Premier Higgs replaces N.B. health minister after patient dies waiting in ER

Premier Blaine Higgs talks with reporters after voting in the New Brunswick provincial election in Quispamsis, N.B., Monday, Sept. 14, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan

FREDERICTON -

New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs is replacing the province’s health minister and the CEO of the Horizon Health Network following the death of a patient waiting in a Fredericton emergency department this week.

Higgs called the death “simply unacceptable” and the latest example of the crisis in the health-care system.

“The situation we are in today is a result of many, many years of successive governments refusing to deal with an urgent situation,” said Higgs.

He says the issues facing the health-care system require structural changes and action is needed immediately.

Effective Friday, Riverview MLA Bruce Fitch is the province’s new health minister, while Dorothy Shephard becomes minister of social development, and the minister responsible for the Economic and Social Inclusion Corporations.

Dr. John Dornan, the president and CEO of Horizon Health Network — the health authority responsible for the Fredericton hospital — is being replaced by Margaret Melanson.

Melanson is currently the vice-president of clinical services and interim vice-president of quality and patient-centred care at Horizon.

Higgs said he’s asked Horizon to investigate the death, and if he's not satisfied with the results, he will call for an external review.

Higgs is also revoking the boards of the province's two health authorities with trustees being appointed to replace current board members.

Suzanne Johnston has been appointed trustee of Horizon Health Network, while Gérald Richard is the trustee of Vitalité Health Network.

“If there is a bureaucracy stopping things from happening, let's remove the barriers. Our government has demonstrated its ability to make difficult decisions in the face of adversary, and today we are doing just that for health care,” said Higgs.

The patient in question died while at Fredericton's Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital emergency department waiting room on Tuesday.

In an interview with CTV Atlantic, John Staples, who works as a residential support worker, said he was waiting in the ER with a resident he works with around midnight Tuesday.

“The individual in question was clearly in discomfort. There was moaning and groaning and sighs…they were in some kind of pain,” he said.

Staples says he was waiting alongside his resident in the room for several hours, watching TV.

“An ER attendant came out, and checked people, and checked this individual. I’ve done this line of work for 20 years, so, when the ER attendant rushed back, very professionally, as not to raise any alarms, I did look at the individual,” he said. “I noticed there was no signs of breathing. No rise or fall of the chest or abdomen. I thought, ‘they’re gone.’”

He said moments later, three health-care workers came out and wheeled the individual out of the waiting area, calling a Code Blue “almost immediately.”

Staples says he’s thinking about the individual, their family, and the staff members at the ER.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Laura Brown.