Stories

From: Anonymous

My mother was having chest pains and was sent by ambulance to NRGH in Feb of 2022. She sat in the emergency room for 3.5 hours while she was having a heart attack and in excruciating pain. I went to the nurse’s station 3 times to ask for help and they were very rude and dismissive, told me they put a sticky on my mom’s file. Finally, they got her in for some blood work and that is when they told us she actually had a heart attack. She could have died in the emergency room while she was having one. The care was just unbelievable for someone who came in by ambulance having chest issues.

Steve Beynon

I am 84 years old and have had several visits to the emergency room at NRGH during the past year. I feel I am in a good position to assess our healthcare system. My visits to the emergency room were due to Afib episodes. During my visits, I spent between 3.5 and 9 hours waiting in a very uncomfortable seat till all my tests were done and I could get to see the doctor. In all three cases, I had numerous tests done to assess my condition. In 2 of the cases, I was able to end the Afib episode without being cardioverted. Still, the tests were done and a thorough review was done by the doctor. I feel that the doctors and nurses provided excellent care even though they were under obvious stress. The wait times were excessive and very uncomfortable. In the last case, I was still testing positive for COVID-19 yet was sitting with over 100 other people in the waiting room. During my visits, I was able to talk to the nursing staff. The younger nurses are struggling not only with overwhelming working conditions but also large debts from training and struggling to find accommodations within their budgets. The older nurses were approaching burnout due to the exhausting workloads. This being said all the nursing staff were very pleasant and thorough in their work. On the other side of the coin when seeing a doctor they have a full understanding of the patient’s history when they meet. During my visits, the doctors were very thorough and prepared to answer any questions even though they were heavily backlogged.

From: Anonymous

 As a long-time resident of Nanaimo, I recently experienced heart troubles requiring a visit to the ER at NRGH. Due to the lack of space in the cardiac unit, I spent two days in the ER before being moved to the cardiac floor. After my five-day stay in the Cardiac unit, I still had to be sent to Royal Jubilee in Victoria at the Cardiac short-stay unit. The level of care given there was amazing! I have nothing, but praise for the people who work there. NRGH needs updated cardiac services now so that patient care is not put at risk.

Marlene Zacharias

I have age-related macular degeneration that is treated by a local ophthalmologist ie eye injections that cost me $120 per shot. Most people have access to a retinal specialist and, as such, they do not have to pay for the injections. There are no retinal specialists in the Central and North Island. There was one in Nanaimo but she is leaving to go back to Alta. Even if there was a retinal specialist in Nanaimo, it is a situation that is not helpful to this community or further North eg Tahsis, Gold River, etc. The response that I have received from the office of the Minister of Health is that many people have to drive to see medical specialists. The fact is, one cannot drive after an injection. Many of us are older with limited means and other health problems that care not conducive to long drives. It’s odd. Even Fort St John has a retinal specialist, so does Terrace etc. We do not.

From: Anonymous

I have two children with complex medical needs. We live in Nanaimo but access paediatrician care, cardiology, and ophthalmology in Victoria, and Neurology, Psychiatry, and Naturopathic care in Vancouver. There is government support for travel to the lower mainland, but we pay for the travel to Victoria. We’ve also made emergency room visits at Victoria General and B.C. Children’s as we’ve been advised not to use the NRGH emergency because of the lack of specialized paediatric care and the risk of infection exposure to immune-compromised children sitting in a waiting room without a separate paediatric area.

From: Anonymous

I was a healthy 58-year-old woman, or so I thought. I found a lump in my breast and things went downhill. After waiting for a mammogram and ultrasound and then for a biopsy, diagnosis, and surgery scheduling, I finally received my mastectomy at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital. The weeks of waiting had resulted in a tumour that had now grown significantly in size because of its extremely aggressive nature and had spread to a lymph node. Then I had to travel to Victoria to meet with an Oncologist as we have NONE north of the Malahat. There was a question as to whether I would be able to get my dose-dense chemotherapy done in Nanaimo, and I spent countless hours worrying about how I would manage commuting back and forth to Victoria given the aggressive chemotherapy I was to be given and the horrid side effects. I was fortunate I could receive my chemo in Nanaimo, and for that, I am incredibly thankful. However, I had to go and stay in Victoria for the 16 rounds of radiation I was to receive over 3 weeks. The new cancer care centre in Nanaimo can not come soon enough.
A couple of years later, I found myself back at NRGH for major abdominal surgery for a 4-pound growth with concerns of cancer. I recovered from surgery in a dismal and cramped 4 bedroom with a shared bathroom, which was also used by an unknown person with either mental health or addiction issues who wandered in. I did not feel safe. The washroom had to be cleaned upon request after this incident. Then because of space issues, I was moved out of my room to a temporary overflow area to continue recovering. This caused me undue stress. I would try to walk in the hallway to help my recovery and was weaving my way between carts, piles of equipment, laundry, bedding, etc. Nothing felt very sanitary or sterile. The wards are old and dingy and there are too many cracks and crevices for things like MRSA to thrive and spread. The cleaning is inadequate at best.
Recently I found myself back in the ER for apparent kidney issues and waited several hours each time. The staff were overworked and doing their best. The washrooms were less than adequate and I feared coming home with more problems than I came in with.
This is Canada. We are not a third-world country. Why can’t we prioritize health care – it affects us ALL at one time or another in our lives. Living in Nanoose Bay shouldn’t mean that I have to drive hours to get the best care. We can do better north of the Malahat. We MUST do better.

From: Anonymous

I lost my father-in-law a couple of years ago, partly concerning this very issue. He had an MI in Nanaimo, was hospitalized there, and then subsequently transferred down to Victoria for the cath lab. Initial intervention was done, but further heart cath treatment was required. He was sent home but unfortunately had another cardiac arrest a couple of days later and died in the NRGH trauma room. Two things come to mind – had he been able to have the procedure in Nanaimo, possibly he might have been kept in the hospital longer and been able to have the second procedure. Secondly, I’m sure the stress of being sent down to Victoria, alone without family support, also may have contributed to the outcome. I’m confident that my father-in-law received excellent care in both hospitals, but the overall care was lacking because he should have had access to the cath lab intervention he needed sooner and without the stress of a patient transfer.

From: Anonymous

My husband was referred in October 2023 to RJH Cardiology for an urgent angiogram. He never got it even though I tried to talk to the angiogram department there on numerous occasions as he got sicker. On Jan 18, 2024, he had a cardiac event and was rushed to NRGH. They were unable to give him the help he needed so on Jan 19 he was rushed to RJH. By then he was not well enough to have an angiogram and they had to wait 2 weeks as his kidneys were now affected. Then they did the angiogram but determined that he needed open heart surgery. The surgeon said he wouldn’t survive the surgery. So they offered him another angiogram that would be extremely high risk in his condition. He agreed and had stents put in but passed away 4 days later. I believe that if he had had the angiogram when it was initially requested he would still be here today.

From: Anonymous

In 2017 I was diagnosed with Afib (for me a flutter), as I have low blood pressure I was put on Digoxin. Fast forward to 2023, Digoxin was no longer controlling my flutter and I was referred to a cardiologist in Victoria in July 2023, and put on a new drug, Sotalol, to control my flutter. On Nov 17th I finally saw the cardiologist. As I have been experiencing daily headaches, my blood pressure is now high (a reaction to Sotalol) and I am recommended to have an oblation. The problem is the waitlist. I am now being told it is likely I will not be scheduled until November or December of 2024. I am currently consuming 5 to 6 extra strength Tylenol daily for the headaches as they rarely stop and my blood pressure continues to be very high. My options, I am being told, are to go off the Sotalol and should my flutter get uncontrollable go to emergency, which I feel is ridiculous as the ER is already out of control. I am doing my best not to overdose on Tylenol and negatively impact my liver’s health.

From: Anonymous

When I had my first episode of Atrial Fibrillation at 01:30, one Sunday morning in early January 2023, I went to NRGH. The staff quickly assessed me and sent me to the treatment area. A physician saw me and patiently and thoroughly explained what was happening and what might be needed. He told me that if the medication treatment did not work, I would need cardioversion, but that he could not do it on his shift because he was the only physician in the hospital at that time, and it would be risky otherwise. Luckily, I converted to sinus rhythm and did not need that procedure; however, the realization that Nanaimo’s health services were that sparse was frightening to me.