Friends and family of a Moncton man who died in a Moncton hospital emergency room earlier this week held a rally at the hospital on Saturday.
The father of five is identified only by the initials MS to protect his family’s privacy. He died in hospital after collapsing in the emergency room.
Abdul Khan, president of the Moncton Muslim Association, said the man was known as an “integral part” of the Moncton Muslim community and will be greatly missed.
“He always came to the mosque and was the nicest person in the world,” Khan said.
“He’ll come in smiling and I’ve never seen him not smile. He was a very patient man who [would] never complain.”
MS left behind her partner, her children and a wide circle of family and friends.
Mohammed Thom, who was close to MS, said MS was a man who cared about his family and the larger community. He doesn’t know what they will do now.
Abdul Khan, president of the Moncton Muslim Association, said MC was known as an “integral part” of the Moncton Muslim community and will be greatly missed. (Aniekan Etuhube/CBC)
“We have no leader,” said Tom. “We don’t have any guidelines.”
New details
New details about the situation surrounding the man’s death have come to light both through interviews with friends and family and through a statement from the association.
According to a post on the association’s Facebook page on Friday, the man was released from the hospital on Monday after undergoing a medical procedure.
He was instructed to return to the hospital immediately if he suffered back or chest pain.
On Tuesday, he presented himself at Moncton Hospital’s emergency room at 10 p.m., according to the statement.
Dozens of people gathered outside Moncton Hospital on Saturday to protest the man’s death. (Pascal Reiche-Nog/Radio-Canada)
He underwent some tests but was told to wait in the waiting room until midnight.
He was dead at 3:30 am
“Witnesses reported that during his stay he repeatedly told hospital staff that he believed he was dying,” the statement said.
On Thursday, Dr. Serge Melanson, Horizon Health’s clinical director of emergency services, said the patient was “treated appropriately as an emergency priority.”
At the time, the emergency department was “critically overcapacity,” he said, so the patient was placed in the main waiting room “until an appropriate examination site became available.”
Horizon has not independently published additional information about MS.
However, Melanson said a review of the incident is underway.
I ask why?
The man’s death has once again drawn attention to the province’s struggling health care system.
It comes after years of temporary ward closures, pleas from various emergency departments for patients to stay away and at least one other example of a dying person in an emergency hospital awaiting treatment.
Tom said the protest was bigger than MS or the Muslim community in Moncton. According to him, it is about the sad state of healthcare in the district.
Mohammed Thom, who was close to MS, said that MS was a man who cared about his immediate family and the larger community. (Pascal Reiche-Nog/Radio-Canada)
“We speak for all Canadians [who are] “I’m dying here,” said Tom.
Khan said the province needs to put more money into health care and start making more efforts to reduce wait times.
“Let’s say they have to commit that in six months we’re going to reduce the wait time in the emergency room from 12 hours to two hours, something like that,” Hahn said.
“It’s something they have to give us.”
Add Comment