{"id":326986,"date":"2026-03-13T02:55:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T02:55:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/326986\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T02:55:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T02:55:08","slug":"alberta-hospitals-must-admit-patients-to-prevent-er-backlogs-says-review-into-edmonton-mans-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/326986\/","title":{"rendered":"Alberta hospitals must admit patients to prevent ER backlogs, says review into Edmonton man’s death"},"content":{"rendered":"

To help prevent a backlog of patients in emergency rooms, Alberta hospitals should not cap the number of patients who can be admitted to wards, says a review completed in the wake of a 44-year-old Edmonton man\u2019s death in an ER. <\/p>\n

Acute Care Alberta (ACA) released a list of 16 recommendations on Thursday after investigating the circumstances surrounding Prashant Sreekumar\u2019s death on Dec. 22 in the Grey Nuns Community Hospital ER. The report confirms his family\u2019s account that he waited eight hours with chest pain before having a \u201ccritical cardiovascular event.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a news release, ACA said the quality assurance review outlines \u201csystemic improvements that can be made both at the site and across the acute care system to help promote better outcomes and prevent similar events from occurring.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is not intended to cast blame.<\/p>\n

The report, which does not name Sreekumar, said the patient received care through a \u201cnurse-initiated protocol,\u201d and was moved to a treatment space after waiting for eight hours. It is unclear if a physician saw him.<\/p>\n

Prashant Sreekumar\u2019s widow, Niharika Sreekumar, told CBC News she is not satisfied with the recommendations, and that she believes they are unlikely to help anybody because there will be loopholes, a concern she declined to elaborate on.<\/p>\n

She described how Prashant was given ibuprofen after arriving at the ER and never got the chance to see a doctor.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe took him to the treatment [space]. He sat down on the couch. He got up, he said, \u2018Niharika, I\u2019m dizzy,\u2019 and he collapsed right in my hands,\u201d Niharika said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI live that nightmare every single second.\u201d<\/p>\n

WATCH | Acute Care Alberta releases review of man’s death in Edmonton hospital:\"\"<\/p>\n

Acute Care Alberta releases review of man’s death in Edmonton hospital’s ER<\/p>\n

Prashant Sreekumar died in the ER of Edmonton’s Grey Nuns Community Hospital on Dec. 22, 2025. His family says he had waited nearly eight hours to see a doctor about his chest pain. A review into his death by Acute Care Alberta outlines 16 recommendations to improve the health-care system. CBC’s Emma Zhao reports.<\/p>\n

She said no one from the Alberta government has reached out to her.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they are ready to face me, then I\u2019m also ready to face them,” Niharika said. “And we\u2019re going to talk then, because this report is a joke of Prashant\u2019s death.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mother of three said it has been gut-wrenching losing her husband.<\/p>\n

\u201cHad it not been for my children, I honestly wished I could have died that same night with Prashant,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Review recommends still-absent triage physicians in ERs<\/p>\n

The three-page report<\/a> is dated Jan. 14, 2026. On Jan. 15, Hospital and Surgical Health Services Minister Matt Jones held a news conference with ACA officials. They announced Alberta’s government has ordered a fatality inquiry into Sreekumar\u2019s death, as Jones had \u201cquestions that need to be answered.\u201d<\/p>\n

The inquiry is scheduled to take place in Edmonton during one week in October and a second week in December.<\/p>\n

\"MattAn undated file photo of Hospital and Surgical Health Services Minister Matt Jones. (Scott Neufeld\/CBC)<\/p>\n

In January, Jones also announced the government would introduce triage liaison physicians at the ERs of six major Edmonton and Calgary hospitals to help spot patients whose health is deteriorating while they wait.<\/p>\n

Although talks with the Alberta Medical Association are scheduled, emergency doctors aren\u2019t yet working in the triage roles, due to disagreements about liability protection and working conditions.<\/p>\n

The ACA report released Thursday recommends using a triage doctor model to support nurses, reduce patient wait times to see a doctor, and to cut the number of patients who leave ERs without being seen.<\/p>\n

It recommends that if no triage doctor is available, the ER should designate a physician to support nurses with clinical concerns or medical tests.<\/p>\n

The review recommends Jones\u2019 ministry make a long-term model and capital plan for the health system that prioritizes the Edmonton region and allows hospital occupancy to get down to between 85 and 90 per cent.<\/p>\n

ACA did not answer a question about Alberta hospital occupancy rates now. In January, they were more than 100 per cent full.<\/p>\n

The review says an electrocardiogram technician should be on the job at the Grey Nuns\u2019 ER around the clock, and that temporary nursing positions at that hospital\u2019s ER should be converted to permanent jobs.<\/p>\n

The report notes that the hospital\u2019s operator, Covenant Health, will have to \u201csecure capital and permanent operational funding\u201d to act on some recommendations.<\/p>\n

Hospitals should also review and update nurses\u2019 protocols for responding to patients with chest pain, it said.<\/p>\n

Spokespeople for ACA and Covenant Health did not immediately respond to a list of questions on Thursday afternoon.<\/p>\n

In a statement to CBC News, Jones said ACA, Covenant Health and other providers will work together to implement recommendations from a number of reviews to strengthen patient safety. <\/p>\n

“All reported adverse patient events are taken seriously,” the statement read. “Established review processes including the Reporting and Learning System, Quality Assurance Reviews, internal provider reviews, investigations by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, and, when warranted, fatality inquiries are in place to identify contributing factors and guide system improvements.”<\/p>\n

Opposition says government fumbling the response<\/p>\n

Following Sreekumar\u2019s death, ER doctors said problems like ER crowding, staffing and a lack of space are widespread. They released a list of other cases where they say they believe patients may have died or suffered serious harm because they waited for care.<\/p>\n

Opposition Leader Naheed Nenshi told reporters at the legislature that the recommendations show one of the busiest ERs in the province is underfunded, and a corporate rearrangement of the province\u2019s health system has made the situation worse.<\/p>\n

Nenshi said he believes the government has failed by not getting triage liaison physicians in place by the promised start date of Feb. 1.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the government we’ve got, and people deserve so much better, and Mr. Sreekumar’s family deserves so much better,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Nenshi said he believes the government erred by cancelling a planned hospital in south Edmonton. He also criticized the government for blaming temporary residents and population growth for putting pressure on public services.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"To help prevent a backlog of patients in emergency rooms, Alberta hospitals should not cap the number of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":326987,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[134,527,111,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-326986","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-healthcare","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-newzealand","12":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=326986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326986\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/326987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=326986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=326986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}