With ER cutbacks, Senneterre man dies after two-hour delay, wrong ambulance routing

A family is mourning after their 65-year-old father was transferred to two different hospitals, ultimately dying in an elevator, because the ER in his city was closed overnight due to a lack of staff.

Miguel Genest said his father, Richard Genest, complained of stomach pains that started out mild and became more painful as the day went on.

Believing he was dealing with a kidney stone, he didn't pay too much attention to it because he had already been through that problem, said Genest.

But during the night, the pain became unbearable. His father had to call an ambulance since he could not go to the emergency room in Senneterre.

The ER in the town has been closed from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. since Oct. 18 as part of the "reorganization" announced by the Centre intégré de santé et des services sociaux de l'Abitibi-Témiscamingue (CISSS-AT) and supported by Health Minister Christian Dubé.