Man dies in Winnipeg hospital waiting room after 34 hours. We waited for 17 hours that day.

A man died in a Winnipeg hospital while waiting for treatment. He was waiting for 34 hours. Can you even imagine? I can. The same day the man died, my wife had to go to a different hospital in Winnipeg to get something checked out that could have been a potential serious problem. That day, we sat in the waiting room for 10 hours before we saw a doctor (in between 2:00 and 2:30am, who made an appearance for 5 min. He told us to come back that same morning at 8 o'clock. By the time we got home, fed our newborn, and got to bed, it was around 4:00am. We went back for 8 and had to wait for our ultrasound until 11:00. The people in that department told us the results would be over at the other department in around 15 minutes. We waited until 1:30pm and I had to say something to them. I somehow managed to control my rage and explained that my wife is breast feeding and she needs to go home and eat and rest. The nurse seemed understanding, took us into a room, and said we were next on the list. We waited another hour in the room and decided that we were leaving at 3pm no matter what. The doctor came a few minutes later for 2 minutes to basically tell us the problem wasn't what they thought and that we could go home. So WE WAITED AROUND 17 HOURS to see a doctor for 7 minutes.

There is obviously a bit of a problem and I heard a doctor talking about cutbacks. The good thing is that in Canada we don't have to pay for health care. It was an inconvenience, but free is good. Also, as fun as it would have been to tell the nurse that we were walking out, I'm glad we didn't, because at least we know that my wife is ok. I do feel sorry for the staff at hospitals. They are busy, like crazy. That is the reason I didn't freak out on the nurse. They have enough stress as it is and given the opportunity, they do care, they just have policies and procedures like every other job has.