EDMONTON -- An Edmonton family is calling for a formal investigation after a man having a heart attack was refused care at a walk-in clinic.
Kristi Montgomery says she took her 48-year-old father, Rusty, to the All Well clinic after he told her he was having bad chest pain that wouldn't go away.
Montgomery wanted to call an ambulance, but he refused, saying he was just having heart burn and he just wanted to go to a clinic.
The clinic's receptionist said Rusty's Alberta health-care card came up as invalid in the system, and told them he would need to pay or he couldn't see a doctor.
Montgomery rushed her father to Grey Nuns Hospital emergency room where she says they were told by doctors that her father was having a heart attack.
She says he was transferred to the University of Alberta where Rusty underwent an emergency angioplasty.
"The artery itself is 90 per cent blocked. He's lucky to be alive," Montgomery said.
One of the doctors at the clinic called what happened unacceptable, saying he would never refuse care. He said he was unaware of what happened.
The doctor says the receptionist who handled the situation was new and has a "lack of experience."
