The family of an 89-year-old woman is demanding improvements in the healthcare system after she spent over a week on a stretcher in a hospital emergency room. Helen Gorlick was left waiting for 18 hours before being seen by a doctor and then waited another eight days before being transferred for rehabilitation. During her stay, she was unable to move or use the bathroom on her own, with only a curtain for privacy. The family hopes that this incident will lead to necessary changes in the hospital.
The family of a Winnipeg senior is calling for changes after they say she was left waiting for over a week on a stretcher in a hospital emergency room.
During that time, Gorlick was confined to her stretcher, unable to get up or use the bathroom on her own. A curtain served as her only privacy during most of her stay, said the family. Heather den Boer and Alan Gorlick are hoping changes will be made after Alan's mother, Helen Gorlick, spent more than eight days in the emergency room at Grace Hospital recently.
Helen Gorlick's family says she wasn't the only senior they saw waiting on a stretcher in the hallways of the emergency room at Grace Hospital. "I think that there needs to be more emphasis placed on actual patient care and reducing wait times for patient care, whether it's surgery, post-op, emergent care, senior care — especially because these people can't languish in hallways waiting for someplace to go while they're hopefully trying to get home again," said den Boer.