A long wait for a woman who was very vulnerable to infection was a stark example of the problems in Ontario’s emergency departments.
By Megan Ogilvie Health Reporter, and Kenyon Wallace Business Reporter
Christina Shehata was told she had a life-threatening condition soon after she arrived at Kingston General Hospital’s emergency department.
The 51-year-old with metastatic breast cancer had a high fever, and tests revealed she lacked a type of white blood cell that fights infection, putting her at further risk.
Diagnosed with febrile neutropenia, a medical emergency for cancer patients, Christina quickly received IV antibiotics and was told she needed to be admitted.
But no in-patient beds were available. Instead, Christina remained in the emergency department. It would take 40 hours for her to get moved to an inpatient bed.
“I was terrified for her,” said her husband, Dr. Adam Shehata, a family physician.
He said Christina received appropriate care in the ED but waiting near other patients put her at high risk for an infection.
“The area she was in was essentially a row of hospital gurneys separated only by curtains with sick patients on either side of her,” Adam said. “Her risk of infection was so high and there was nothing I could do to protect her.”
Across Ontario, patients are waiting hours — sometimes days — in EDs, a problem that has gotten substantially worse over the last three years, according to provincial data obtained by the Star.
In many hospitals, patients waiting in the ED are being treated in hallways, storage areas and other unconventional spaces due to a lack of beds elsewhere in the hospital. This kind of “hallway medicine” frustrates patients but also risks their health and puts further stress on hospital staff struggling to cope in crowded conditions.
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