The province says it is launching a critical incident investigation into the death of a middle-aged man who was waiting for care at a Winnipeg hospital emergency room on Tuesday morning.
The man spent about eight hours waiting to be seen at the Health Sciences Centre emergency department before he died.
“This is a tragedy and a devastating loss that should not have happened,” Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said at a Wednesday afternoon news conference announcing the investigation.
Asagwara said steps are being taken to treat the death as a critical incident with the “highest level of urgency.”
A critical incident is defined by the province as a case where a patient suffers “serious and unintended harm” while receiving health care.
The findings of the critical incident investigation will be publicly available when it’s finished, in hopes of preventing future deaths, said Asagwara.