New Brunswick’s Vitalité Health Network says wait times were “not above standard” and there were enough resources in the emergency department at the Edmundston hospital when a patient died there last weekend.
According to a news release, the patient died in the ER at the Edmundston Regional Hospital under “unforeseeable and exceptional circumstances” last Sunday.
No one else was injured.
Vitalité has not released any details about the patient or the incident that led to their death.
“Due to the sensitive and confidential nature of the event, the Network would like to reiterate that it still cannot release specific information,” said Dr. France Desrosier, president and CEO of Vitalité, in an update Friday.
“This tragic incident, which resulted in the death of a person, deeply affected the staff involved.”
According to Vitalité, the ER was experiencing average traffic and wait times that day.
Vitalité says there were enough trained staff members to “safely manage the patient” and that all triage processes were completed properly.
The investigation into the patient’s death is ongoing. Vitalité says recommendations will be put in place in accordance with the Health Quality and Patient Safety Act.
Meanwhile, Vitalité says additional security measures have been put in place to increase the safety of ER staff and patients.
SECOND PATIENT TO DIE IN A NEW BRUNSWICK ER
This is the second time this month that a patient has died in the emergency room of a New Brunswick hospital.
The Horizon Health Network confirmed that a patient died while waiting for care at Fredericton’s Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital emergency department on July 12.
However, New Brunswick’s new health minister, Bruce Fitch, told CTV News that the circumstances surrounding the death in Edmundston are “much different” than those surrounding the death in Fredericton.
No details about the patient or their death have been released, with health officials citing “privacy.”
Calling the death “simply unacceptable,” Premier Blaine Higgs replaced the province’s health minister and the CEO of the Horizon Health Network following the incident.
Higgs also revoked the elected boards of both the Horizon and Vitalité health authorities, replacing them with appointed trustees.
That incident is also under investigation.
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