N.S. health advocate wonders ‘when is the breaking point’ after ER death
Global News
The death of a N.S. woman who waited seven hours at an emergency department was unfortunately 'bound to happen' with the province's current health-care crisis, one advocate says.
The death of a Nova Scotia woman who waited seven hours at a Cumberland County hospital emergency department has prompted health-care advocates to wonder, “When is the breaking point?”
On Monday, the husband of Allison Holthoff, 37, detailed how she waited in excruciating pain at the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre emergency room on New Year’s Eve.
“She said, ‘I think I’m dying. Don’t let me die here,'” Gunter Holthoff told reporters during a news conference.
Allison Holthoff — who was a mother of three, an avid community volunteer and deputy chief of the local fire department — died that night.
Alexandra Rose, the provincial co-ordinator for the Nova Scotia Health Coalition, said the province’s health-care system is in a “dire situation.”
“It’s so scary. And we have to wonder, when is the breaking point? Is this the breaking point now that somebody has passed away? It was a senseless death,” she said.
The Nova Scotia Health Coalition includes labour groups, community health groups and students who are advocating for better health care.
A situation like Holthoff’s death, Rose said, spurs the group to further pressure the government for change.
