Patient dies in waiting room at Winnipeg hospital

An investigation is underway after a patient waiting for care died in the waiting room at a Winnipeg hospital Tuesday morning.

An investigation is underway after a patient waiting for care died in the waiting room at a Winnipeg hospital Tuesday morning.

According to Dr. Shawn Young, the chief operating officer of Health Sciences Centre (HSC), the patient arrived shortly after midnight in the emergency department.

“The patient was assessed, triaged, and directed to wait in the waiting room and to let staff know if their conditions change or worsen,” Young said in a statement Tuesday afternoon.

Young said the patient was reassessed while in the waiting room, but just before 8 a.m., staff noted the patient’s condition had “significantly worsened.”

“Medical interventions subsequently occurred and the patient was transported to a resuscitation room. He was unfortunately declared deceased a short time later,” Young said in a statement.

During a Tuesday afternoon news conference, Young said at the time, the emergency department had roughly 100 patients in the department.

“It’s not completely abnormal,” he said. “Typically, we’re in the 70s and 80s, and sometimes 90s. We do get up to 100 from time to time.”