Review of man’s death in Edmonton ER underway: Alberta government

The Alberta government said it is conducting a review of a man's death after he waited for medical attention in a south Edmonton emergency room for hours.

Following last week’s death of Prashanth Sreekumar, who waited in a south Edmonton emergency room with chest pains for several hours, the province said it is conducting an investigation into the circumstances surrounding it.

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“Acute Care Alberta is leading a comprehensive review into the circumstances surrounding Mr. Sreekumar’s death, with Covenant Health participating,” a statement from the Ministry of Hospital and Surgical Health Services said Monday. “This review is being conducted in addition to an independent investigation by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.”

Prashanth went to the Grey Nuns Community Hospital in Mill Woods on Dec. 22 with chest pains. He died from an apparent cardiac arrest after allegedly waiting nearly eight hours to see a doctor at the ER.

Covenant Health, which oversees the Grey Nuns Hospital, said it is cooperating with the review.

“We can confirm that this patient received care and that the case is now with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner,” said a statement from the health authority. “Covenant is participating fully in the Acute Care Alberta review.”

Paul Parks, president-elect of emergency medicine with the Alberta Medical Association, said the province should be doing more to address emergency room wait times to prevent further possible deaths.

“Declare it’s a crisis. Declare that we have a problem that we have to fix and actually say we’re going to work on a provincial solution right now,” said Parks.

He said the Grey Nuns emergency department has about 35 admitted patients that should be in wards but are stuck in the emergency room.

CTV News Edmonton reached out to Covenant Health to confirm those numbers, but they said they were unable to due to “privacy requirements.”

Most hospitals in the Edmonton area are seeing an average wait time of several hours.

“Long wait times in emergency departments are deeply concerning,” said the province, adding that its Acute Care Action Plan will help address pressures in emergency care.

The action plan was announced in November and aims to add 1,000 new acute care beds in Edmonton and Calgary, including new bed towers at Grey Nuns, Misericordia, and South Health Campus hospitals.

“All of our ER departments in our entire Edmonton city and area are struggling with massive, massive overcrowding and an inability to deliver safe and timely care,” said Parks. “This should be an alarm bell for all Albertans.”

He said unless the government mobilizes resources and declares the situation a crisis, nothing will change.

“The nurses and health-care workers at Grey Nuns, for example, I am very aware that they have escalated this up to the top of their chain within the hospital many, many times, begging for help,” said Parks.

The province said it has implemented surge and overcapacity protocols across Alberta to prepare for the respiratory virus season, which includes an additional 130 beds during the flu season beginning in October.

But Parks says the overcrowding in hospitals doesn’t rest on an increase in respiratory illnesses.

“Respiratory illnesses are making things worse, but it is absolutely a workforce and capacity issue, and we’re operating in disaster mode,” said Parks. “Unless the government declares a crisis and mobilizes real, meaningful resources … it’ll just carry on for months to come, and we’ll hear many more of these very tragic outcomes.”

Mourning Prashanth

Prashanth’s wife, Niharika, said she needs answers.

“They have ripped us off. They have ripped us off emotionally, physically and financially, in every manner they have ripped us off,” she said. “I would like to sit across the table and talk to them. This is something I need answers for and I am not going to stop.”

The couple have three children, aged three, 10 and 14. Friends and family remember Prashanth as a loving father and friend who lived an active life.

A funeral will be held for Prashanth on Dec. 31.

The family of Prashanth is asking officials to attend his funeral so they can see how his death has impacted his loved ones.

“We would like to request Premier Danielle Smith, Minister Matt Jones and the people that failed to provide Prashanth the care that he deserved to attend his final prayers so that they can see how his family (is) affected by his unnecessary and untimely loss,” said friend Varinder Bhullar in a social media post Monday evening.

Sam Blackett, press secretary to the office of the premier, said Smith will not be attending the funeral.

“She extends her sincere condolences to the family during this difficult time,” said Blackett in a statement to CTV News Edmonton. “We understand the seriousness of this issue, and that is why Acute Care Alberta will work closely with Covenant Health to complete a full review of the matter.”

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Gates Guarin and Shelby Clarke