When Kevin Forrest鈥檚 girlfriend Amy Boutilier was having a medical emergency last week, he drove her to Northside General Hospital in Nova Scotia. But the emergency room was closed.
Instead of being greeted by doctors, they were greeted by security who said ER hours at the hospital are between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. They were too early. It was between 5:30 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. Wednesday morning.
鈥淭hey said 鈥楾he emergency room is closed. There鈥檚 no doctors here,鈥欌�� Forrest told CTV Atlantic.
They were instructed to go instead to Cape Breton Regional Hospital, more than 20 kilometres away from Northside in Sydney. On their way, the car hydroplaned and ended up on its roof in the median of Highway 125, bruising Forrest and taking Boutilier鈥檚 life. She was 39.
鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 offer to call an ambulance, they didn鈥檛 tell me to call an ambulance. They just said 鈥楾ake her to Sydney,鈥欌�� he recalled.
鈥淣orth Sydney should have (taken) her. It鈥檚 a hospital. Somebody could have (done) something.鈥�
But Greg Boone, spokesman for the , said people should call 911 first in an emergency. The health authority was made aware of a situation in which people arrived to the closed ER Wednesday morning, though he could not speak specifically about Forrest鈥檚 and Boutilier鈥檚 case.
鈥淭hey offered to call 911, paramedics, to attend. And they also indicated that the Cape Breton Regional Hospital emergency department was open and the person could make their decision based on that information,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e do know the person left the hospital property after getting that information.鈥�
The woman鈥檚 death is a tragic reminder to some that the hospital鈥檚 emergency room hours should change, said Eddie Orrell, Nova Scotia health critic and Progressive Conservative MLA for Northside-Westmount.
鈥淓mergencies don鈥檛 happen between eight and four every day,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey happen at any given time of the day. That鈥檚 why an emergency department is supposed to be there, that鈥檚 how it鈥檚 supposed to function. If it had been functioning that way, this tragedy may have been prevented.鈥�
