HSC Emergency Winnipeg
On Friday evening, October 14th, 2016, around 8:30pm, my father, Antonio Albanese, was taken to the HSC Emergency department because he was in such extreme pain due to a herniated disc, that he was experiencing chest pains. My brother had gone with him. The ER staff saw him right away because of his chest pain and did tests. They completely ignored his herniated disc pain, except to give him a shot of morphine. My father cannot take morphine, as he has had reactions to it in the past. He didn’t know that they had given him morphine until after they had already administered it! No one asked him anything about it! Strike one! Unfortunately, my brother had to leave around 10:30pm because he does shift work, and they had not yet gotten the results back from tests about his heart. Before he left, he made sure they had his cell number and my cell number (I live an hour and a half away). They had told my brother that they would be keeping him overnight anyway, so my brother said he would be back first thing in the morning. At 4am, the staff realized that his heart was okay and told my dad he had to go home! NO ONE phoned my brother or myself, instead they told him he had to leave by taxi! They gave him no help whatsoever. They only asked if he money for the cab. My father is 83 years old! Was in extreme pain still, because of his herniated disc and they did not bother waiting ’til the morning when my brother was due to come back! Strike two! So, my father goes out into the cold, rainy morning (4am on Sat Oct 15) and tries to get a cab! Thank God nothing happened to him between the hospital and his home, except that he was feeling dizzy and weird, due to the morphine shot! Then, the next day, he felt something weird on his skin and realized that they had left all their heart monitor tabs on him! Strike 3! What a disgusting display of disrespect and incompetence! To kick an 83 year old man out of the ER, without calling anyone or even helping him themselves is shameful beyond belief! I am so livid that I’m contemplating calling his lawyer and filing some kind of suit against the hospital! And going to the media, as well! This is our healthcare system now? Has everyone lost their care and compassion? I pray something will be done about this, otherwise I will take action!