Death of person who waited 33 hours in Grace Hospital emergency deemed critical incident

The death of a patient who spent 33 hours in the Grace Hospital emergency department has been ruled a critical incident by the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.

The patient died Nov. 18while waiting in a hallwayto be transferred to an in-patient bed in the west Winnipeg hospital.

On Friday, a WRHAspokesperson said a review of the case determined it meets the criteria of a critical incident.

Provincial legislation defines a critical incident as "an unintended event that occurs when health services are provided to an individual and results in a consequence to him or her that is serious and undesired, and does not result from the individual's underlying health condition or from a risk inherent in providing the health services."

The purpose of critical incident reporting is to look at what can be done differently and what improvements can be made to the way health-care providers work, the WRHA spokesperson said in an email.

A comprehensive reviewinto the circumstances that led to the death is now underway, and no further details will be released publicly due to patient confidentiality, the email said.

"As part of the review, recommendations for improvement to the health-care system may be made to reducerisks to patients in the future, and results will be shared with family once complete," the statement said.