The Quebec┬аcoroner’s office says it will now investigate after a┬аman in Senneterre, a town in Quebec’s Abitibi-T├йmiscamingue region,┬аdied following a┬аtwo-hour┬аwait for an ambulance this week.┬аHis local emergency room’s service had been┬аscaled back due to staffing shortages.
The town, located about┬а535┬аkilometres northwest of Montreal, announced the death┬аWednesday. Later, the family of 65-year-old Richard Genest confirmed that he was the patient who had died.┬а
Marianne Genest, speaking to CBC News, said her father called for an ambulance around 2:40 a.m. Tuesday, after the town’s emergency room had closed.┬аSenneterre’s ER┬аhas been operating only eight hours a day since mid-October due to lack of staff.
But according to a statement from the town, the┬аonly ambulance was already en route to Val d’Or, nearly 70 kilometres away, with another patient. Genest waited two hours for another ambulance, which had┬аto come from the neighbouring town of Barraute, according to the statement.
Genest was then taken to the hospital in Val d’Or, where he was assessed by medical professionals, his daughter said, noting it was decided that he should be┬аtransferred to the town of Amos, an hour away, where there was an emergency vascular surgeon on staff.
According to his daughter, Genest died in the elevator┬аon his way to the operating table, around 10 a.m. Tuesday┬атАФ over seven hours after he first called for an ambulance.
Mayor asked province to intervene
Senneterre mayor Nathalie-Anne Pelchat said the situation could have been avoided┬аif the town was able to have a 24-hour emergency room.┬а
She said she reached out to the regional health authority before Genest’s death, asking it┬аto reopen the emergency room at full capacity as soon as possible. She said she also wrote to Quebec’s health minister,┬аChristian Dub├й, in late September┬аand asked him to intervene after the health authority announced the ER would reduce its hours.┬а
“We take it very personally. The whole community of Senneterre is really in shock,” Pelchat told Radio-Canada.┬а“We knew it was going to happen, we said it over and over again, no one believed us.”
“We knew it was going to happen and, unfortunately, it happened.”
Olivier Allaire, co-founder of community group┬аUrgence d’Agir, who is advocating for the local ER to return to its previous hours, says he┬аworries people will postpone getting treatment┬аknowing that emergency services aren’t being offered 24-hours a day.
“If [health authorities] would just listen to us and not think that┬аthey┬аhave all the answers in the world and that we are from a small community, and we know nothing,” he said. “Because that’s how we feel we are treated.”┬а
‘You can’t just leave us like this’
├Йmilise Lessard-Therrien, a Qu├йbec Solidaire MNA who represents the region of┬аAbitibi-T├йmiscamingue┬аat the National Assembly, said she felt her region had been “abandoned” by the provincial government.
“We have a lot of questions about what happened. If the ambulance, if the paramedics were there тАж┬аif the paramedics went┬аdirectly to Amos, to the [right] specialist, maybe Richard Genest would be still alive.”
Marianne Genest┬аsaid that it was definitely a problem, not only in Senneterre, but in small towns across the province.
“Every city should have a 24-hour emergency, or something, because we’re human beings,” she said. “You can’t just leave us like this.”
The┬аCentre int├йgr├й de sant├й et de services sociaux de l’Abitibi-T├йmiscamingue┬а(CISSS-AT), which oversees health services in the region, said in a statement late Wednesday┬аthat it investigated the incident and found all protocols were followed.
It also said the closure of the emergency clinic was “not a factor that contributed to the death” and that the coroner’s office had been┬аcontacted about the case and decided there┬аwasn’t enough “to justify an investigation.”┬а┬а
Speaking to reporters Thursday morning, Premier Fran├зois Legault┬аsaid he spoke with the head of the health authority, and echoed its┬аconclusion that the ER closure did not contribute to Genest’s┬аdeath.
Coroner to┬аinvestigate
The three opposition parties at the National Assembly called on the Quebec┬аcoroner’s office Thursday to look into the incident.┬а
The coroner confirmed Thursday afternoon in a statement that it had opened an investigation.┬а
During an online news conference, regional health authorities doubled down on the idea that the ER’s overnight closure played no┬аrole in Genest’s death.
Dr. Fran├зois Aumond, director of professional services of the CISSS-AT, said Genest’s condition required a radiology exam┬атАФ┬аa service that is unavailable in┬аSenneterre тАФ meaning he would have needed to be sent to┬аa hospital in Val d’Or.
“As soon as [the patient] arrived in Val d’Or, which was the closest hospital and perfectly┬аappropriate┬аfor his health condition, the medical evaluation was conducted quickly тАж confirming a pathology that required emergency surgery,” he said.┬а┬а
“The transfer was done, without delay, to the Amos hospital, where he was pronounced dead. At that point, any surgery would have been futile.”┬а
Marianne Genest said she’d remember her father as the well-loved “village clown,”┬аwho was always there for his children, made people laugh, and┬аput others’ needs before his own.
A remembrance march for┬аGenest has been organized in Senneterre┬аfor Friday night.
