Skip to content

Veteran?s ER experience worse than being on battlefield

BY CRAIG GILBERT [email protected] For Gerald Houle the 30 hours he spent in the emergency room at St. JosephÂ?s Health Centre in December was far worse than anything he experienced during the Korean War.
BY CRAIG GILBERT

For Gerald Houle the 30 hours he spent in the emergency room at St. JosephÂ?s Health Centre in December was far worse than anything he experienced during the Korean War.

Sudbury Regional Hospital says it is investigating complaints made by Gerald and Margaret Houle about his treatment in the emergency department.
Memories of the war donÂ?t haunt him, but he needs sleeping pills to get the ER experience out of his mind at night.

Houle underwent open-heart surgery Dec. 10 and was discharged Dec. 15. He was rushed back to the hospital the next day.

Despite lingering pain in his side, after the experience in the ER, he never wants to go back there.

Houle claims he was left in a hallway, given no medication, and had next to nothing to eat in 30 hours. In that time, he says he got two minutes of
attention from one doctor.

With a significant amount of fluid in his lungs, Houle says he couldnÂ?t lie down to sleep so he had to rest on one elbow the whole time. He resorted to
leaning against two pillows piled on an end table to get a few winks.

The fluid on his lungs also prevented him from calling out for help.

Â?I knew with the way I felt if I tried to talk I would have started choking and coughing.Â?

In his weakened state, he was convinced if he started coughing, it would have sent him into arrest. Houle was finally transferred to the Memorial site at 5 pm two days later. Without a drain in the 30 hours at St. JosephÂ?s, his lungs had accumulated just under two litres of fluid.

He has other concerns about how he and his wife were treated at St. JosephÂ?s. Although other people had visitors, Margaret was told she could not visit because precautions were in effect to stop the spread of the flu. She then had difficulties reaching him by telephone.

He has received letters from the president and CEO of St. JosephÂ?s, and a patient representative there indicating an investigation is underway.
SRH spokesperson Loretta Bostrom says all she can say is that the case is under investigation.

Â?His chart is being reviewed.Â?

Describing the ordeal still brings the couple, who live in a small, sparsely decorated apartment, to tears.

Â?I got someone I know to check on him and when I finally spoke to him I couldnÂ?t believe how upset he was,Â? Margaret wrote in a letter to Northern Life.

Â?When I saw him finally he was so tired and unkempt it brought me to tears. Â?If this happened to him, imagine what it could be like for an elderly
person with no family at all.Â?

Comments

Verified reader

If you would like to apply to become a verified commenter, please fill out this form.