‘I’m doing it because I’m scared’: N.S. woman organizes rally after ER deaths

A Sydney, N.S. woman is organizing a rally to call on the province's politicians to improve health care once and for all, as news of ER deaths makes national headlines.

A Sydney, N.S. woman is organizing a rally to call on the province’s politicians to improve health care once and for all, as news of emergency department deaths make national headlines.

“I’m doing it because I’m scared. I’m scared for myself, scared for my family, my friends, and people on my island and my province,” said Jennifer MacDonald.

The rally, dubbed a ‘March of Concern,’ will be held outside the Cape Breton Regional Municipality city hall on Jan. 21 at 11 a.m.

MacDonald said she was spurred to do something, after news of the deaths of Charlene Snow and Allison Holthoff. Both women died last month after waiting hours for care at two of the province’s emergency departments.

“(Nova Scotia Health Minister) Michelle Thompson has said that ER deaths are unacceptable, so I don’t understand why we’re still accepting them,” said MacDonald.

Last month, her family experienced the situation firsthand.

MacDonald said they brought her mother-in-law to the Cape Breton Regional Hospital emergency department because of trouble with her heart and some breathing problems.

While waiting, she said they ran into someone they knew, who had been waiting about eight hours and had only consumed a popsicle during that time.