‘Heartbreaking’ experience as former Cree grand chief spends 4 days in Montreal ER hallway
Global News
Jade Mukash is sharing her grandfather's story in hopes of spurring change after they travelled more than 1,000 kilometres from Whapmagoostui off the coast of Hudson Bay.
After five months of pain, Cree elder Matthew Mukash left his small community in northern Quebec to receive medical care in Montreal, only to spend four days in an emergency department waiting for a room.
Jade Mukash is sharing her grandfather’s story in hope of bringing change after they travelled more than 1,000 kilometres from Whapmagoostui off the coast of Hudson Bay. His experience comes as the province’s emergency rooms have been overwhelmed in recent weeks.
“It was quite a heartbreaking experience,” Jade Mukash said in an interview Wednesday. “Very intense.”
The former grand chief of the Council of the Crees first felt unwell last August and was dealing with health issues that were concerning for his family, according to his granddaughter. Mukash was experiencing weight loss and mobility problems.
In early January, she brought Mukash to a local clinic to see a physician and they were referred to the Montreal General Hospital for further care. They landed in Montreal two days later, on Jan. 7, and immediately brought to the hospital’s ER.
After he was triaged, Jade Mukash said her 72-year-old grandfather underwent different tests and was kept in the examination room overnight. They were informed the next morning he was going to be admitted to the hospital due to his test results.
That is when they spent four days in the ER’s lobby while waiting for a room to free up. Mukash was stuck in a bed in a hallway next to the busy admissions’ office, where his family says there was “constant movement and talking.”
“There was no rest for my grandfather,” Jade Mukash said.
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