Woman with terminal cancer left on ER gurney for 21 hours, daughter says
A terminally-ill patient was kept on a gurney in a crowded emergency hallway for nearly a full day, prompting her daughter to call the provincial health minister.
Theresa Chanowski reported that her mother, 71-year-old Colleen Titanich, who was diagnosed with stage-four lung cancer that spread to her brain and spine, spent 21 hours on a gurney in the emergency department hallway of the Health Sciences Centre. The department was described as jam-packed, with other patients exhibiting withdrawal symptoms and disruptive behavior. After calling the hospital multiple times and receiving no doctor’s assessment, Chanowski escalated the issue to Manitoba Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara, leading to the patient’s relocation to a proper bed and a same-day referral to palliative care at Riverview Health Centre.
The minister admitted that emergency wait times remain high and that solutions will require improved staffing and extended primary-care hours. Chanowski called for separate treatment areas for patients with addictions to prevent them from displacing vulnerable groups such as the elderly and terminally-ill. One outlet sought comment from the provincial government.
Why it matters
The case highlights severe emergency-room delays and raises questions about hospital capacity and patient safety.
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