TORONTO - Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak says it's "outrageous" that an elderly woman who fell in the entrance area of a Niagara Falls hospital was told to call an ambulance.
He says such incidents keep happening over and over again with the Niagara Health System, which is currently under provincial supervision.
Doreen Wallace, 82, was told to call an ambulance after she broke her leg and cut her arm when she fell inside the doors of the Greater Niagara General Hospital last weekend.
A security guard was told by the emergency department if the woman needed help, she'd have to call for an ambulance.
Her son called an ambulance, but by the time it arrived a half-hour later, a passing surgeon had cared for her.
The Niagara Health System has apologized to the family and says in future, staff will focus on a quick response and transport to the most appropriate clinical setting.
"The NHS needs an overhaul pretty damn quick, from top to bottom," Hudak fumed Wednesday.
"That a senior citizen would be left in a hallway at a hospital, while they said paramedics had to be summoned from outside the jurisdiction for half an hour? We're in ... Ontario. This is the way you're going to treat a senior citizen? It's wrong."
There have been similar cases at the same hospital in recent months.
In July, Niagara Falls Coun. Joyce Morocco's husband John went into the hospital seeking help for his barely conscious wife, who was in the parking lot. He said he was told to call an ambulance.
In April, Charlie Poisson, 45, drove his ill girlfriend to the hospital, only to be told when he rushed into the emergency department for help that paramedics would be dispatched.
When no paramedics came after about three to five minutes, they reportedly brought 39-year-old Jennifer James in by a wheelchair and she received care.
James died, reportedly of a "catastrophic heart event," five days after she was admitted to the hospital.
The governing Liberals appointed a provincial supervisor to the Niagara Health System — the largest in Ontario — in August after it came under fire for a dangerous outbreak of C. difficile.
Supervisor Kevin Smith posted a statement on the NHS website Tuesday, saying he was "disappointed" that a family "did not receive the standard of care they deserved after their mother fell."
He said he's also asked for an update following the review of what happened.
NHS leadership has been told that their policy for any visitor in distress is to ensure a "rapid response and transport to the most appropriate clinical setting," Smith wrote.
"Those needing assistance very near our sites will continue to be dealt with on a case-by-case basis, dependent on the safest mode of transport and their individual health-care needs."
The troubled health system comprises six hospital sites and one ambulatory care centre.
He says such incidents keep happening over and over again with the Niagara Health System, which is currently under provincial supervision.
Doreen Wallace, 82, was told to call an ambulance after she broke her leg and cut her arm when she fell inside the doors of the Greater Niagara General Hospital last weekend.
A security guard was told by the emergency department if the woman needed help, she'd have to call for an ambulance.
Her son called an ambulance, but by the time it arrived a half-hour later, a passing surgeon had cared for her.
The Niagara Health System has apologized to the family and says in future, staff will focus on a quick response and transport to the most appropriate clinical setting.
"The NHS needs an overhaul pretty damn quick, from top to bottom," Hudak fumed Wednesday.
"That a senior citizen would be left in a hallway at a hospital, while they said paramedics had to be summoned from outside the jurisdiction for half an hour? We're in ... Ontario. This is the way you're going to treat a senior citizen? It's wrong."
There have been similar cases at the same hospital in recent months.
In July, Niagara Falls Coun. Joyce Morocco's husband John went into the hospital seeking help for his barely conscious wife, who was in the parking lot. He said he was told to call an ambulance.
In April, Charlie Poisson, 45, drove his ill girlfriend to the hospital, only to be told when he rushed into the emergency department for help that paramedics would be dispatched.
When no paramedics came after about three to five minutes, they reportedly brought 39-year-old Jennifer James in by a wheelchair and she received care.
James died, reportedly of a "catastrophic heart event," five days after she was admitted to the hospital.
The governing Liberals appointed a provincial supervisor to the Niagara Health System — the largest in Ontario — in August after it came under fire for a dangerous outbreak of C. difficile.
Supervisor Kevin Smith posted a statement on the NHS website Tuesday, saying he was "disappointed" that a family "did not receive the standard of care they deserved after their mother fell."
He said he's also asked for an update following the review of what happened.
NHS leadership has been told that their policy for any visitor in distress is to ensure a "rapid response and transport to the most appropriate clinical setting," Smith wrote.
"Those needing assistance very near our sites will continue to be dealt with on a case-by-case basis, dependent on the safest mode of transport and their individual health-care needs."
The troubled health system comprises six hospital sites and one ambulatory care centre.
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