Surrey Memorial Hospital is facing a formal complaint after a woman’s appendix burst during a 12-hour wait in the facility’s new emergency department.
Geoff McNeill said his wife Caroline was suffering from agonizing abdominal pain when she was admitted at around 1 p.m. last Friday.
The couple didn’t see a doctor for three hours, and the delays dragged on even after a CT scan revealed she had appendicitis.
“The waiting room was full, it was overflowing,” McNeill said. “Here I am just watching my wife for hours and hours on end going through pain.”
She was put into a hospital bed at around midnight. By the time she went under the knife at 1:30 a.m., her appendix had already ruptured.
Dr. Craig Murray with the emergency department said patients have been coming from across the region to use the new hospital, but insists staff were prepared for the increase.
“What we have seen is a very significant spike in patient volume, patient visits, particularly in the first few days after opening,” he said.
Murray said he couldn’t comment on the couple’s individual case, but officials are meeting with them next week.
“The director of emergency has reached out to the family and been in touch with them.”
McNeill’s wife was discharged from hospital on Wednesday and is continuing to recover at home.
Her husband said the incident has convinced him the health care system is in crisis.
“Why would someone have to suffer like that for so long in a brand-new, modern hospital?” McNeill said.
The Fraser Health Authority said more beds will open up at Surrey Memorial when the rest of the critical care tower opens next year.
With a report from CTV British Columbia’s Maria Weisgarber
