‘Always noise’: B.C. senior spends 9 days in hospital hallway due to overcrowding

When asked about Roberts' situation, Premier David Eby said it is hard enough to be sick and have to require treatment, let alone have that treatment in a hallway.

A Vancouver Island senior says no one else should have to endure what he went through recently at Victoria General Hospital.

Eric Roberts, 87, spent nine days in the hospital hallway after he was admitted on Feb. 24 for an infection.

There were no rooms available so Roberts was left in the hallway, where the lights were on and people were moving around 24 hours a day.

“After about three days, they moved me in the hallway because somebody needed to be closer to the washroom, Roberts told Global News.

“And then I ended up right next to the nurses’ station. And that was a busy, busy time.”

He ended up being in the hallway for nine days in total.

“After eight days, they said, ‘We’ve got a room for you,'” Roberts said.

“And I got a room by the window, and friends started to visit, and the next morning (they said), ‘I’m sorry, but there’s somebody deserves this more than you do.’ And back in the hall. And the only thing they could say is, ‘Well, you’re closer to the exit,’ but there was always noise, and you don’t care who’s looking at you after a while, because, I mean, you just want out and there’s no TV there, so you’d better have yourself a tablet or something.”