The Alberta government has ordered a review after a 44-year-old man died while waiting to see a doctor in the emergency department at an Edmonton hospital earlier this week.
Health Minister Matt Jones said in a social media post that he has directed Acute Care Alberta and Covenant Health to jointly review the circumstances surrounding the death of Prashanth Sreekumar at Grey Nuns Community Hospital on Monday.
Sreekumar, an accountant and father of three, had gone to the emergency department after experiencing chest pain.
A family friend says he waited nearly eight hours before suffering an apparent cardiac arrest.
“It was completely avoidable. That’s the sad part,” said Varinder Bhuller, a close family friend, in a phone interview. “Sometimes we think it’s God’s will, but this time I think humans could have intervened enough to save him.”
Bhuller said Sreekumar was at his office when the pain began and was driven to the hospital by a client. Initial assessments did not show anything abnormal, but his blood pressure continued to rise, Bhuller said.
Premier Danielle Smith extended condolences to the family in a social media post, saying there will be a “complete review of this matter.”
Acute Care Alberta, the province’s new health authority, confirmed it will take part in the review and implement any recommendations.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has also launched an independent investigation.
In a joint statement, Alberta NDP health critic Sarah Hoffman and Edmonton-Meadows MLA Jasvir Deol called the death a “terrible tragedy” and renewed calls for better hospital staffing and increased investment in public health care.
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