alberta Medical Association has reported hospitals operating at more than 110 per cent capacity for more than a year.
The pressure on Edmonton hospitals intensified after three deaths were reported in the emergency department at Grey Nuns Community Hospital on a single day. One widely reported case involved a 44-year-old patient who died after spending eight hours in that ED.
Provincial response and criticism
Acute Care Alberta has launched a provincewide response intended to ease hospital strain during a difficult respiratory virus season. Measures include accelerating discharges, diverting low-acuity patients away from emergency departments and postponing some non-urgent surgeries.
- Accelerating hospital discharges to free inpatient beds
- Diverting low-acuity patients away from emergency departments
- Postponing a limited number of non-urgent surgeries
ACA chief executive David Diamond noted that seven non-urgent surgeries were postponed and said ‘‘every effort is being made to preserve’’ scheduled operations. The statement characterised the season as particularly challenging for respiratory illnesses.
This is gobbledygook. Either the government doesn’t understand the extent of the crisis, or is making active decisions to allow patients to suffer and die in our waiting rooms rather than give us some pressure relief.
Paul Parks, president-elect, emergency physicians section, Alberta Medical Association
Edmonton hospital physicians have urged the province to keep inpatient beds open and, at one point, called for a declaration of a state of emergency, arguing the system lacks margin to safely accept more patients. The province first called that request misguided, then later acknowledged emergency department wait times are a serious concern.
What this means for patients and families
Ms. Peck said she spent days advocating for her father, and she believes persistent follow-up helped secure an inpatient bed. Once admitted to a ward, she said the care improved dramatically and her father began to recover from influenza A and general weakness.
Her main concern now is the longer term. She fears the prolonged immobilization and the delay in proper care may have advanced her father’s decline, making it harder for him to return home.
Kyle Warner, press secretary to the provincial minister responsible for hospital services, issued an apology for delays and conveyed wishes for the patient’s recovery.
What hospitals say they are doing
Hospital operators and provincial coordinators say they are reallocating resources and using targeted strategies to move patients through the system faster. They also say work is under way to protect scheduled surgeries while responding to surges in emergency demand.
Physicians and patient advocates say those steps are not enough without more inpatient capacity, and they want clearer timelines and measures from the province to prevent repeated cases of extended waits on stretchers and in temporary cubicles.
Families like the Pecks are left weighing immediate recovery against possible long-term decline after extended waits for care. The case has added urgency to calls for a sustained plan to increase capacity and to protect emergency care in Edmonton and across Alberta.
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