in the 15 hours he was there, nurses checked on him twice and gave him tylenol.
worried about his condition, his parents drove him to their hometown of kingston, ont., a three-hour journey. there, doctors told him his appendix had burst. he spent 10 days in the hospital, most of it in the intensive care unit.
reached by the gazette, the man’s mother said the family did not want to discuss what happened. “we want to put this behind us,” she said.
muhc spokesperson rebecca burns said the hospital could not provide details about the case.
she said the royal vic’s er was fully staffed but far over capacity during the period in question.
two doctors were working overnight between june 14 and 15, which is the usual staffing, she said. during the day on the 15th, the standard crew was on duty — three doctors and a medical co-ordinator, she added.
on june 14, the er was at 197 per cent capacity, with more than 30 patients from the previous evening still waiting to be seen, burns said.
“those patients were of higher priority or had been there longer,” she said.
on june 15, er occupancy hovered around 200 per cent, peaking at 225 per cent.
burns said “it is difficult to give optimal care under such circumstances, even while working at maximum efficiency.”